Technical Doblo 1.9D Multijet starting problem.

[OldGeek]

I'm getting really frustrated now with my lack of success in finding any workshop manuals on my Doblo.

I've had it for less than a week and so far it has started and run very nicely, loveley staedy tickover, plenty of power etc..

Today however, it just would not start, and I eventually ran the battery down, which I now have on a mains charger. Prior to trying to start it I tested the resting battery voltage and it was 12.7v, so that should be ok. (It cranked for quite a while too). The glow plug light goes out quite quickly, after just 2 or 3 seconds, even with a cold engine. I tried waiting longer, in case the power was still going to the glowplugs even after the light extinguished, but still no luck.

Tomorrow I'll try testing the resistance of the glowplugs, (as poor starting on my VW diesel camper was caused by 3 of the 5 glowplugs not working). Big problem though, I still haven't found out where they are, or even if they're in front of the engine or behind it ! I've tried googling Doblo 1.9 multijet, and variations, but couldn't find any illustrations or youtube videos. I realise I'll have to remove a few bits to gain access, but I don't even know weher to start....

 

[OldGeek]

I've just wasted another £10...
I searched back through the forum posts and found someone mentioning an official Fiat Manual ( https://workshopmanuals.org/product/fiat-doblo-manual/ ) it looked good, so I paid my £9.95 and downloaded it. I followed the installation instructions, and the install program just freezes.

 

[ben]

Did you try the eLearn link in our downloads section?

Doblo eLEARN

Doblo eLEARN

www.fiatforum.com

 

[varesecrazy]

Try warming the plugs 3 times before cranking.. if it improves..you need to investigate the plugs

If its a JTD style motor then they are at the back of the motor..and awkward

So probably never touched

 

[OldGeek]

Did you try the eLearn link in our downloads section?

Doblo eLEARN

Doblo eLEARN

www.fiatforum.com

I'm lost for words Ben.... (unusually).
I've just had a look, wondered what the five .rar files were, downloaded them, extracted, and installed it.
It's exactly what I've been searching for. Not only clear diagrams of my exact vehicle and engine, but even detailed steps to get at the glowplugs and what has to be removed first.
Excellent, many thanks Ben.

 

[OldGeek]

Try warming the plugs 3 times before cranking.. if it improves..you need to investigate the plugs

If its a JTD style motor then they are at the back of the motor..and awkward

So probably never touched

Thanks for the reply, I'll try what you suggest.

 

[OldGeek]

I'll update this thread with my findings while I (try to) cure the problem.
Now that I have a nice clear model and engine specific manual I feel a lot less lost.
The glow plug warning light isn't flashing, but only stays on for a very short time, so I'll check whether the glow plugs still keep heating up after the light goes out by watching the volts on a multimeter, which I assume will show a slight jump if the control unit is switching them off prematurely.
I also found another handy wrinkle on a youtube video about the Brava with the JTD engine where you can test the glow plugs for resistance by removing plug on the glow plug control unit and texting from there.

 

[ben]

I'm lost for words Ben.... (unusually).
I've just had a look, wondered what the five .rar files were, downloaded them, extracted, and installed it.
It's exactly what I've been searching for. Not only clear diagrams of my exact vehicle and engine, but even detailed steps to get at the glowplugs and what has to be removed first.
Excellent, many thanks Ben.

Fantastic!

Have to give credit to @Davren though as he was like a machine filling up most of our downloads section!

 

[OldGeek]

A bit more progress, (maybe useful to anyone having the same problem as me in the future...)

I recharged the battery overnight and then this morning I connected a voltmeter across the battery and placed it on the bonnet in view of the driver seat.

Resting voltage was 12.9.
turn key, heater coil indicator light comes on, volts drop rapidly to 11.8.
after 2 or 3 seconds, indicator light goes out, but volts stay at 11.8
after about 15 seconds, volts start to cimb back up to above 12v, turn key to start engine.
engine starts within a second or so (air temperature here at about 10c), and runs smoothly
voltage goes up to 14 while engine is running.

I peered down the back of the engine with a torch and caught glimpses of the glow plugs, you're quite right Varecrazy, they're quite awkward to change, lots of things would need to be removed, as per the excellent manual in the downloads section (thanks Ben & Davren ).

Luckilly though, during my extensive Googling before seeing the manual, I found that tip on Youtube where the Guy showed how easy it was to do a glow plug continuity test by using the meter at the glow plug control unit plug. So I tested each one there, and they were all less than 2 ohms, so would appear OK.

My Conclusion - Glow Plugs Ok, Control Unit Ok (still keeping them on for about 15 secs, even though the indicator light went out).
I'm now wondering about the battery itself. Although it has a resting voltage of about 12.7, and the glow plugs pulled it down to 11.8, I didn't notice the reading when the engine was cranking, so I don't know if it was above 9.6v (the "magic" figure, apparently).
It does look OK from those figures, but it's quite an old 60 amp/hr unit, so maybe it drops quickly after 2 or 3 days of not being run.

It's a big relief that I don't have to worry about the glowplugs or assoiciated controls, and I guess I'll just have to ignore the indicator light going out too quickly and count to 10 or 15 before cranking.

The diagrams in the manual are just what the doctor ordered !

 

[varesecrazy]

Does 're.heating ' the plugs through several cycles help..??

 

[OldGeek]

Does 're.heating ' the plugs through several cycles help..??

Now that I'm waiting about 15 seconds for the glow plugs before cranking, it seems to have cured the problem.
I think that your suggestion of trying several cycles may well be the answer when the weather gets colder here.

 

[OldGeek]

I found a simple way of seeing when the glow plugs time out, I bought a voltmeter that plugs into the cig lighter socket. (£5 on Amazon).

The socket gets power when the key is turned, and the voltage immediately shows at around 11.8v, because the glow plugs are drawing power.
After about 15 seconds, the volts start to rise up towards 12.5, indicating that the glow plug controller has timed out, and I then crank the engine. When it fires the voltage goes up to around 14v, showing that it is charging successfully.

This is the one that I bought, just a simple led readout, with no USB sockets etc.. There were dozens of similar types available, but luckilly I read the descriptions carefully before buying, as some would not have been suitable. Some of them don't show a steady reading, but pulse on and off, and others flash to show the current draw through the USB ports. I will be powering a dashcam as well, but fortunately the Doblo has two sockets, so I can plug it into the other socket.

 

[Factseeker]

I'm lost for words Ben.... (unusually).
I've just had a look, wondered what the five .rar files were, downloaded them, extracted, and installed it.
It's exactly what I've been searching for. Not only clear diagrams of my exact vehicle and engine, but even detailed steps to get at the glowplugs and what has to be removed first.
Excellent, many thanks Ben.

HI OldGeek,

Sorry to bother.

I just went through the similar problem with a purchased eLearn. for my Doblo 1.9 JTD

I have now downloaded the 5 x Rar Sections of the eLearn manual- understand how to extract etc, etc but is there any place on the WEB you can direct me to where I can find out how to join ( concatenate) all 5 together etc and produce a CD.

Be real grateful.
Best Rgds
Steve

 

[OldGeek]

HI OldGeek,

Sorry to bother.

I just went through the similar problem with a purchased eLearn. for my Doblo 1.9 JTD

I have now downloaded the 5 x Rar Sections of the eLearn manual- understand how to extract etc, etc but is there any place on the WEB you can direct me to where I can find out how to join ( concatenate) all 5 together etc and produce a CD.

Be real grateful.
Best Rgds
Steve

No problem Steve, happy to help.

The multipart .Rar files extract to a single .Iso file which can then be burnt onto a CD with a freeware CD burner, (google search link attached).

I never bothered with that with mine though, because my notebook doesn't have a built-in CD drive.

If instead of burning to a CD, you "right click" the iso file on a Windows 10 machine, there's and option "open with windows", which instantly "mounts" the ISO as a virtual CD drive. It then stays loaded as a CD until you next restart Windows, when you can simply right click it and the "open it with windows" again.

It runs much faster that way than via a hardware CD drive.

free burn iso to cd - Google Search