General Ducato struggling to start in cold weather

[joelew2010]

Hi all

As the title says my van (Ducato 2.3 150 multijet 2012) is struggling to start in the cold weather. Upon turning the keys I get a check glow plugs light and in the current weather (between -2 and 5 degrees Celsius) it is turning over for a while before starting. Whilst trying to start, another warning comes on saying check fuel filter.

Should I just bite the bullet and change glow plugs and fuel filter? Are there any guides for doing this on the above mentioned van?

Thanks

 

[rayc]

My next door neighbour was getting random warnings when starting when cold. It turned out the battery was on its way out, it was the original at many many years old.

 

[jackwhoo]

Wait for the glow plug preheat light to go out before cranking engine

 

[Anthony489]

Hi joelew

Let's start by assuming you have a good battery with good connections, so that the engine is cranking at a normal rate.

The glowplug lamp (yellow coil symbol) will show steadily for a time dependent on ambient temperature. When it goes out you can use the starter.

A glowplug fault warning will be either a flashing glowplug light or a dashboard warning message something like "check glowplugs". This means a fault has been detected. It's normally a bad glowplug, the controllers are pretty reliable.

Changing glowplugs requires rather a lot of dismantling, and the plugs themselves can seize. A job for a garage that has tackled the task before.


I don't know about the check filter light, but it would be prudent to change it in case there is any water or build up of wax deposits.

 

[Mad one]

Hi all



As the title says my van (Ducato 2.3 150 multijet 2012) is struggling to start in the cold weather. Upon turning the keys I get a check glow plugs light and in the current weather (between -2 and 5 degrees Celsius) it is turning over for a while before starting. Whilst trying to start, another warning comes on saying check fuel filter.



Should I just bite the bullet and change glow plugs and fuel filter? Are there any guides for doing this on the above mentioned van?



Thanks

If you are on the original battery at 8+ years, I would definitely look to changing it!