Cold starting...

[sulley]

....Dead cold this morning, Ice all over the Disco.

But turned engine and with a little struggle it kicked in.  For a minute I thought it wasn't going to start.

Is there anything I can do to make sure it starts everytime in the cold??

[muddysteve]

make sure your battery is in good nick and if it still struggles chuck another one in on the other side and parallel them up

Steve

[gords]

Mine did (does) the same - it always worries me, too, but so far I've not had a fail [-o<

The battery is only about 9 - 10 months old.

[hobbit]

If there's enough room try cladding the outer case in polystyrene, good insulator, dont forget the bottom too

[gords]

chuck another one in on the other side and parallel them up

It won't fit on a 300 because of the air filter intake pipe which goes across the space into the inner wing :roll:  Unless you've got a snorkel fitted of course :)

[Henry Webster]

I am assuming it is a Tdi?!

You could try giving it a number of doses of pre-heat.  And/or check that the glow plugs are working properly.

Mine (200Tdi) starts almost instantly whatever the weather, but when it is really cold I might give it 2 or 3 doses of heat.

H

[gords]

You could try giving it a number of doses of pre-heat.

Eh? :?

How do you check the glow plugs are working?

[NeilWilson]

Or fit a pre-heater. My webasto takes 20-30mins to warm the engine up & as a bonus defrosts all the windows.  Wake up, press button on remote control and by the time I get outside it is nice & toasty warm.  Cheers.

Neil

[beast5680]

You could try giving it a number of doses of pre-heat.

Eh? :?

How do you check the glow plugs are working?

take it out and hold it then get someone to switch on ign and see if it gets heavy :lol:

seriously though you can put a multimeter on to check them but usually if even one goes down it will be an utter pig to start

my 200 always started on the first turn far better than the 300 i have now

[sulley]

Cheers Gents.

It's a 200Tdi.  Gonna be pretty busy the next few (read 32) weeks so will have it checked out at it's service in Jan.

[EvilEd]

The swedes turn their lights on for 30 secs - 1 min before trying to start in cold weather, to "Warm" the battery up. Turn em off before you start it though :)

I take it from your description that it's slow to turn over, not hard to start??? If it's hard to start, then look at the glow plugs, if it's just slow to turn over, then insulate / warm the battery. Make sure your glow plug light has gone out too... they draw some hefty current from the battery, so running them two or three times should "warm" the battery too!

[Henry Webster]

You could try giving it a number of doses of pre-heat.

Eh? :?

i.e. waiting for the glow plug light to go out once, turn off ign, turn back on wait for light...etc...

How do you check the glow plugs are working?

I don't know off the top of my head, check the Haynes manual.  Certainly going round with a multimeter will test the feeds.  Someone on another thread mentioned a way of checking for a faulty plug - involved taking one out at a time, but I can't remember exactly how.

H

[fram]

I'd like one of those pre heaters, but don't they cost a fortune?

[hobbit]

I usually test a glow plug by using a jump lead and earthing it to the neg on the battery

A plug can still work but sometimes the tip will not heat up enough

On some engines, it can ony take one plug to be down to stop it, it goes without saying before removing the glow plugs, check the voltage going through the system ok, it may be a faulty relay

[NeilWilson]

I'd like one of those pre heaters, but don't they cost a fortune?

They are a bit expensive, (£500), but worth it IMHO. Cheers.

Neil

[gords]

I'd like one of those pre heaters, but don't they cost a fortune?

They are a bit expensive, (£500), but worth it IMHO. Cheers.

Neil

Each to their own  ... but I find it hard to justify the cost against the benefit :?  Am I missing something? Is it "just" something that warms up the car before you get in? Are they designed to be used in much harsher environments or something?

[NeilWilson]

Each to their own  ... but I find it hard to justify the cost against the benefit :?  Am I missing something? Is it "just" something that warms up the car before you get in? Are they designed to be used in much harsher environments or something?

Certainly makes the 300TDi engine less agricultural when first started, and I would think warming up the engine block may help in reducing the initial wear as it cranks.

Neil

[robbie]

Mine hasnt run for about 10 days and wouldnt go this morning. I had to jump start it from the Jimny....... good old Suzuki eh ;)

[George]

How does the Pre Heater work then? :?

Off the battery? If the battery is weak then surely its all gonna go boobs up? :?:

[hobbit]

If it does run of the battery, having it connected to an auxiliary battery, like a winch is, it would not matter if it ran it down, however, some of these units are meant not to use that much juice, others are connected to an external power source.

Here's some info for you

http://www.espar.com/htm/applies/pickup.htm

[NeilWilson]

How does the Pre Heater work then? :?

Off the battery? If the battery is weak then surely its all gonna go boobs up? :?:

The Webasto I fitted burns diesel and has a small pump to circulate the warmed coolant.  There is a battery drain associated with it, especially as it turns on the cabin fans when the water temperature is hot enough.  IIRC Webasto reckon that if you have a 30min journey then the burner should only be on for 30min max to allow the battery to recharge.  I have not had any problems yet since fitting this last year, I use the preheater twice a day normally.  Was well glad I had it when heading off to work at 6am yesterday.  Cheers.

Neil

[seph234]

just put a new battery on mine it starts perfect now :D

[hobbit]

I doubt if your system is in good working order with a decent battery, it would kill it, even with a normal car I have left sidelights on for 12 hours and when I got back to it, it still started, and that was 4x5 watt bulbs

Trucks run night heaters all night and still ok in the morning to start.

My mates leaves his heater on low all weekend in this weather, and has no probs on monday starting it, they have a very low power drain on them

[Benji]

My 300 TDi wouldn't start the other morning. It was the day before I picked up my TD5....typical eh?

Anyway I had about an hour before my first client so I tried to warm the battery up with an electric heater but that didn't work.  Re-scheduled my first client and put the battery charger on for about 30 mins. It was much better but died after the second crank, then my neighbour popped over with his little booster pack.  Hooked it up and she turned over fine and started with no problems!

Definately worth the £30 for a booster pack if your car struggles when cold, especially if old Mr Fish is right about being a cold winter!

[Range Rover Blues]

" batteries fitted in ours, make sure you've a good starter too and plenty of big cables for the earth.  Hoping it will continues to start well as the weather worsens.

[Carroll]

I've just fitted an optima red top to mine, and the difference is astounding. The 300 turns over a lot more smartly, even in the cold weather we've been having.

Worth a go I think.