Diesel insignia refusing to start in cold

[rb02259]

Well guys

Northern ireland is having a seriously cold spell minus 6 where I am.

My diesel insignia is refusing to start. The battery sounds good and cranks strong but it is going flat after prolonged effort.

Thinking might be glow plugs or fuel delivery issue

I bought easy start suitable for diesel and was about to spray into air intake then noticed it said engine needs to be cranking

What's that about. My wife's at work what happens if I spray then crank?

Thanks

Ryan

 

[Erie Fred]

Can you turn off the glow plugs when using the ether ?

IIRC that being the problem, glow plug igniting the ether in the intake manifold.

 

[rb02259]

Can you turn off the glow plugs when using the ether ?

IIRC that being the problem, glow plug igniting the ether in the intake manifold.

Thanks mate

Not sure what fuse to pull off hand

By way of update I had a battery charger on and went out and it started up but spluttered at idle for a minute

Seems OK for time being

I had bonnet popped and noticed a small amount of gas coming from turbo manifold area. Would that be heat of gases condensing in air or should I be concerned?

I take it glow plugs go off once engine cranks and that means no combustion in intake?

Ryan

 

[AVI_8]

The glow plugs go out when the engine starts, I’d get some diagnostics on it to determine where the fault lies, it could be the glow plug controller as opposed to the plugs themselves, or a broken wire in the loom to the controller.
Unlikely that all of the glow plugs have failed at the same time which why you want to check for fault codes.
I’d get this looked at asap, I don’t know much about Vauxhall but the diesel cars I have will not do a DPF regen with a glow plug fault, and you don’t want to end up with a blocked DPF

 

[JOEPRO]

The battery sounds good and cranks strong

Test the battery, if you don't have a tester go to any auto parts store they will have one and carry out the test for free. That's what I'd do first - ensure the battery is healthy and fully charged as this is the time of year when they start to fail

 

[rb02259]

The glow plugs go out when the engine starts, I’d get some diagnostics on it to determine where the fault lies, it could be the glow plug controller as opposed to the plugs themselves, or a broken wire in the loom to the controller.
Unlikely that all of the glow plugs have failed at the same time which why you want to check for fault codes.
I’d get this looked at asap, I don’t know much about Vauxhall but the diesel cars I have will not do a DPF regen with a glow plug fault, and you don’t want to end up with a blocked DPF

Thanks and will do. I have a scanner so will see if anything myself first

Good point about dpf. Funny I had a whole range of issues with egr and dpf a while ago but new egr and dpf pressure sensor seemed to fix it

 

[rb02259]

Test the battery, if you don't have a tester go to any auto parts store they will have one and carry out the test for free. That's what I'd do first - ensure the battery is healthy and fully charged as this is the time of year when they start to fail

Thanks joepro

I do have a battery tester. I tested it 3 or 4 weeks ago as routine and it reported as healthy.

Today I stuck battery tester on it when battery had died from cranking and it said say to replace but I assumed that's because battery was flat and it confused the tester?

Maybe not though

 

[JOEPRO]

Thanks joepro

I do have a battery tester. I tested it 3 or 4 weeks ago as routine and it reported as healthy.

Today I stuck battery tester on it when battery had died from cranking and it said say to replace but I assumed that's because battery was flat and it confused the tester?

Maybe not though

Try charging it fully then re test but sounds like its knackered

 

[JOEPRO]

Cars can do weird and wonderful things when the battery voltage drops below a certain threshold. Normally 12.6v or thereabouts. So whilst your battery can crank the engine over, if the voltage drops too much during cranking (as the case with a failing battery) ECUs may act up and cause problems which are directly attributable to the battery voltage

 

[rb02259]

Cars can do weird and wonderful things when the battery voltage drops below a certain threshold. Normally 12.6v or thereabouts. So whilst your battery can crank the engine over, if the voltage drops too much during cranking (as the case with a failing battery) ECUs may act up and cause problems which are directly attributable to the battery voltage

Interesting I didbt know this I must confess I thought if the cranking sounds sprites was generally grand haha

Have a charger on it and will re test and maybe stick multineter on it in morning after it's sat over night

Tbf battery is a fair age now

 

[Barking Mat]

Disconnect air intake stick a hot air gun in then try.

Might work ?

 

[rb02259]

Disconnect air intake stick a hot air gun in then try.

Might work ?

Interesting idea will definitely bear that in mind for future non starts

 

[Barking Mat]

I saw someone start a v8 Deutz on a crane this way, imaginative.

 

[Barking Mat]

What year is it ? Vauxhalls had ecu on the top of the injection pump, which can fail, have you checked the glowplugs with an ampimetric clamp ?

 

[Bobupndown]

Love watching the cold start videos on YouTube, -40°c takes serious cranking, old diesel trains too.

 

[Bornfree]

Thanks mate

Not sure what fuse to pull off hand

By way of update I had a battery charger on and went out and it started up but spluttered at idle for a minute

Seems OK for time being

I had bonnet popped and noticed a small amount of gas coming from turbo manifold area. Would that be heat of gases condensing in air or should I be concerned?

I take it glow plugs go off once engine cranks and that means no combustion in intake?

Ryan

Most modern diesels keep the glow plugs on after cold starts to stop white smoke for 2-3 minutes

 

[rb02259]

What year is it ? Vauxhalls had ecu on the top of the injection pump, which can fail, have you checked the glowplugs with an ampimetric clamp ?

It's 2010 haven't done any checks on glowplugs yet but will be doing some

 

[rb02259]

Love watching the cold start videos on YouTube, -40°c takes serious cranking, old diesel trains too.

Haha I've also enjoyed watching those allow strangely not enjoyable when it's your own car lol

 

[rb02259]

Most modern diesels keep the glow plugs on after cold starts to stop white smoke for 2-3 minutes

Thanks do I need to remive glow plugs to test or can it be done someway in series while in the head

 

[carbon]

You can check the resistance of a glow plug without removing them if they are wired individually or you can check the current draw if you have a dc clamp meter. My VW ones usually have a resistance of approx one ohm, not sure on more modern vehicles but you should be able to compare the readings from different glow plugs.