[Engine] '04 2.0HDi Glow Plug - Dash Indicator - Cold Start Difficulty

[cancunia]

My first cold season with the Berlingo so I'm not sure what to expect to see on the dash or the best approach when cold starting. I've noticed a couple of times when it's been a bit chilly outside that the engine can be a bit reluctant to start, but this morning was a problem as it didn't start the first time I tried, but started no problem after I waited a few seconds then tried again having left the ignition on for a few seconds.
The symptoms are what I'd expect on a diesel if the glow plugs hadn't had a chance to warm up, but from what I've read about the 1.6HDi's the glow plugs only come on when it's really cold. Is this the same for the 2.0?
According to the users handbook, there's a glow plug indicator just above the fog lights indicator, but I've not noticed it lit even for a second. 
Is there a way to check the dash indicators are all working?
Does the 2.0HDi use glowplugs when it's not really very cold?

Thanks

After posting the above, I did some searches on cold starts and found that the starter motor is often seen as the culprit. Would be nice to know the answers in the last 2 questions tho.

[Johny555]

You won't see the glow plug light unless its really cold,like ice on your windows,prime suspect is starter motor,2lt hdi needs a good spin up on cold days,last winter mine took ages to start,put up graded starter on,bingo was fine all winter ,started first time every time,also make sure your battery's good,

[cancunia]

Any suggestions about where to get a starter motor? I'll see how things go, but chances are I'll need one before too long.

[Johny555]

Got mine off eBay,or any motor factor,euro parts,,I got upgraded one,bit bigger but it will fit,also had to change the small wire connector,from round one to a spade type,

[cancunia]

Got mine off eBay,or any motor factor,euro parts,,I got upgraded one,bit bigger but it will fit,also had to change the small wire connector,from round one to a spade type,

Yeah, saw quite a few on fleabay and will prob get one from there in the end. Looks like ECP don't sell them and GSF wanted a fortune even when you factor in the returns and regular weekend discounts. I'm intrigued by the way it seems to start so easily after having the ignition on for a short while before turning the key to start so will investigate that a bit further.

[Johny555]

If it starts OK with ignition left on for a while I would just leave it as is,

[cancunia]

I've now seen the glowplug indicator on the dash a couple of times so I know that it works. It seems to come on when the outside temp has dropped to around freezing overnight.
On Sunday after some more starting difficulty over the weekend, I took the starter motor out and took the brush end cover off. The brushes were worn down to about 6mm (about half the length when new) and from the looks of things at least one of them was jammed in the brush holder. I sourced a new brush box from fleabay and re-fitted it yesterday. So far it seems to have made a tremendous difference, time and colder weather will tell of course. My starter is a Bosch p/n 0001108400 as opposed the the usual Mitsubishi motor, but the brushes were easy enough to find.

In case anyone's interested, I came across this video on an ebay listing, it for a Bosch brush replacement. The starter in the video is not the same as mine, but overall layout is very similar. I think they also do some videos for Mitsubishi starters.

https://youtu.be/PV74-_wK0fY

[geoff]

Nice one! good to see someone making a considered repair rather than swapping out ...............

[jj9]

That lad does some good repairs, I've seen a few of his videos.

Well done with your repair, I've never been one to just replace stuff if it can be repaired. 

Starter motors almost always fail because of the solenoid or the brushes, replace these and in most cases it's as good as new again.


The glow plug dash indicator doesn't always tell the full story and your glow plugs can and do come on without the indicator showing, you have a pre hate stage (before starting) and a post heat stage (after starting).

There's a lot of misinformation regarding the operation of glow plugs with modern direct injection diesel engines and people believe because the dash indicator isn't on neither are the plugs, this is not always true.

It would be worthwhile checking that you have 4 working glow plugs.


.

[Top drive]

the glow plugs are on to a degree in most modern DI engines until engines up to temp to reduce emissions largely.