poor starting 2.0dti

[bertmarshall]

I have a problem starting my car when cold but not first thing in the morning. When I go to start the car first thing the pre-heater light on the dash lights up and goes out ok and the car starts up no problem. But later( when I finish work 9 hours later ) the pre-heater light does not show and the car turns over for quite a long time and when it does start there is a big cloud of smoke. Any Ideas please?

[brifen]

Hi,

It must be colder in the mornings than at night as the Glow Plugs will come on automaticaly depending on temperature. This may explain why they come on in morning and not after work. Although the glow plugs are used a little for every start no matter what the temp, it is only if they need to be on for a longer period (Cold Weather) that the light comes on.

I think that you should probably have your glow plugs checked as they may not all be working correctly and need replacing. This is an easy ish job as long as the previous ones have not snapped in half in the head (not common) and is not very expensive. Although i can get trade and Bosch/Champion ones cost me £8 - £12 each so reccon they must retail about £15 or so.

From what you've posted i think that will cure your prob. The smoke comes from all the excss fuel of trying to start when engine finally bursts into life.

Bri.

[bertmarshall]

Thanks for your reply Bri. Will try some new glow plugs and see if that helps. I didnt realise that they were always used on start up. I thought they only worked when the dash light came on.

[daveymaboy]

Hi Bert,
Can you tell me if you managed to sort this problem as I think I have the same one too. Car starts fine when hot and fine when cold but not in between.

Cheers