Hi all,

I have been experiencing poor starting for a number of months now. It usually happens once every two weeks or so.

I turn the ignition on, wait for the glow plug and injector lights to go out before cranking.

It seems to only happen on hot days when the sun is out for most of the day. Not sure if this is a coincidence? But normally, when I start it at around 8:00am in the morning, it starts fine. When I go to start it at lunch time (1:00pm) or when I finish work (5:00pm) it has trouble starting.

Starting it today was the poorest I have known it since I have owned the car. It took approximately 6 attempts to start, then chucked out a big cloud of white smoke after it started.

My car was parked in direct sunlight. After this, I parked it in the shade. It took 2 attempts to start it in the afternoon when I left work.

I have read on other threads of people changing the battery but I don't think this could be the issue.

Has anyone else had this trouble?

Many thanks,
Matt

I find doing the glow plug thing twice it starts ok or treating with redex or similar may help but apparently lots of them do it. It's just diesel Grande Punto thing

Hammy080 said:

I find doing the glow plug thing twice it starts ok or treating with redex or similar may help but apparently lots of them do it. It's just diesel Grande Punto thing

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I'll buy some fuel additive and see how it goes. It was parked in the sun today, and was hotter than the other, but started fine! Not sure what the correlation is :bang:

Mattty said:

Thanks for the advice! I'll buy some fuel additive and see how it goes. It was parked in the sun today, and was hotter than the other, but started fine! Not sure what the correlation is :bang:

Click to expand...

HI,
the cloud of smoke is unburnt fuel.. so sounds like its injecting fuel o.k. whilst cranking..but NOT firing ( burning) the fuel instantly,


normally bad glow plugs would have COLD starting issues - NOT once warm / hot,
any other issues..ever had a warning light / message on dash..??,

Charlie - Oxford

I have an alternator D+ Terminal fault code P0621, but can't find any information on this! Don't think this will affect it starting though.

I clear this every time it appears on the diagnostics.

Experienced poor starting again today. I did notice when I got into the car that there was a faint diesel smell inside the cab. I was down to the quarter of the tank.

Going to fit a new fuel filter to see if this helps. Needs one anyway.

I had exactly the same... Changed the battery with a higher cold crank ampage and have never had an issue since 6 month down the line

Hi all,

It's been a little while since the last update, but I'm still experiencing the problem of poor starting from cold.

I have fitted a brand new battery, and had the alternator changed due to it failing. Today the car was struggling to start during my lunchtime, and when I went to leave work, I was hit with the "Excessive Radiation Fluid Temp." warning. I really don't understand this as the car was cold, and the outside temp was around 22ºC?

I am starting to get frustrated with this occurring every so often, and if any of you guys knew of anything which would be of help, I would appreciate it!

Matt

I suspect a dodgy coolant temperature sensor giving a duff reading. Do you know when the thermostat was last replaced?

Thanks for the quick reply brickfoot! No, i'm unsure when it was last replaced, I purchased the car at 38k, and I haven't replaced it since owning it.

Is this easily tested?

Yes and no. You'll need access to a code reader that can do live sensor reading.

Before starting the engine from cold, note the engine coolant temperature reading. if it's within a few degrees of the outside temperature, it "should" be fine. If it's recording a value that looks obviously wrong, then that could be your issue.

The sensor is located on the coolant thermostat which led me to ask the question if it's been replaced, as new ones come with a replacement sensor

Ok, thanks for the advice. I will see how much a thermostat is, and see if it can solve my problem!

Matt

Worth testing the sensor first if you can