Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[al brown]

As this is my first diesel, is there anything other than glow plugs that will cause it to be difficult to start?. It is an 03 focus tdci, has been like it for a little while, not just the recent cold mornings. Does start better if the engine is warm, but not always.

Cheers

[TheBoy]

Plenty of things, but glow plugs are likely and easy (normally)

[al brown]

Cheers,
searching the ford forum which says the tdci doesn't really need the glow plugs unless it is really cold. I will replace them on the weekend and see how it is then, it runs fine when started with plenty of power (for the 10-20 revs it's in the power band anyway, I hate diesels), gets a good mpg, doesn't really smoke and I have not long serviced it.
Just was curious what else there is as there isn't any ignition to worry about, injectors and timing, air etc but like I said it runs fine as soon as it starts.

[Stemo]

Take it to your friendly local ford dealership, Al. They will be happy to replace everything until they find the offending part. 

[al brown]

Take it to your friendly local ford dealership, Al. They will be happy to replace everything until they find the offending part. 

Erm,  nope. Not gonna do that. Fairly sure they would change everything even after the found the fault, that's assuming they actually noticed it was fixed.

[Stemo]

Take it to your friendly local ford dealership, Al. They will be happy to replace everything until they find the offending part. 

Erm,  nope. Not gonna do that. Fairly sure they would change everything even after the found the fault, that's assuming they actually noticed it was fixed.

OK, Al, just a suggestion.

[Andy B]

Cheers,
searching the ford forum which says the tdci doesn't really need the glow plugs unless it is really cold. I will replace them on the weekend and see how it is then, it runs fine when started with plenty of power (for the 10-20 revs it's in the power band anyway, I hate diesels), gets a good mpg, doesn't really smoke and I have not long serviced it.
Just was curious what else there is as there isn't any ignition to worry about, injectors and timing, air etc but like I said it runs fine as soon as it starts.

Any fault codes? Vauxhalls tend to throw up a fault code of some description for u/s glow plugs. On both my older Astra G & my SiL's Astra H, faulty glow plugs were found by comparing resistance of each of them ...... the plug with a resistance different from the rest was duff. 

[al brown]

No fault codes, haven't looked at the plugs yet. To be honest haven't looked at anything yet, was asking the question to get a heads up as I am not experienced on diesels (F34 yes, but not in a piston engine). Thought it was worth asking what else to look out for with regards to poor starting, before I take Stemo's advice and trade it for a new one.

[Kevin Wood]

Air getting in anywhere when parked up, for a start, so fuel filter housing, bleed-off pipes and also lift pump if it has one. Is it related to fuel level in the tank at all?

Might be worth measuring glow plug current with a DC clamp meter first (I have one if you need to borrow it).

[RossPhim]

It's probably either fuel filter or egr related!
IMHO 
Good luck!

[Marks DTM Calib]

Air getting into the system is the normal cause.

Slow cranking is another.

Direct injection diesels need less glow plug input to support starting but, it could them (measure the resistance of each)

[al brown]

Cheers for the advice, I didn't think about air getting in. There are no signs of fuel leaks so never occurred about air getting in over night.
I have blanked the egr off and the filter has been on less than a year, seems to be unrelated to fuel level. Mostly starts fine if the engine is warm, starts fine if engine is hot.
 I do have a set of glow plugs that I bought just in case when I bought the kit to service it but as it was starting fine I never changed them.
We have had the car a couple of years so I think I will just change them as I have them anyway, I was just not sure what else it could be of that doesn't help. Am always up for a bit of learning, cheers for the offer of a loan anyway Kevin.

Al

[hoody]

it wont show as a leak,air getting in as the fuel drains out the filter back to the tank and then when you try to start the car it takes an age to start.

[al brown]

Well, glow plugs changed but car was still rough to start this morning. Then 5 mins into journey the glow plug light came on, car stuttered and died. Restarted It and went to work and drove home fine, nice and smooth with plenty of power.
 Codes stored are
P1211 injector control pressure higher/lower than desired
P1664 injector pump control module malfunction
P0251 injector pump fuel metering control A

I am assuming the first 2 are due to it cutting out, but could the 3rd one have anything to do with the poor starting?

Also noticed while playing with the reader that 3 of the 4 idle trims are between 3-500, with the other at 0, which 3 changes every time I start the car, is this normal?
Any advice would be great, I am hoping the faults are all related otherwise it means I am chasing 2 faults.

Cheers

[al brown]

What should the cranking speed of a focus TDCI be?
As the car still starts and runs I have been checking the quick and easy bits after work and before it gets dark.
It has run for 2 days now with no more engine codes, engine and coolant sensors read the correct temp, after being stood all day there was 1000kPa in the fuel rail, which rose quickly on cranking, cranking rpm being around 200rpm and as soon as it starts it runs perfect.
Does anyone have any experience of a good ford forum that's not just full of boy racers.
Cheers