Need a top tip!
 

My V70 D5 won't start today, but for the last few days with the cold over night temps. it has been turning over for about twenty seconds before catching. I know number one fuel injector is leaking back so I suppose this may be a factor. Is there a top tip to get the car started ?

Are your glow plugs ok? Also, if your battery is weak it might have enough juice to turn the engine over but not enough for the preheat at the same time. My old Vectra diesel had this problem. New battery and it would start first turn of the key.

i have heard people use heat guns and hot water on the engine just to get it running

sounds like the injector is fouled though so i would try getting some cleaner in there, or a replacement :(

Need a top tip
 

Thanks all, Spoke to my Guru ( hamish at HLM in Bromsgrove) did a jump start and just kept it turning over until it fired, it did take a long time!

I have no idea how easy or difficult it is to get the glow plugs out of your motor, but if it is easy, I'd get them out and test them.

If you can't (or can't be bothered to) get them out, I believe there is a test that will go some way to telling you their condition with them in situ. I'll see if I can find where I read it, but I think it was about measuring their resistance. An open circuit was definitely dead, a short is dud, but I can't remember the resistance range that they are supposed to have.

You could also test that power is getting to the plugs. I believe when you first switch the ignition on when the engine is cold, the glow plugs should see a 12V supply for about 30 seconds before switching off. The voltage won't always be there because the ECU usually decides how much pre-heat you need based on the temperature of the engine.

Dead glow plugs (and they do occasionally die) will make a diesel engine a pure nightmare to start in freezing weather.

Actually, there's a point. Once she's started and has had time to warm up, if you switch her off, give her a minute, and then try to start her again does she fire up no trouble? If you get aggro when she's already warm then you can rule out the pre-heat.

Good battery and new glow plugs should help.

When we were dealing with diesel tractors we used to use Bradex 'Easy Start' in winter - a quick squirt up the air intake would do the trick. Now made by Holts, and sold by Halfords. Used to be ether based, don't know what is in it these days. Works a treat but it should only be used as a last resort.

On anything with a paper air fiulter you will need to separate the air intake pipe somewhere after the filter and then squirt, fire up and reconnect.

Regards

John Davies

My uncle used to drive wagons in the 50s and 60s and he reckoned on cold mornings he would light a fire under the engine to start it!!!
Don't try this at home....

I was once told also that a diesel engine could get addicted to easy start and you would have to keep feeding it more and more.

Sort the leaky injector, fit some new glow plugs and make sure the battery is in good condition and you should be sorted.

SC

Hi SC I also was told that once you use easy start they become addicted, but if for some reason you HAVE to use it then something is wrong already so my point is unless you fix the problem already there then it will just keep needing easystart.
We used to use it on old diggers and bits of old plant normally they had weak batteries and had to be jumped every morning so straight away that was bad but most had lost quite a bit of compression and could be turned over by hand very easily,and the one thing that you need to ignite the diesel in the compression chamber is compression.Put the two together and its obvious that easy start will continue to be needed.
Regards Brian.

My dad said this about wagons and buses from when he was a lad.[/quote]

I would agree with that, except for one detail. I would check that power is going to the glowies before buying new ones. I would bet on it being that the glowies are past it, but as they are expensive, and it could be other things, I'd do the cheap test first. No power to glowies means either a relay has packed in (nice and cheap), a temp sensor has had it (doubt it if the car runs fine once it is started) or the ECU is playing up (again doubt it if it runs fine once started).

So, a multimeter to the power supply of the glowies, look for 12V. If the voltage is there, then take the plugs out. If you hold them gently in pliers or something with the power supply connected, you should be able to see if they are getting hot once they're out.

Testing Glow Plugs
 

I used to work on VW and Audis. The best way to test the glow plugs is to get hold of an Amp Clamp (clamp on ammeter) and locate the wire leading to the brass bus bar that all the glow plugs are bolted to and clamp it round that wire switch on the ignition (When the engine is cold) and the meter should read 12A per plug (4cyl engine = 48A, 5 Cyl = 60A, 6Cyl are usually split into 2 groups of 3 = 36A each wire) any less and you have one or more dead or failing plugs
Then it's down to taking them out and testing them indivdually