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Technical erratic starting 1.3 multijet

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Technical erratic starting 1.3 multijet

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martinoban

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The engine turns over fine. Often it will start at once, other times it doesn't. I sometimes have to try 5-6 times before it goes. Once started, it's fine. The car has done 108000 miles. It's also slightly less economical than it used to be.

It's bee suggested that the fuel pump - presumably the high pressure one is beginning to fail

Any ideas?
 
What year is it? Any other symptoms? Smokey, etc? Age of battery? Last service?
And have you waterproofed the screwhole in the middle of the black plastic beneath the wipers (you can see it when you open the bonnet)?

My fuel pump went a few weeks ago at 95K miles. It was fine one minute and then suddenly it was leaking badly. I had no symptoms with it, no leaking on the garage floor. It just went when I was out. I came back to a small pool of diesel at the front of the car. The bearings went in the centre of the pump. I brought it to my local dealer as I was just around the corner at the time. They replaced it with another pump I sourced from a scrapyard. :) Hopefully it'll last a good while but I have the old one which I can get reconditioned if I need to.
 
Any flashing glow plug lights? In this cold snap the glow plugs would be the first point to call

Also look out for the water in fuel light as condensation builds up in the tank.

When was the fuel filter replaced?
 
Last edited:
Suggest a glow plug check for starters, although I can't see how this would affect your overall fuel consumption.
Pop leads off the glow plugs (sometimes very stiff, but a wiggle and tug will get them off) and check each one with a multimeter from tip of plug to earth. Should be a circuit - if not, the glow plug has failed.
Glow plugs are low down along front of the engine, roughly in line with oil filter.
 
Last edited:
Wee Smurf said:
What year is it? Any other symptoms? Smokey, etc? Age of battery? Last service?
And have you waterproofed the screwhole in the middle of the black plastic beneath the wipers (you can see it when you open the bonnet)?

My fuel pump went a few weeks ago at 95K miles. It was fine one minute and then suddenly it was leaking badly. I had no symptoms with it, no leaking on the garage floor. It just went when I was out. I came back to a small pool of diesel at the front of the car. The bearings went in the centre of the pump. I brought it to my local dealer as I was just around the corner at the time. They replaced it with another pump I sourced from a scrapyard. :) Hopefully it'll last a good while but I have the old one which I can get reconditioned if I need to.
Click to expand...
I'll look for this screw-hole when it stops raining! I've already had the glowplugs replaced, and the fuel filter as part of its regular servicing. It's an early engine - Nov 2005 - and has now done 108,000 miles.
 
martinoban said:
I'll look for this screw-hole when it stops raining! I've already had the glowplugs replaced, and the fuel filter as part of its regular servicing. It's an early engine - Nov 2005 - and has now done 108,000 miles.
Click to expand...


It's not just the screw hole. If you pull the whole air cleaner assembly, you will probably see that it has distorted at the rear, unseen normally, and the offending screw is right above this point. The distortion lets unfiltered air - or water - into the inlet tract. You can easily see the air-filter itself poking through if the distortion is bad. Plugging the screw hole can stop the water, but 'raw' air still gets in whenever the motor's running. A good fix is duct tape right along the rear of the plastic housing. Very poor design and manufacture.
I've scrapped mine and fitted a more efficient intake assembly.
 
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