Cold starting!?

Poocher

Lads, im driving a peugeot 106 diesel but couldn't get it started in this mornings frost, it has been difficult to start as the winter has drawn in, any idea's what could be wrong, Spark plugs?
Cheers

Seth Brundle

quite likely battery but maybe plugs, distributor/coil etc.
try getting some damp start stuff and see.
how old is the battery.

Poocher

Its few years old now, not quite sure to be exact, the battery was pushing but there was no spark thats why i was thinkin spark plugs. the usual case with it is that it struggles to start in the morning, but once i get it going she ticks over rightly. some people have mentioned that the heater plugs are away??

alias no.9

First of all, it's a diesel, there are no spark plugs or distributor. There are heater plugs which are a different thing entirely, when you turn the key to the normal position without turning it as far as to start it a little orange light with what looks like a coil on it should come on, this indicates that the heater plugs are warming up, you need to wait for this to go out before trying to start the car. If it is still difficult to start, try getting a jug of hot water and pouring it over the injector pump to warm it up a little as there could be some gelling (thickning) of the diesel due to the cold weather. If this helps it to start, you could try putting a small amount of unleaded (~5%) into the tank with the diesel during cold weather to help stop it gelling.

Seth Brundle

D'Oh - didn't see the word diesel!

mike65

kbannon wrote:

D'Oh - didn't see the word diesel!

Thats the first time I can recall you making a basic reading error in a techy thread. You'll be a Mod yet!

As already stated - glow plugs.

New set required. Look no further.

Mike.

Poocher

Cheers boys much appreciated!

Interceptor

Could be several things - the glow plugs can be easily checked by a mechanic but if you turn the key on and off four or five times to warm the plugs repeatedly it can help. As with alias's gelling comment, if the pump or injector solenoids are getting tired, there may not be any fuel reaching the engine and again, you need a mechanic. Battery health is not as important with diesels but if you killed the battery trying to start it, get it checked also.

Serves you right for driving a chip-fat powered lawn-mower...

Oh sorry, I have been storing that for a while and could'nt bite my typing finger quickly enough to stop it.... I take it back, the 106 is frugal, reliable and not too ugly.

'c

Gmodified

if the car wasn't serviced recently there is no harm in changing glow plugs as they are not that expansive and do wonders.
Battery and starter motor is important as Diesel engine needs good turn to start, slow turning would not help here.
Diesel needs high compression, so combustion can take place.

you can also try this in the morning:

-turn the engine for moment to inject some diesel
-then try to heat up glow plugs , say 3X
-then try to heat them up again and start the engine