Hello, this one has me pulling my hair out at the moment. Normally the car starts first time with out any issues but every so often it will act like the battery is nearly flat and when i jumplead it, it will start but takes ages and i have to press the accelerator down several times.
Also when it has started if i then turn it off and restart, then the battery is fine and it will start first time.

any ideas?

many thanks

david

If it's a Turbo Diesel then the first thing i'd be checking when the fault is there is that you've got power to the Glow plug rail. All you need to do that is a simple 12v test lamp. Also check all connections in the Glow plug circuit especially the relay.





Andy

Hi, it is a TD. i did think about the glow plugs and/or associated circuit but i can't see how that would cause a flat battery symptom. but i could be looking at it the wrong way, instead of flat battery symptom and then poor starting it could be glow plugs circuit causing the flat battery symptom.
I'll check the glow plug circuit when it stops bloody raining.

thanks

david

Hi David: Sorry forgot about that. When you say flat battery symptom, do you mean it won't turn over ? & do you still have dash lights when this happens ? if you do then take a look at the starter motor & see if you have power to the small solenoid wire when it happens & also check engine earths.



Andy

i doubt its the glow plugs, they aren't really required unless its really cold. Certainly alot of more modern cars don't even warm them up if its not under -5 degrees which is most of the year in the UK. No idea about the mk1 diesels myself thoughm don't think i have ever looked under the bonnet of one yet.

Yes but the Mk1 is'nt a particularly modern car & a lot of older Diesel vehicles turn on the Glow plugs for a set time whatever the temp.

yeah i understand that, what i'm getting at is even if the glow plugs aren't working it would still start unless it was really cold, which it isn't.

I did'nt say it would'nt start if the Glow plug system is'nt working but it will cause it to take a lot longer at first starting. Having said that if there's a Fault in the Glow plug ECU (Timer) then yes it can drain the battery , seen it happen. As for it being really cold out, in most circumstances it does'nt need to be that cold for the Heaters to be activated at first switch on in the morning which is what he seems to be talking about & once the Engine is warm then it's ok for the rest of the day. If the system thinks that the engine temperature is'nt high enough to ensure Ignition by Adiabatic compression heating alone then it will activate the Glow system, regardless of outside air temperature.

meh, i'm not trying to argue, just my glow plugs on my stilo stopped working (a wire came off and none of them were getting any power) car started on the button and was like that for months and months hence my feeling it wouldn't cause starting issues at all at this time of year.. A fault could drain battery though no doubt.

We're not having an argument, I appreciate what you said about your Stilo but that does'nt work for all cars & may well not even happen on another Stilo. What you've got to remember is that different systems work in different ways, especially the older systems. Did'nt your system throw up any sort of fault with the wire off ?

oh yeah, it did preheat fault every time you turned it on.. I didn't have the car though, it was being used by a family member who didn't feel the need to tell me about it or fix it, they just gave it back and said oh yeah, its been doing that for months. They also took a wiper off the front and didn't replace it so the screen had a massive score where the arm had been scratching the screen. neymind, sold that car now anyway.

Don't you just love friends & relatives

well they ain't borrowing a car again thats for sure