my van wont start :( ???

Unstable

hi,
this morning my van would not start first, second, third.... attempt. It took about 30mins to start it which never ever happened before. usually on these winter mornings it would take 2, 3 max attempts to start.

anyway, i got it running this morning but tonight it will not start at all. The ignition kicks in but the engine will not start. The engine is cold. There's no problem starting it when its warm.

any ideas why my van will not start? renault kangoo 1.9d

there's no warning lights, oil ok, diesel is just about in the red zone, but its been that low before and I've had no problems?

DivX

The ignition kicks in but the engine will not start. The engine is cold. There's no problem starting it when its warm.

I've had this problem before with a diesel, and it was the glow plugs. There's 1 glow plug for each cylinder, maybe one or more of these have failed, once you eventually got the van started was there a fair bit of black spoke from the exhaust? would suggest that problem..

A temporary trick i used to get it started was to switch on the ignition on till the pre-heat light went out, switch off the ignition and leave it heat again, then try to start.... heats things a bit more, not necessary when the engine is warm for obvious reasons.

Don't know how competent ur with mechical/electrical things, but you can test the glow plugs with a bulb, if you want to try it, i can describe how to do it...

Think glow plugs cost between €15-€60 each depending on the engine involved.


Mike.

mike65

Ah yes cold mornings and diesel engines, sounds like the glow-plugs alright, they usual last 40 or 50,000 miles maybe longer but one might go earlier and even 3 makes heavy weather of starting on a cold morning.

Apart from multiple use of pre-heat as described above make sure to crank the engine with the clutch fully down, for some reason that'll help.

Mike.

Unstable

I got the AA out cause I still could not get it started this morning and I was doing what you guys told me to. Turns out that there was air being sucked into the engine because there was hardly any diesel in the van. (my driveway is on a 10% slant uphill)

weird cause this is the first time its happened? I've had fuel in the red before and had no problems

Unstable

I spoke to soon. Its been a few hours since the AA man left, the engine has cooled down again. I tried to start the engine just there 10mins ago, it won't start... there's some white smoke coming out the back like before. I tried to start it around 8 times

BTW, since the AA man left I put another €10 of diesel in it so there's no problem of lack of fuel

mike65

It sounds lile glow-plugs white smoke is usually a sign. However check the link below it could be other more expensive reasons...like a worn fuel pump.

http://www.peemac.sdnpk.org/resource/fert/tips5.html
http://www.difflock.com/diesel/troubleshooting.shtml

Mike.

Unstable

thanks