Starting diesel engine (merc 108d) with knackered glowplugs
Discussion
Hi, I have just acquired a mercedes vito 108d, with at least one knackered glowplug. Ultimately I intend to get them replaced, but for now cold starting is a bit of a problem. Can anyone offer any advice on how to get round this? I remember when I was a kid my dad used to light some newspaper and try to warm the engine up with that to aid starting. Even at the time I thought it was pretty ridiculous though. Any other suggestions? I don't mind having a go at replacing them myself when I can, I've read a lot of the time on these vans it's a head off job though as apparently they snap 'like a carrot' when trying to remove them, so I've read anyway, so I'm a bit reluctant.
Cheers,
Pete
Cheers,
Pete
swiftpete said:
Hi, I have just acquired a mercedes vito 108d, with at least one knackered glowplug. Ultimately I intend to get them replaced, but for now cold starting is a bit of a problem. Can anyone offer any advice on how to get round this? I remember when I was a kid my dad used to light some newspaper and try to warm the engine up with that to aid starting. Even at the time I thought it was pretty ridiculous though. Any other suggestions? I don't mind having a go at replacing them myself when I can, I've read a lot of the time on these vans it's a head off job though as apparently they snap 'like a carrot' when trying to remove them, so I've read anyway, so I'm a bit reluctant.
Cheers,
Pete
i would try testing them find out which ones are u/s and try and remove I think its te CDI engine that is a PIA for plugs and injetors Make sure the oil is clean and the lowest viscosity alowable clean thin oil helps by incresing cranking speed the faster it spins the more heat from compression you get, so it will start better if it spins faster And the newspaper trick works better with a little diesel on a rag wraped round a stick , take of the air pipe to the manifold have an asistant ready to crank it when you light the rag and hold it near the inlet so it sucks the flame in Cheers,
Pete
Wouldn't a squirt of "easy start" or the aussy version "Start ya b
d" work better than burning rags and expensive engine heating systems?
I wouldn't want to make a habit of sticking highly volatile gasses and ether down an oil burner but I remember in my youth starting an old diesel tow truck using this method.
Cheers,
Tony
d" work better than burning rags and expensive engine heating systems? I wouldn't want to make a habit of sticking highly volatile gasses and ether down an oil burner but I remember in my youth starting an old diesel tow truck using this method.
Cheers,
Tony
You need to do one of two possible things:
1) increase the temperature at the point of injection by heating the intake air charge (recommend a hot air gun rather than buring newspapers etc! lol)
or
2) Use a fuel that has a lower ignition point (like easy start)
The problem with either technique is that with modern diesels there is a lot of stuff that can be damaged (primarily the MAF meter) If your hot air gun has a "cool" setting that is less than 100degC, then you could use this to warm the intake air (how you get this air into the airbox i'll leave up to you)
1) increase the temperature at the point of injection by heating the intake air charge (recommend a hot air gun rather than buring newspapers etc! lol)
or
2) Use a fuel that has a lower ignition point (like easy start)
The problem with either technique is that with modern diesels there is a lot of stuff that can be damaged (primarily the MAF meter) If your hot air gun has a "cool" setting that is less than 100degC, then you could use this to warm the intake air (how you get this air into the airbox i'll leave up to you)
Have you checked the length of pre-heating yet? I had a vito that had a control relay that was iffy and wouldn't get enough heat into the glow plugs from the ignition. Check there's a feed of 5-10 seconds with a test light before you start taking the thing apart and force feeding it with foreign fuels.
And if you do take them out make sure the engine is running red hot when you do. If they are old and worn out it's a certainty they'll be stuck fast and could snap when you try to spin them out. That'll lead to more dramas than you'd ever believe!!! get an impact gun on them if possible or jerk them rather than a gentle turn. If they're stuck they are likely to twist and snap with slower movements.
Even if you have one or two not working fully it should give you enough heat in the chambers to at least get a fire on one or more cylinders. Check for the colour of smoke when you start it up. It's a good sign of unspent diesel pouring out.
And if you do take them out make sure the engine is running red hot when you do. If they are old and worn out it's a certainty they'll be stuck fast and could snap when you try to spin them out. That'll lead to more dramas than you'd ever believe!!! get an impact gun on them if possible or jerk them rather than a gentle turn. If they're stuck they are likely to twist and snap with slower movements.
Even if you have one or two not working fully it should give you enough heat in the chambers to at least get a fire on one or more cylinders. Check for the colour of smoke when you start it up. It's a good sign of unspent diesel pouring out.
Your can do allsorts of things to make a recalsitrant deisel start from cold .If it has glow plugs and they don't work you must go through the whole circit to check operation ,genarraly speaking it's the plugs that fail,in 45 years +yrs working on deisels I have never snapped a glow plug off but also never used an impact tool on one either ,patience ,correct tooling and lots of penetrating fluid have always worked apply gentle heat if practical ,remove when engine is warm [if you can get it started ]I hope you are able to cure you probs and am sure it will be just the plugs ,Easy start or it's freinds are really emergency steps that can lead to other probs so use sparingly,fix it correctly and it should last many K of mileage ,do nothing or bodge things leads to pain in both head and wallet
Good luck with the plugs mate i had one in that took days to get the dam things out 
mind it was a well abused vito, we soaked them for days, ran the engine up ect and one still took 6 hours to get out, how we laughed 
Especialy check the oil is not ni on solid when cold, it really helps on cold temp starter speeds, i've had some where you remove the sump plug (cold) and nothing came out! we had to get a blow torch on the sump to get the oil to flow (non runner at the time)
mind it was a well abused vito, we soaked them for days, ran the engine up ect and one still took 6 hours to get out, how we laughed Especialy check the oil is not ni on solid when cold, it really helps on cold temp starter speeds, i've had some where you remove the sump plug (cold) and nothing came out! we had to get a blow torch on the sump to get the oil to flow (non runner at the time)
Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff