Cold Morning Starts

[Dayno]

With this recent cold snap, Each morning when i goto work at 5:30. I turn the ignition to "On" until the glow plugs finnish doing their thing, then i attempt to start the engine, however no matter how long i keep the starter motor spinning the engine just doesnt kick over, i have to try and start it 3 or 4 times before it finally starts up. Iv'e tried glowing it 3 times in a row (Incase they wern't getting the engine hot enough to start with) however this changes nothing, This is my first winter with a Diesel so im not sure if all diesels are a pain in the arse in the mornings or it just needs a service. Because after work it starts perfectly everytime, just in the morning it doesnt like to start thats all. Hopefully it's just something stupid that iv'e over looked.

All critizism accepted if it is,
Dayno

[geeves]

which engine have you got?

[tealz]

Sounds like the glow plugs aren't heating. Check to see if you have power going to them. They might need replacing. You could pull them out and check them Just be carefull when you try to unscrew them from the head as the thread might be seized.

[Dayno]

I have a 4JB1T, well you see its a new engine so i cant understand why id need new glow plugs already. Ill check them 2moro seems i have nothing else better to do with my sunday. Im quite confident they are fine tho.

[geeves]

unusual for a 4jb1 to be hard to start. How cold does it get where you are? The 4jb1 is direct injection and should start even without glow plugs down to below freezing (not well and expect lots of smoke but it will start)

[darkhunter]

he doesn't mention if its turning over properly, as i suspect the battery is weak, not cranking when cold at full power,sluggish and latter in the day seems fine, as has a little more charge and warmer

[Dayno]

Well no actually the battery is a 600 cranking amp LT one, so i have no problem with electricity, and it cranks over like it normally would. It gets as low as 6 degree's which isnt near freezing however if bloody cold for my liking. These past few days instead of getting the usual cold weather we've had rainy mornings and it starts up perfectly everytime as apposed to if it wasnt raining. So it must have something to do with my glow plugs not heating up or something i assume. Today the Ute itself clocked 290,000k so its due for a service (New engine done roughly 50,000k) so ill get the mechanic to give it a once over.

[guythorn]

good point I have same problem I have a 3.1 no problem in the summer months with starting push in cold start button let it run for a few mins see how you go
Guy

[guythorn]

HI you will find this button on the right hand side off you steering
wheel note do note push rear boot opener . guy

[Dayno]

Jun 5, 2008 17:29:39 GMT 11 guythorn said:

HI you will find this button on the right hand side off you steering
wheel note do note push rear boot opener . guy

Umm, im quite certain we have completly diffrent dashes however if your refering to the idle throtel adjusting knob (The only thing i can think of thats even close to helping with cold starts?) I already crank it until i drive out of my estate to which i then wind it back to normal. P.S it's on the left

[wayne85]

no he is refering to the button on the right hand side of the wheel that only lights up on cold mornings if u push it im not 100% sure on how it works but i know its ment to make the engine warm up faster

[isuzumudman]

The button you are referring to closes a butterfly half way down the exhaust pipe and closes another butterfly on the inlet side. It is called QWS (Quick Warm up System) and only works when several cold conditions are met.

It relies on vacuum to work so probably won't be active before engine start (depending on vacuum leaks).

[guythorn]

note I found that it will work at around 10 deg it will turn itself off once engine reachs running tem or you can turn it off your self it will up your revs by about 200 I THINK.

Guy.

[Dayno]

As helpful as that may be for cold starts, I don't believe my Rodeo has such a swich. On the right hand side of the stearing wheel the dash plate isnt used at all, its completly empty and exempt from any toggle switches let alone factory buttons. The left hand side plate has 2 toggle switches and the Throtle adjuster, which takes up the whole plate. There is no other buttons/switches near the stearing wheel except for the hazards. =/

[nig]

Thats right - Rodeos sold here dont have any sort of cold start assistance - just the knob on the left side of the wheel that you can use to crank the idle up until it warms up.

Something worth checking is your glow timer - when you turn the ignition on, the orange glow light should come on for a few seconds & then go out - this is controlled by a timer that sits under the kick panel next to the throttle pedal - if the light dosnt come on then the timer may be stuffed - and if it only flicks on for a second or so and then goes out it might be a bit dodgey as well. When mine played up I disconnected the plug & cleaned the connections, put it back together & it had been right ever since.

[Dayno]

Just thought id report back on what the drama was for me, The fuses for the glow plugs were melted. So as usual the light still came on and so did the *Twang* sound that comes from the engine bay once the glowing has finnished. However when you tried to start it, it's the same as starting my old carbie ford laser in the mornings (A Pain In The Arse). please excuse the lateness of this too, ive had a few major changes recently that ment to internet for abit.