My diesil wagon has never given me a minutes trouble ever,but that changed over the last few days ,we have been camped in some freezing cold sites lately,and old faithful does not like it a bit,when starting first thing in the morning,it tries to fire up and stalls,at least 10 times and gradually starts idling, and runs perfectly until the next extremely frosty morning, I have been buying fuel with the additive in it but that's not working,Iam fairly mechanically minded but no expert,the only thing I can put it down too would be perhaps the glo plugs,any Ideas would be much appreciated...
If its a glow plug problem they generaly don't fire up on all cylinders for a few seconds. You can check each glowplug individualy for resistance using a multimeter.
Can use Start ya barstard ? As said . It's the glow plugs . May get away with remove and clean ? Or in my case on GM diesel ? Leave key on for a minute or two ?? If fitted with lift pump ?? Check it's operating ??
My diesil wagon has never given me a minutes trouble ever,but that changed over the last few days ,we have been camped in some freezing cold sites lately,and old faithful does not like it a bit,when starting first thing in the morning,it tries to fire up and stalls,at least 10 times and gradually starts idling, and runs perfectly until the next extremely frosty morning, I have been buying fuel with the additive in it but that's not working,Iam fairly mechanically minded but no expert,the only thing I can put it down too would be perhaps the glo plugs,any Ideas would be much appreciated...
Back in the eighties my Volvo prime mover used to catch me out parked up at Armidale then regularly at Albury, the winds would blow up the street, the outside temps were about -4cel causing conjellingof the fuel, some call it waxing.
What I did would place 240volt blow heater need the fuel pump and injector lines, warming up the injector lines never cause me drama after this. A seriously cold night I would place a piece of ply in the grill.
As for a time frame probably 15 to 20 minutes, I would walk around to the shop buy some breakfast come back and it would start.
Thanks for your input guys the most important thing I have learned from this experience,frozen car ,frozen water pipes,no early get aways because the engines to cold ,AVOID the Armadale region in winter , when the car warms up to day Iam driving none stop for the coast...
Modern diesels have no cold start issues unless ( in Australia) there's other circumstances. Our old 7.5ltr 85 Fuso would start first time down snow fields . Run antifreeze, good coolant .. Sometimes batteries don't crank fast enough in cold climate also . Old tractors back in NZ where often hard to start. We drained coolant out and filled with hot water . Started motor then . Put coolant back in !! The things we did back then !!
When RVing with the Cruiser/Caravan, I always try to park the cruiser facing the early morning sun, so it gets a warm up. The Cruiser does not have starting problems in cold weather, its just to me there is less wear and tear with the cold engine/oil. I am also a slow starter when its cold.
You may be experiencing gelling in your fuel. In very cold climates fuel companies sell winterized diesel (using many brand names), this fuel is treated to prevent overnight gelling in cold climates. In fact I think you can buy it here in oz in alpine areas.
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Have the same problem with a Ford Transit 2003 2.4 turbo tddi. It only happens in really cold weather. We don't usually break camp till 10.30 - 11am so it's rarely a problem. Doesn't seem related to glo plugs ie doesn't seem any different if you let them heat for 10 seconds or a minute or so. Lengthy spiel on the Ford Transit forum relating to cold start problems. Talk about fuel pumps and lots of other exxie stuff so we put up with it. Last time away for 10 weeks and had trouble starting twice. Planning on Tassie next year so may be more of an issue.
The Canadians & Americans use mostly petrol powered cars & trucks for reasons that when diesel is chilled, the wax in it solidifies & makes starting difficult. You can get heaters that warm the fuel lines if you're in constantly cold conditions.
Warren
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
My 6.5 diesel Chev has diesel heater before fuel filter .,If we leave key on for 2 or 3 minutes for glow plugs, fuel warmers to work, it starts easy . In some cases these may not be working or fitted . In all our cases with hard start it was engine itself too cold and cranking too slow !!
Firstly what sort of vehicle ??? Some diesels require a delay from key on to start to enable glow plug to do their thing...........if your battery is getting on a bit it won't give enough juice to the plugs to warm up the cylinder and therefore a ragged or no start, I doubt the gelled fuel bit if you have filled up locally...having trucked around the alpine climes for years in old and new stuff any trouble with starting was usually down to poor battery performance.....................Having just been down south in minus 4 the Colorado fired up each morning far better than it's owner but it has a new battery...................used to plug the fire trucks into the mains so the sump and gearbox would keep warm.
Waxxy fuel happens over a period of time with summer blend and the wax slowly clogs filters and lines, we don't get the cold here for it to be overnight.
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