Technical 2001 ducato 2.8 d glow plug problem

[rikdogg]

Hi there... Having problems with my ducato and would be grateful for any assistance...

- Very reluctant to start from cold and needs a lot of cranking... When does start loads of white smoke
- glow plug switches on and off normally when preheating, but flashes for approx 60 seconds after starting. Understand this indicates a problem with the pre heat system.
- can hear relay click on and off as it should
- voltage between battery + and bus bar is 12.5V with ignition on and does not seem to change when preheating

Any thoughts on further fault finding steHps? Am I right in thinking there doesn't seem to be current getting to bus bar? Could this be a dodgy relay or broken wire?

As you might be able to tell electrics not my strong point - appreciate any help!

Thanks, Richard

 

[varesecrazy]

you and me both,
Are you sure the glow plugs are good..??, my marea flashed like that with dead plugs,
usually having 2 good + 2 bad will give your symptoms,
only 1 good = just flatten the battery..all that cranking,

have you tried the old trick of pre-heating 2 or 3 times before cranking ?,
usually helps, if it does - then it's DEF. bad plugs,
Charlie

 

[vladacz]

Hello rikdogg,

I had a problem with both the plugs and the relay on my 2.8D:

At first, I experienced white/gray smoke and irregular action when starting in winter. Glow plugs are easily accessible, just disconnect the common wire and test them for resistance (ohms) one by one with a multimeter or just with a 12V bulb for example. Three of four showed infinite resistance in my case - still the indicator was not flashing. (Low resistance still doesn't guarantee that the plug is OK, but it is an easy check.)

I replaced all four plugs. Started excellent even when cold, no white smoke whatsoever.

After a couple of months, in the summer, the indicator begun to flash after starting. Some smoke appeared again towards the autumn. This time the problem was in the contacts of the relay. There was apparently some corrosion on the blades or in the socket of the relay that caused excessive heating, maybe arcing and further corrosion. I cleaned the blade contacts on the relay with a very fine sandpaper, closed the contacts inside the socket a bit so that they hold the blade more firmly and everything is OK again. Temperatures went down to -10 C these days and still the machine starts easily without smoke.

The relay is in the engine bay, not in the cabin. I knew that it should be there, near the battery, but still it took me some time to find it as it is mounted very high - almost on the top of the bay above a massive +12V distribution clamp, on the partition to the cabin. My Ducato is LHD so the location of the relay may be different in yours.

I guess that either all your plugs are gone or there is a problem with the relay. The plugs draw a lot of current so their action should manifest by quite some drop of battery voltage.

I hope my experience above helps. Let us know what was the problem.

 

[rikdogg]

Thanks for the replies! I am thinking it may be a faulty relay as it doesnt seem to help even if cycle the plugs 3-4 times before attempting to start.

Unfortunately I am having trouble locating a spare relay! The local Fiat dealership have been unable to locate part number and I am trying to locate it on the EPER. The closest I can find is the 50A relay 7606542

http://eper.fiatforum.com/eper/navi...INT_MODE=0&EPER_CAT=SP&GUI_LANG=3&WINDOW_ID=1

I am not sure what the "centralina eletronnica" is as that looks more promising but the part isnt available for the 2.8D!

Can anyone confirm the part number? Unfortunately I wont get the chance to check myself until the weekend, and was hoping to replace the part then!

Thanks a lot

RD

 

[rikdogg]

Well I had a good look around the engine bay this morning to try and find the glow plug relay. I took the battery and battery tray out as well so I could see things better. I found -

- A big voltage distribution clam with loads of thick +ve wires coming off it, mounted near the battery

- A big 175 amp fuse bolted to bulklhead

- a 50 Amp relay bolted to the bulkhead, with 60 amp fuse attached (see photo below with relay removed)

- a plug with a rubber cover on the end which I assume is for diagnostics.

The 50A relay does have some corrosion on the terminals so I will give it a good clean, but am not sure whether this is the glow plug relay or not? I couldnt see any other relays!

Is there anyone out there with a 2.8 D who knows whether this is the correct relay or can send me a photo of theirs?

Thanks for any help

Richard

 

[rikdogg]

Update - I replaced the 50A relay, cleaned up the main earthing point and.... It started first turn of the key and the glow plug light no longer flashes! Result! Hopefully this thread will help others in future if they have similar problems... Cheers, Richard

 

[Jon Ashthorpe]

Hello rikdogg,

I had a problem with both the plugs and the relay on my 2.8D:

At first, I experienced white/gray smoke and irregular action when starting in winter. Glow plugs are easily accessible, just disconnect the common wire and test them for resistance (ohms) one by one with a multimeter or just with a 12V bulb for example. Three of four showed infinite resistance in my case - still the indicator was not flashing. (Low resistance still doesn't guarantee that the plug is OK, but it is an easy check.)

I replaced all four plugs. Started excellent even when cold, no white smoke whatsoever.

After a couple of months, in the summer, the indicator begun to flash after starting. Some smoke appeared again towards the autumn. This time the problem was in the contacts of the relay. There was apparently some corrosion on the blades or in the socket of the relay that caused excessive heating, maybe arcing and further corrosion. I cleaned the blade contacts on the relay with a very fine sandpaper, closed the contacts inside the socket a bit so that they hold the blade more firmly and everything is OK again. Temperatures went down to -10 C these days and still the machine starts easily without smoke.

The relay is in the engine bay, not in the cabin. I knew that it should be there, near the battery, but still it took me some time to find it as it is mounted very high - almost on the top of the bay above a massive +12V distribution clamp, on the partition to the cabin. My Ducato is LHD so the location of the relay may be different in yours.

I guess that either all your plugs are gone or there is a problem with the relay. The plugs draw a lot of current so their action should manifest by quite some drop of battery voltage.

I hope my experience above helps. Let us know what was the problem.

Just bought a 2001 2.8d Ducato. Whereabouts on the engine do you find the Glow Plugs?

Sorry to ask what is probably obvious.....Cheers