Cold Start in Mondeo Diesel

Savman

anyone know why it takes 5-10 minutes to get this thing of mine started in the mornings? its the 96 Turbo Diesel and was fine until few weeks back, would it just be needing service (yes its due )

wondering if there's any other possible causes - someone had said something about glow plug failing to heat properly or something??

cheers

MercMad

Yes a diesel engine works on compression ignition, i.e there is no spark to light the fuel. As the piston travels up the cylinder the air is compressed so much (20:1) that it heast up and at this point fuel is injected andhence you get an explosion.

The problem is that particularly with low temperatures the system needs a bit of help so all diesels have a glow plug system which is pretty much used every time you start, though its really only neccesary at cold starting.

Your car may have a faulty glow plug relay, so NO glow plugs work, or you could have a few that are burnt out. Your car will take a long time to start as the engine needs to crank over alot to build up the type of heat neccesary.

This will take its toll on your battery and leave you stranded eventually !

I suggest you get a mechanic to check it out. It should be in the region of €100 all in !

Good luck !

bazz26

I thought modern diesels didn't have glow plugs anymore?

The old Mondeo TD unit probably still had them though.

maidhc

Definately a problem with the glow plugs somewhere! One (out of 4) went in my modeo (95) last year and it took it at least 20 seconds cranking to get a kick out of it.

All Diesel cars have glowplugs to my knowledge, even the VW TDi's and Toyota D4Ds. They tend to cut out far quicker than then mondeo ones though.

lazylad

Check the glow system on the diesel system. The glow system is like the coil in a toaster and needs to be fully heated for the compression ignition to take place correctly. As far as I know most modern diesel systems need one but Im not too up to date on this. I

In cold weather the diesels needs an anti waxing agent added.

Check your exhaust when you try and start. If you get white smoke it could mean that your engine has and incorrect injection of fuel timing, or coolant getting into the combustion chamber.

Check to see if the head gaskets are blown.

Savman

cheers people!

there is an unhealthy amount of white smoke while upon startup and also for the first while which I am aware is a bad thing!

man i bleedin hate cars when they start this crap:mad:

stratos

I know it has nothing to do with the post, but I used to drive a diesel british leyland sherpa.
The air intake would suck in the bonnet insulation, block up and cause miles of thick black smoke, eventually, it spat most of piston number four out through, a handy large size hole in the block.:rolleyes:

AMurphy

Savman wrote:

cheers people!

there is an unhealthy amount of white smoke while upon startup and also for the first while which I am aware is a bad thing!

man i bleedin hate cars when they start this crap:mad:

that "white smoke" I suspect is water vapor, it being cold when you start, it condenses to steam in teh cold tailpipe. it's clouds of steam when Hot that whould worry me. Any signs of water loss from the cooling system?.

Anyway, being cold and all that, a failing heater (glow plug) will make them very difficult to start. So start with the glow plugs.

If you were having water in the cylinder.... you'd get a lockup eventually. So if on turning it over, you hear a loud bang ever, it's a sign you have liquid in a cyl.

Savman

no once warmed up the thing is fine and no unusual emmissions I'm aware of, its mainly after ages cranking on a cold start there's a "poof" of white smoke when the thing does eventually start.

Coolant level is ok, may need oil change though (just curious is an oil change something you can do yourself or must it be done by mechanic?)

AMurphy

Course you can change the oil yourself and the glow plugs also..... but given the way you are asking, it might be better to let a garage, not necessarily a dealer do it for you, change the filter also.

Have them do it while changing the glow plugs.

MercMad

.............no harm to change the fuel filter too !

Stevo11

Turn key to position 2, and leave it there for 20 secs, then switch off and do it again. If you have a faulty glow plug, this should help to pre-warm the cylinder before you start cranking.

Changing glow plugs is VERY easy BTW, I did ours last winter ('88 Merc 190D), can be a bit fiddly to get at but no more difficult than changing spark plugs.
Steve

Neil_Sedaka

I once had a Transit diesel with no glow plugs:eek:
On winter mornings it would only just about start, I put a new battery in it and it was on the button everytime!
Diesels need a LOT of power to get them going on cold mornings.

Savman

Stevo11 wrote:

Turn key to position 2, and leave it there for 20 secs, then switch off and do it again. If you have a faulty glow plug, this should help to pre-warm the cylinder before you start cranking.

alas never thought of that

Con_316

bazz26 wrote:

I thought modern diesels didn't have glow plugs anymore?

The old Mondeo TD unit probably still had them though.

That engine actually dates back to the late 80s from escort vans and sierras. HAs gone through many revisions though. Its actually a really good engine though and although it doesnt hve the same power as new ones it goes well.

Any diesel engine HAS to have glowplugs, its just that in modern ones they work better so dond need to be on as long.

To the original poster: Glow plug is most likely source of this problem. I had a sierra 1.8td and it had exact same problem, new glowplugs cured it.
Focus dielels somtimes get this problem too