Hi Everyone

Just joined up in the hope others may also have had this problem with their Punto mk2 1.3 multijet van and can offer some advise.

Its the wifes car owned from new (2004), done over 300k miles now with only other fault in all those miles was a new clutch.

The problem is it struggles to start in cold weather, the glow plug light flashes and turns off after a while as usual when theres a glow plug fault. I had the glow plugs replaced last winter but was no better, took back to garage they then changed the glow plug controller but still no better. It would seem the garage dont have a clue so not keen to send it back and waste more cash on a car that must by now be getting to the end of its life.
I`m thinking maybe its a sensor fault, maybe engine temperature sensor ? if it has one.

Any advise much appreciated
Thanks
Jamie

try 2 to 4 pulses of
ignition on - wait for glowplug light to go out - ignition off - repeat

This will allow the glow plugs to actually get hot and possibly help with heating

see if this helps at all

Ziggy

I would do a leak off test on the injectors. If one is leaking the rail will never develop enough pressure for a clean cold start. Glo plugs will make no difference. Common rail systems don't really need them unless the temp is below 6 degrees or so. Typically she will be hard to cold start but no problem warm starting or running. Four drinks bottles and four hoses should do it and typically the max allowed is something like 40cc per min - don't know exactly for that motor.

This is the general idea

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=184844&highlight=leak+test

Thanks for reply Ziggy, sadly already tried that no improvement.

Although the thought of the wife spraying easy start into the air intake and dashing back to start the car still makes me smile she`s threatening to buy a new car for winter

Thanks Brendan W, if its an injection problem would the glow plug light still flash for a few mins after starting?
Its tougher to start the colder it is, can take at least 30sec of cranking some mornings with cloud of smoke when it fires, easy start gets it going quicker but not much help when she`s alone

The glow plug light will do it's normal thing but the clean starting depends more on the pressure in the rail being high enough to atomise the fuel properly. Try lighting a closed telephone directory with a match compared to a single page. One injector leaking affects the whole rail so all cylinders are down and will have poor spray patterns.

Hi,

The glow plug light flashing means there is a fault on the pre-heat system. Ie one or more glow plugs or the control box are faulty.

You can easily test each glow plug with a multi-meter if you have one to see if they are at fault.

However you say you have had all the glow plugs AND controll box replaced. The fact it is still flashing however indicates there is still a fault. This will not be helping your cold start, although as Brendan suggests May not be the sole cause of it. The 1.3 does rely on its glow plugs more than other common rail diesels. I had 2 out on my JTD and it had absolutely no effect except the flashing glow plug light. However when I had one out on my 1.3 mjet it def started with a slight miss from cold and increased blue smoke.

Your mjet does have a temp sensor as you say, the best way to check if this is working is to connect up to diagnostics and see what temp it's telling the ECU at cold start.

Alan

The flashing glow plug light means there is a fault with the glow plug side of things so it's fairly save to say its not injector leak related.

One consideration is that one or more of the glow plugs as developed a fault again, its easy to test just take them out turn on the ignition to the glow plug position and see if they heat up, or check the continuity on each with a multimeter. Fortunately glow plugs on these engines are quite cheap.
Another consideration is with age the wiring has broken in some way after all those miles of cold start cycles

I'm impressed to hear you have 300,000miles on your it means there is plenty of life left in mine now approaching 100k

of course the engine might just be worn out

Amazingly it runs exactly as it did when new other than cold winter days.
Saying that the mpg has actually improved with age, its now showing 78mpg average which is why i`m keen to sort it.
It starts fine when temps over 5-6 degrees.

cheap glow worms always were a waste of money maybe thats what you had fitted then?
ngk are always good gear

JC205 said:

It starts fine when temps over 5-6 degrees.

Click to expand...

That would indicate a glo plug problem is more likely. Leaks don't go away on sunny days. Cheap glo plugs are a waste of space.
As a diy diagnostic the leak off is an easy test of the health of the injectors and could get you over the magic 80 mpg

Hi,

Quick and easy way to test the glow plugs...

Remove the engine cover (2 x 10mm bolts that secure MAF sensor to filter housing) then the cover just pulls off. (make sure you also un-clip the cold air feed from above the rad)

You will see the 4 glow plugs at the front of the engine just above the exhaust manifold.

Disconnect the wiring plugs (they just pull off)

Set you multimeter to resistance (ohms)

Place the negative lead on the side (nut) of the glow plug, place the positive lead on the top of the glow plug.

If the reading is under 5 ohms, the plug is good.
If its over 5 ohms the plug may be weak.
If there is "infinity" then the plug has failed.

Test all 4 plugs and compare the readings.

Alan

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but I am having the same problem and wondered what it was?

I'm having the exact same issue with my 2008 1.9 Grande. Did anyone find a solution? I tried changing the glow plugs to new Bosch ones but didn't make a difference.

1871 said:

I'm having the exact same issue with my 2008 1.9 Grande. Did anyone find a solution? I tried changing the glow plugs to new Bosch ones but didn't make a difference.

Click to expand...

Are you definitely getting 12v at the flyleads?

That was my issue

varesecrazy said:

Are you definitely getting 12v at the flyleads?

That was my issue

Click to expand...

Sorry for long delay in replying. Just got round to testing and I'm not getting 12V - getting more like 11v cold and then drops down when running. Did you change the battery?

Thanks for replying.

1871 said:

Sorry for long delay in replying. Just got round to testing and I'm not getting 12V - getting more like 11v cold and then drops down when running. Did you change the battery?

Thanks for replying.

Click to expand...

Battery shouldnt make that difference..

Look as post today with a similar mj gp issue

Charlie

varesecrazy said:

Battery shouldnt make that difference..

Look as post today with a similar mj gp issue

Charlie

Click to expand...

I don't think I could find the thread.

After testing the volts at the fly leads I then couldn't get the car to start again - the battery was completely dead. I jump started the car and drove it for 5/10mins in which time the battery completely died again. I had to get a relative to come out and jump start the car again and get it home. I took the battery out - took it to Halfords and they advised the battery was dead. So I ordered up a new battery, fitted and it starts.

The issue I'm having now is when I drive off the battery warning light is on and the power steering will intermittently stop. After you drive for 5 mins or so the light goes out and everything seems fine again. Any idea what could be causing this? I was think initially maybe its the alternator going/gone but it seems driving it actually does fix the issue. There is whirring noise from the engine, but i tried the radio low frequency plus rev trick and it didn't affect radio. Also the whirring comes more from near the bonnet clip and I was thinking turbo?

I also took the car to the local Halfords autocentre down the road. They took a look at the rough start and advised as they're not diesel experts they're not sure but they think it is either the fuel injectors leaking and building up overnight or the fuel pump is going. They said to fix the injectors would be £1000+ and on a car that age isn't worth it. Does this sound plausible?

So far I've replaced the glow plugs and battery, neither of which seems to have made any difference.

Thanks a lot of any advice!