Cold weather car not starting

Snotty · 12-02-2021 11:19AM #1

My 2013 diesel toyota wont start on some of these cold mornings, however if the next day is warmer it will start without an issue. I'm assuming this is just the battery and a new one will solve it, but is there any possibility something else could be at fault?

Harcrid · 12-02-2021 12:31PM

What happens when you try and start it? Does it turn over and not fire? It may be the glow plugs. Do you see the yellow coil light on the dashboard when you turn the ignition on?

BlakeS94 · 12-02-2021 01:59PM

Snotty wrote: »

My 2013 diesel toyota wont start on some of these cold mornings, however if the next day is warmer it will start without an issue. I'm assuming this is just the battery and a new one will solve it, but is there any possibility something else could be at fault?

Exact same issue with my girlfriends car I had a post up here about it, replaced the battery and it's been colder than it was before, no issue starting whatsoever, as another member stated it could be glow plugs but you'd have a coil light on the dash and even if one glow plug was bad the car might still start

biko · 12-02-2021 04:43PM

It's very likely the battery. Cold weather will affect old batteries.

colm_mcm · 12-02-2021 07:56PM

Could also be bad glow plugs making starting harder.

Snotty · 13-02-2021 05:48PM

Thanks for the replies, have to drive a long distance and stay in a hotel Monday night so I've bought a new battery and I stuck the old one on slow charge, I'll put it in the boot and can swap it over if it doesn't start again.
New battery in and started no problem, but the old battery has date 07/19 scratched into it and I wouldn't expected any issue if under 2 years old, especially seems its driven daily.
So thinking it might be a glow plug, any way to diagnose that at home?

Kencollins · 13-02-2021 07:59PM

If you can see the glow plugs they are easy to test. If it's a D4D engine they are towards the front of the engine.

Look for 4 electrical connections. They may each have a plug like a spark plug on them, or be joined by a connector bar or wire.

You need to take off the plugs, or remove the connecting bar or wire. Then with a multimeter in resistance mode test the resistance between the centre contact of the glow plug and the engine block/battery negative terminal.

A good glow plug will read 0 to 10 ohms. If it is much over 20 ohms, or anywhere in the kohm range then they are toast.

Snotty · 13-02-2021 09:11PM

Kencollins wrote: »

If you can see the glow plugs they are easy to test. If it's a D4D engine they are towards the front of the engine.

Look for 4 electrical connections. They may each have a plug like a spark plug on them, or be joined by a connector bar or wire.

You need to take off the plugs, or remove the connecting bar or wire. Then with a multimeter in resistance mode test the resistance between the centre contact of the glow plug and the engine block/battery negative terminal.

A good glow plug will read 0 to 10 ohms. If it is much over 20 ohms, or anywhere in the kohm range then they are toast.

Thanks very much this sounds like a job for tomorrow

Cold weather car not starting

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