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Starting issues - Cold, water?

loco_ola

Active Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2017
Messages
56
Country Flag
france
Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone can help with this issue...

Here's the whole story, incase any of these things are related.

The car has been doing fine, we've nearly done 1000km since I rebuilt it. I noticed sometimes a slight smell of diesel from the engine, eventually after investigation I found one of the injectors was not super tight, so I tightened it up.

No more smell or apparent leak.

2 days later however after being parked outside where it was about -15C the car didnt start. It was like there was no fuel. I cranked it for a bit, gave up, and came back later when it was warmer. The car started first time.

I kinda forgot about it, drove it and re-parked that night.

The next morning the same thing happened.

I pulled a fuel line off after the filter and it seemed to have some liquid in.

Waited till it was warm. Drove it, filled up with fuel (as it was low and I was hoping there was some water or condensation collected that would be diluted with new fuel).

Same again today.


I changed the filter when I serviced the car, but it had been sitting for 6 months so probably some condensation in the tank?

It's weird because it was working fine before I tightened the injector, may be coincidence?!

The standard diesel here is treated to -22C, and it hasn't been that cold yet.

What to do?

Cheers!
 
I would still suspect fuel first try some anti gel see what happens fairly cheap and if it doesnt work it has only cost a small amount. Also this will confirm if its due to freezing fuel
Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone can help with this issue...

Here's the whole story, incase any of these things are related.

The car has been doing fine, we've nearly done 1000km since I rebuilt it. I noticed sometimes a slight smell of diesel from the engine, eventually after investigation I found one of the injectors was not super tight, so I tightened it up.

No more smell or apparent leak.

2 days later however after being parked outside where it was about -15C the car didnt start. It was like there was no fuel. I cranked it for a bit, gave up, and came back later when it was warmer. The car started first time.

I kinda forgot about it, drove it and re-parked that night.

The next morning the same thing happened.

I pulled a fuel line off after the filter and it seemed to have some liquid in.

Waited till it was warm. Drove it, filled up with fuel (as it was low and I was hoping there was some water or condensation collected that would be diluted with new fuel).

Same again today.


I changed the filter when I serviced the car, but it had been sitting for 6 months so probably some condensation in the tank?

It's weird because it was working fine before I tightened the injector, may be coincidence?!

The standard diesel here is treated to -22C, and it hasn't been that cold yet.

What to do?

Cheers!
 
Is there a water / sediment trap somewhere in the fuel line before the filter? If so drain anything out to rule out from being a potential problem.
If ok may be worth pulling the fuel filter iff and emptying into a jar to see if excess water in there.
 
Cheers for the quick replies!

I was hoping to not rip the filter off after it was such a pain to prime last time.

However with a full tank it will hopefully be easier to bleed, may try to clamp the feed tube with some molegrips.

There's no trap that I can see.

I've sent the misses to the shop for some anti gel, probably one of the only things you can get for cars easily in this mountain town!

Think I'll try to disconnect an injector first and see if fuel is getting there as that should be quick to try, if not I'll tear off the filter.
 
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Thanks, added the anti gel, and got it started.

Will see what happens tomorrow morning and take it from there!
 
No, problem still exists with new fuel treated to -22 and anti gel.

Guess I'm going to have to check the plugs and the relay... I found the diagnosis guide in EG-9. So that's some fun for tomorrow.
 
Voltage readings to the plugs was correct and turning off, so timer and relay are good.

Started dismantling to test glow plug resistances and found that the glow plug connector had corroded and even melted the cover a bit, it had worked itself loose. I've sorted that so hopefully that will be the cause of the issues and when it gets cold later I can see. Fingers crossed.
 
Started first time this morning.

I'm going to try to stop asking questions that seem to end with me finding a crappy connection!!

I learnt all about glow plugs now though. I hadn't realised they were only required when cold.

Thanks guys
 
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