I have an old 1989 transit diesel which refuses to start when it has been freezing cold but it perfectly behaved when it is warmer. does any one have any ideas why? without costing me a fortune at the garage
------------- the years have been kind to me (the weekends did the damage)
Is it a ford by any chance? Fords are renowned for not being happy about starting (i had a fiesta and she was fine but then when she got down the rd decided that she didnt want to go any further and cut out on me). I'd say spray the plugs with WD40 but with it being a diesal they dont have plugs do they? best waiting for billybuns reply i think but then again u could ring a local garage who u trust and ask them the best thing im sure if theyre good enough they will advise accordingly i know ours would and without charge. Good luck
From what I`ve read, the Mk3`s can be a pig to start on cold mornings.
Best advice I found was, always start the engine with the clutch and accelerator pedals hard to the floor.
This doesn`t apply to computer controlled diesels.
I believe this model has two batteries...for starting.
These need to be in good condition, as does the associated connections, to starter motor, etc.
The reason for depressing the clutch, is to isolate the gearbox (oil). On freezing days there is a lot of resistance, due to it being thick(er).
not familiar with the campers, but with deisels in general, check the battery(s) are in good nick and fully charged, check the glow plugs, to do this, remove the link wire/strap, use a stout bit of cable from the =ve side of the battery, and carefully tough the end, you chould get a nice pop/spark, if not its dead, one glow plug out can make a big differance.
Try a bit of unleaded in the tank, i had an old 1991 astra deisel, in winter 3-4 liters of unleaded (in a fullish tank) thinned the deisel enough to make starting eaisier.
good advice the two posts from above and I wouold go with the following
May I suggest the following. By saying not starting I suggest you mean that the van turns over but just wont catch?
This would lead me to believe that you need DECENT new heater plugs. This is what happens. I am also asuming that when you say its cold you are talking about your van and not the weather? If it is the latter then this is because turn on the key. and await for diesel light to go off. This then effectively means your plugs are hot enough to explode the fuel. however poor quality or well used heater plugs will lead to the turning over of the engine, putting in pleny of fuel, but with no igniting taking place. Alas when the van has started, the heater plugs now have warmth enough to continue starting throughout the day.
so my advice would be start at the heater plugs and work backwards, as a new set of heater plugs are always recomended to ensure the good running of a diesel.
However this has been written in laymans terms and the thing to remember with a diesel is they are a really simple engine, especialy around that age. All you need to run them are are a heater plug and a bit of fuel (not always even diesel chip fat works wonders) and bobs ya uncle.
If it is the cold weather preventing your van starting then I would still reccomend heater plugs. failing that check that ya plugs are sealed properly as they may be getting damp.
As mentioned above, it may be your glow plugs but before you go to the expense of getting them changed try the following.
When cranking the engine from cold, is there any white/grey smoke from the exhaust? If there is then fuel is being injected but not igniting, then you should be looking at a pre-heating problem such as glow plugs, glow plug relay, or a loss of cylinder compression.
It could be something as simple as water in the fuel filter. When was the last time you had it drained? It should be done as part of the service every year.
I don’t know what the resistance reading should be for your vans glow plugs, but each plug should draw about 20 amps (when the ignition is turned on and the yellow light is on).
Without wishing or trying to teach you to suck eggs, diesel ignites under compression NOT from a spark as in a petrol engine. The glow plugs are only there to heat up the air in the cylinder before the fuel is pumped in.
panagah mate - the earlier ones (yorks) did - and needed em!! and the later ones(duratecs) do but the Di's dont most people look at them with the stanadyne injectors and presume one bit is the injector and the other is the glowplug but its all one piece - the injector!!
if the engine and pump is ok a decent battery shoudn't have a problem starting it in anything the british weather can throw at it!!!
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Topic: old Transits dont like being cold HELP!!!
