V50 Engine 2.0D : Starting Problem

[chalsal]

I don't know anything about glow plugs but have read that they only come into use in extremely cold temperatures on these diesel engines.

Well yesterday ordered a new starter motor which arrived today, fitted this evening with a little help from hubby, took about 45 minutes and not too difficult did it from the top of the engine by the roadside, disconnected the battery earth lead, removed a nut and 3 bolts, one slide plug and that was pretty much it, it was a bit difficult getting the spanners on the nuts with the cables and pipes in the way but with a bit of perseverance, all went well and hey presto, started first time. All fingers crossed that it will start in the morning, I don't see why not though. I was quoted £250 to have one fitted at a local garage yesterday (expensive I thought!) so got the part from West Lancs Auto Electrics for £99.50 with free next day delivery.
CS x

[sfstu]

^^^did that fix it?

[sfstu]

Have had a problem starting (just turning over, not starting) for 1st time yesterday morning, at 3.30am! Then it's happened a couple of times since.
Popped into the local indi garage on way home yesterday and mentioned it, he said glow plugs. Not convinced, I did some reading on here and found this thread.

Today when home from work, inspired by this thread, I grabbed my spanners for the first time in 2 years or so and with a deep breath, removed the throttle housing assembly!
Pretty easy so far...
The throttle assembly looked fairly clean inside and the valve didn't really stick, it's obviously been replaced at some point this year (I've only had the car 2 months). So after a light burst of carb cleaner looked new again.Although obviously a newish part, I decided to follow Clan's advice and chamfer the edges of the valve with a fine needle-file and a smooth over with some fine Dick Emery cloth.

Re-assembly was a reversal of removal , and then I got the wife to fire the car up while I watched the fuel lines. It fired up first time, (which could always be because the problem is intermittent) so all good there. Will have to see how it goes over the next few days...

I did however notice some air bubbles travel along the clear fuel line as the engine started and these disappeared along the line within a few seconds then seemed to run clear.
Is this normal or does it need bleeding?

Thanks for reading,
Rgds Stu

[JLJ]

Clan, a huge thank you for freely sharing your knowledge and experience here.

My elderly dad's V50 wouldn't start one morning and, needing the car, he had it towed to Taggarts of Glasgow, they charged £1000 to "fix" this and other dangerous defects they found with the car (this less than 6 weeks after passing an MOT without issue).

We also got a new battery as it was flat from trying to start the car, in the interests of fairness I can't confirm if this was needed or not so must give benefit of doubt here.

A few days later the car again failed to start. Fortunately this happened at the weekend when I was about. 5 minutes of googling I found this article and 10 minutes later had popped off the breather tube as you advised, prodded the flap which popped open and the car started.

Two hours later I'd removed, cleaned, filed, sanded and reassembled the throttle body, it's not gone wrong since. I know you recommend replacement but another £100 on top of what's been spent would be too much.

Thanks again.

[piper82]

hello,

been searching a lot with my bad start problem and found a lot useful info on this forum. just want to share my experience and fix.

my 2005 v50 2.0d was poor starter from the moment i bought it. nothing too bad, it would crank few times and fire or miss.

then i started to have intermittent start problem where engine would start but run like an abrams tank with very low revs and lots of awful rattling from clutch area. (apparently flywheel rattles like crazy on low power)
pressing gas pedal would do nothing. i had to turn off and try again. there was lot of air in fuel system when that happens, but only few bubbles when engine started properly.

it would happen randomly in the morning or evening, cold or hot. no pattern. sometimes not, sometimes few times in a row but eventually it would fire and work like nothing ever happened. until today.

car started in the "abrams" mode and no matter how many times i tried it wouldnt start properly. so i took following steps.

1. dismantled and bled fuel filter, cleaned it with air compressor
2. dismantled and cleaned intake housing with soot cleaner
3. went to scrapyard and bought hand pump from peugeot 307
made some cuts and fitted it like in the image. red is fitted hand pump.
blue is me being idiot and breaking connector on fuel filter housing
so i had to put plastic strap to keep it in place. i also bought non return valve but i realized pump acts like one so i didnt fit it at all.

4. fitted everything back, pumped the fuel in system
5. after almost depleting battery car did start but again in "abrams" mode!!!
6. since there was lots of air in the system circulating again i left the car working in "abrams" mode and started to unscrew and screw the nozzles just for a brief moment to try and remove the air from the injectors and realized that two nozzles were suspiciously loose and probably leaking. i started on the left side and after i bled the last one on the far right side car went from "abrams" to normal. after fitting everything back i washed the engine.

here is the picture after cleaning the engine and hour of testing. note the second and fourth nozzle that were loose, they still look leaky wet after cleaning and hour of testing. unfortunately, i didn't check if they look dry before testing, they may have been like this in the first place. they definitely leaked before.



conclusion:

1. car now starts as soon as key is turned like never before
2. no air in fuel lines whatsoever, nozzles 2 and 4 which were loose still look wet and may be still leaking a bit.
3. car is now super responsive and jumps on slightest pedal press like never before (probably because of cleaning intake housing)
4. never do this alone if you're not experienced. you will probably break something and increase your mechanic bill. i had a lucky break to not destroy the engine completely for leaving it running in abrams mode and tampering with nozzles. you may want to give your mechanic some pointers if you have similar problems.

ill report back in few days to confirm if everything is working well.

good luck

[mammut89]

I have problems starting my volvo v50 2.0D ONLY IN HUMID AND COLD conditions.

throttle valve is not sticking, and cleaned
glow plugs are changed
battery is new
alternator is new
diesel filter is new
egr valve is new

car starts and runs perfectly every single time during the warmer months but once we get humidity and snow combined it wont start until 6th or so try.

This is not a problem if its only cold. For example if its -5 degrees and the roads are dry no problem at all.

If its -5 degrees and the roads are salted and wet I have big problems.

My problem is definately related to something electrical. Any suggestions ?

[padder1956]

Having same issues took throttle body apart teeth missing off the actuator rod which controls the butterfly

[sproutster]

huge thanks to Clan - 100% on the money. As a result am now a Newbie to the forum for such fantastic advice

113k miles on 2.0D purchased Jan this year.

Starting problems got progressively worse from occasionally not starting (but always starting second time) to always not starting but starting second time every time through to only starting third time - always with no apparent pattern.

Read this thread and on the strength of Clan's commentary took a punt on replacing Throttle Body.

Starts like new now

[Clan]

All is well that ends well :-)

[MIkeOG]

Hello all,

New to this thread and I'm hoping you can help me decide on if I should buy a car I'm looking at..

It's an 09 V50 R-design. Very detailed service history with a mileage of 120k on it. While researching the car I managed to get to speak to the previous mechanic who informed me that was a fueling problem with the V50 that required it to be primed. He told me that the diesel pump had been replaced and the filter housing and the next plan of attack was to go at the injectors. But the owner decided to sell the car before this was done. He told me he had been called out to start it numerous times so I'm assuming it's not just a won't start on the first or second go but not at all.. I would appreciate any wise words of advise you have on a possible known solution for this problem?? Thanks in advance