Hi All

I have a 1996 Ducato 2.5TDi based motorhome with low mileage. It has always been a good starter-two turns of the engine and it fires up, never stalling, even from ice cold. At least it used to.....

In August, prior to our holiday in France, I took it to my usual mechanic for a service. Since then, it has not been starting well at all.
From cold, it sometimes takes 15-20 turns of the engine before it fires, and sometimes then stalls straight away. Occasionally it will fire/stall two or three times before it keeps running, throwing out more smoke than it used to.. The mechanic wondered if the fuel filter he had fitted might be faulty, so he changed it for another new one. This has produced no improvement at all. His only further suggestion is to change the filter for a genuine Fiat one, but I cannot see how this would make a difference-after all he has used aftermarket ones on it for the last three years with no problems!

Does anyone have any ideas as to what else might be the cause of this? It seems to me that the fuel might be draining back from the filter and the delay in starting is it repriming the system-this is only a guess of course-I am in no way an expert!

I should add that it starts fine once warm-it is only a cold start problem.

Many thanks for any advice you can give.

Kind regards

John

2 turns? frankly I wouldn't regard that as a very good starter
I have a Tdi [2.8 ] and it always fires instantly , hot or cold !

have you considered a diesel electric specialist rather than a mechanic , injectors on the test bench etc

could be a good investment !

Thanks. I have considered a diesel specialist, but am trying to find a good one locally. I did wonder though if anyone thought the fuel filter was a good place to start, or could give me any other tips to try?

Changed the fuel filter for a genuine one. Small improvement maybe but still nowhere near right. Any ideas? My mechanic doesnt know what to try next!

OK. Got an opinion from a very skilled mechanic I know who is pretty certain that this is a classic glow plug problem. He also says that on this model the glow plug/s work all the time from cold.

It's really annoying that I don't have a workshop manual, so can anyone please tell me where the glow plug/s are located on a 2.5 TDi ?
(This is NOT a HDI or JTD-the one before that-1996.)
Many thanks. I had a look on the ePER, but can't find any trace of them....

Ducato Dethleffs said:

OK. Got an opinion from a very skilled mechanic I know who is pretty certain that this is a classic glow plug problem. He also says that on this model the glow plug/s work all the time from cold.

It's really annoying that I don't have a workshop manual, so can anyone please tell me where the glow plug/s are located on a 2.5 TDi ?
(This is NOT a HDI or JTD-the one before that-1996.)
Many thanks. I had a look on the ePER, but can't find any trace of them....

Click to expand...

i am expirencing the same problem for about 6 months now and its not glow plug there is only one at the air intake sitting on top of the engine , its a problem with the fuel return system and automatic choke and its very dificult to solve /find exact malfucioning piece

Hi All
Had this exact problem with a diesel Astra wouldn’t start from cold but was O.K on warm starts.
It turned out to be the leak off pipes that go between the injectors, they had become very brittle and were not sealing properly, had to cut the old ones off with a Stanley knife the new ones just push on.
I bought a length of pipe (about £3.00) and cut it to the various sizes, worth a try if you have the same setup.

darkov said:

i am expirencing the same problem for about 6 months now and its not glow plug there is only one at the air intake sitting on top of the engine , its a problem with the fuel return system and automatic choke and its very dificult to solve /find exact malfucioning piece

Click to expand...

DEFO fuel filter problem,air leak,churning starter trying to build up pressure hot or cold engine,i,ve fitted loads of after market filters its all down to good diesel supply and no air leaks.My bessacar starts immediatly after 4 month winter layup,the kontiki with the same sofim 2.5 tdi was just the same,don,t go off on a tangent look at the last operation thorougly first as engine was fine before,retired diesel fitter,all the best noknees,

one of the best tips i was given when i had a simular problem was to replace the black fuel pipes with see through clear plastic ones and you can diagnose the the problem at a glance where the air bubbles appear.

Definitely change the leak off pipes its only a couple of euro and is top of the lightly list of causes.

Some of the mechanical pumps ve4 11f have cold start advance and manifold pressure compensation which may cause hard or difficult start.

I'd look at the cold start mechanism if fitted (pg 41, 42) and see if its moved when the engine is hot.

http://www.htsuk.plus.com/BOSCH_VE_PUMPS.pdf

Good info here too especially the bottom links

http://wiki.obed.org.uk/index.php?title=Bosch_VE