Cold Starting Issue

[geoff]

My 2005 1.9D has become a slow starter from cold, fine afterwards.

It used to start just by showing the vehicle the key but now it needs 3 seconds cranking for the first start of the day and then it is fine the rest of the day.
This is following my wife filling the van with petrol and running it the two miles home from the filling station.

The cold start lever is fully up against the stop when cold and the cable mechanism allows the lever to move smoothly back to its idle position however the engine doesn't seem to get much in the way of an increase in revs from cold - like you would when "on choke " so to speak so I was wondering about the pump being affected in some way and was hoping that someone has any experience of this.

The vehicle had petrol sitting in it for a day and a half before being drained out, are there any internal seals that may have been affected in the pump by the petrol ?

As an aside all glow plugs are tested good as is the timer.

[ffrenchie]

Three seconds cranking is not something I would worry about, it's probably the battery getting a bit tired and not turning it over as fast. Diesels don't use "choke" like petrol they just heat the inlet charge to help it start.

[geoff]

Hi ffrenchie the battery is V good but the main thing is that something has changed in the way the vehicle starts such that it has gone from being a split second starter to taking three seconds, personally I wouldn't be happy with any diesel that took that long as undoubtedly there would be an underlying issue with it but then that's another topic.

Perhaps I shouldn't have said " choke " but I wanted to convey the notion that the normal rise in engine revs that one would typically expect from the cold start mechanism being engaged is failing to happen despite the operating arm going fully over to the set stop.

[Tomcat3]

How many miles have you got on the clock? when the 1.9 gets over 100,000 the valves close up and can cause problems starting from cold but will be fine when warm. Worth a look hope it helps.

[Ol'Jeffers]

Agree with TC....Get your valve clearances checked.

[crickleymal]

Normally I'd agree but if it has suddenly happened and this after being filled with petrol I wonder if it isn't something else?

[geoff]

Jeffers and tomcat,

The mileage is a mere 80 k and sadly the valve clearances are correct, when I replaced the timing belt etc at 68 k I checked and adjusted them then. For your interest they were around a half the size they should have been, cannot remember the exact figures.

Mal,

I tend to agree it was as a direct result of the petrol.

The van drives really well apart from this and to give an idea I have just obtained 520 miles from a tank of diesel when the reserve light came on and from experience the would be another 30 miles on top so clearly the pump is fine for normal running which is a positive and this makes the cold start all the more of a pain considering how easy it was before.
I'd like to get it back as was otherwise I'll end up wearing out the starter.

[crickleymal]

Is there any air getting in? If you use the manual pump in the morning when it's cold does it make any difference?

[obdtech]

Glow plugs really ok(what make/current draw)? Battery actual capacity & state of charge? Starter speed & current draw? is this the electro diesel pump? cold start advance timing angle? are some of the questions that need answering.

[geoff]

Mal, I'll try pumping up prior to cranking.

OBD, Glow plugs are fairly recent and are NGK .
Voltage present at first key turn and glow sign on dash also voltage present after dash sign goes out.
I don't have a DC clamp on tester so tested by removal and watching for the rosy red glow as well - all good.

Pump type - I will have to investigate, how do I check cold start advance timing angle ?