Starting problem

[Ol'Jeffers]

My 1.9D had a similar fault which turned out to be valve clearances.

My 1.9 has the same problem I've tried everything. What exactly do you mean by valve clearances and how did you fix it?

The valve clearance is a small but very necessary gap in the valve train.
The valve train is all of the interacting components between the camshaft and the valve.
This gap tends to close due to microscopic wear over time and in extreme cases
can mean that a valve doesn't remain closed for long enough. In the case of a diesel engine, which relies on compression to
achieve ignition, if a valve is opening early or not fully closing, ignition will not take place.
The solution to this is to re-set the gap. This is achieved via an adjustable rocker/tappet mechanism or by re-newing shims, depending
which system the engine has. cratch: If you don't have basic engineering abilities and the correct tools this job should be left to
a professional. tudy: HTH

[jamesg]

Had cold starting issues on my 1.9D for years that gradually got worse. Turned out to be valve clearances, one valve wasn't closing fully and had to be re-shimmed. Garage let an idiot work on it and while it started and ran sweet as for a little while it all ended quite catastrophically while we were on holiday!

[Bernard]

The starting continues to be a problem even after having the injector seals changed and the fuel filter housing seal change in addition to all the relevant electrics being looked at and tested.
In the process of doing all this I noticed that the clear plastic fuel pipes near the priming bulb, fuel filter and the return line have a lot of air bubbles in them. I have tried pumping the bulb until the bubbles have all cleared, but this does not seem to be making much of a difference.

The questions are:
1. Where is this air likely to be coming from?
2. Has anyone who is not experiencing starting issues got bubbles in their fuel pipes?

The bubbles appear in the pipe leaving the bulb when I squeeze it, suggesting that the air is getting in somewhere between the tank and the bulb. The pipe coming to the bulb is not transparent so I can't see if the air starts before this point or not.
Has anyone tried replacing the pipes in this area with any success? Also, could this air be the cause of the lumpy running at ~1500 RPM?

Any thoughts welcome and greatly appreciated.

Bernard

[crickleymal]

My 1.9D had a similar fault which turned out to be valve clearances.

My 1.9 has the same problem I've tried everything. What exactly do you mean by valve clearances and how did you fix it?

As Old Jeffers said, it's the clearance between the cam and the valve thingummy. I don't have the equipment to work on it so I asked the garage to do it. As it happened I also needed the cam belt changed as it was due, so I asked them to do both jobs. The clearances were so tight it swallowed the feeler gauge and wouldn't give it back!

[Rich mooney]

I'm also having trouble starting my berlingo. Apologies for hijacking the forum but I have just registered and can't find the link to start a new forum! Often my van won't start the mornings so I thought it could be due to the cold weather and had the glow plugs checked But they are fine. yesterday morning it started ok but when I went to drive it again at lunchtime it wouldn't start. The same happened today. I find it strange that sometimes it starts fine and other times not at all. Any help would be really appreciated. It's a /09 model, 1.6 hdi.

Cheers,
Rich.

[Ol'Jeffers]

Hi Rich and welcome!
You don't say whether you have an early B9 (Mk.3) or a late M59 (MK.2)
but in this particular case my answer would be the same for either vehicle.
As there is a myriad of reasons why your car won't start I think it needs to be
connected to a Lexia diagnostics machine and see what fault codes are being generated.
When you say "I went to drive it again at lunchtime it wouldn't start" did it start eventually
or did you have to be rescued?

[Rich mooney]

Thanks for the reply. It's the later model. I've had to use jump leads every time it doesn't start. I've had the battery changed today. When the egnition was turned on the battery died from 12,500 to 8000 so I'm hoping this May have solved the problem. If it's not the cause I'll follow your advice as I can't afford to continue this guessing game!

[Ol'Jeffers]

If just switching on the ignition causes a 35% voltage drop the battery is most definitely shot!!
As a side note. Diesels clobber batteries and I don't think that the OEM battery fitted to Berlingos is big enough.
There's room on the tray for the same battery as the VW Passat TDi uses and that's what I have
fitted....it spins the motor over very nicely. Also buy a Bosch/Varta or other top name....it is cheaper in the long run.