2002 Focus TDCi - cold start + battery rating

[duckson]

I'm new to diesel cars and have bought a low mileage (48k) 2002 Focus 1.8 TDCi (115ps).
Now from cold it seems to struggle a bit to start, i am waiting for the glow plug light to go out (only a second or 2) and starting but its turning over a few times until it starts or i think its going to start and let go of the key and it doesnt start. Also when especially cold this morning doing the same it turned over 5-6 times at least before starting.
Just tried warming the plugs a few times (ignition on-off) and then starting just now (left for 5hrs since i drove it so should be cold) and it started pretty much straight away.

So is this the glow plugs at fault (no record of them being changed since new but may of been for all i know) or nothing unusual with this engine?
All seems fine once started, idles fine, runs fine, no smoke at any time etc.

Also maybe related or maybe the cause, although the battery has been changed by the previous owner he fitted a Super Start battery (i think from what i can see of the label) and its rated at 64Ah and 510CCA....whats the official rating these should be as i'm finding battery websites saying i should be fitting a 72Ah and 680CCA+ batterys!! Also they need to be Calcium based apparently, is this true? no idea if the one i have currently is.

Sorry for the long post, just trying to include as much info as possible!

[cptsideways]

Modern engines won't be needing glow plugs to start, it looks like the wrong battery, should be way more than the one you've said is in there, I'd have thought a 100 ah + battery would be normal.

[duckson]

Bit more digging on another forum says the original battery would be more like 590CCA so what i've got is underrated BUT i've learned of a way to do a dash diagnostic check and it tells you the battery voltage so upon cranking it drops to 9.6v which is apparently normal and jumps back to 14.4v once started.

Its looking maybe like the glow plugs are getting tired, might be originals (48k miles and nearly 9yrs old).

[h19ney]

hi there my dad had a 2002 focus if temp dropped below 0 it would not start for 10 to 20 mins if not at all!
he took this to ford many times but they were not really helpfull, if you delve deeper this is a common problem with this model.
He even changed thermo stat which had no effect, once he ended up walking to work
My advice is sell it in the summer get a newer model this will not go away

[duckson]

I think its just "user error" having been used to petrol.
Temp was just above freezing this morning and i left the ignition on for 10 secs or so before i started the car and turned over once then started on the 2nd turnover.

Although saying this my battery is under spec (510CCA versus at least 590CCA on the stock battery) and isnt lead-calcium which the 97 onwards Fords should have.

[bobthepsycho]

My Mondeo TDCI had no problems starting until the cold snap, when it just wouldn't start if the temp was below 0°C.

The battery that was fitted was for the petrol model, and it just couldn't cope in the cold weather. Once the weather got warmer, it would start first time, every time.

For peace of mind, I replaced it with the correct battery (and when the temperatures dropped to minus 10°C, I was glad that I had!)