Car won't start (diesel)- again!

[Toad 0]

thinking about it I could be wrong... you might have a self bleeding pump on the mk 3...

 

can anyone confirm?

[blackcat 0]

I don't think I will be trying the injector trick then as I've never injected myself with any substance before and don't fancy starting with diesel :shock:

 

I have looked in the haynes and it says to get to the fuel pump you have to take the cylinder head off which certainly seems like too much hassle to me.

 

I will have a more thorough read of the haynes tonight to see if I can find a manual pump anywhere.

 

I may just take (tow) it to a garage and see if they can find a leak, I don't fancy messing about under the car in this weather!

[coolrado 0]

Yes it turns over just doesn't fire up. And yes, lots of smoke from exhaust.

 

When you say ignition problem, what exactly do you mean? What parts should I be checking?

 

There are no visible leaks and I can't see any evidence of diesel on the driveway. And no, it hasn't been siphoned out by some pikey, there's at least a quarter of a tank in there.

 

I will check the power to the glow plugs tonight although I'm pretty sure that they're ok.

 

I can see air bubbles in the fuel line going in to the filter, is this likely to be a hole in the pipe somewhere or could air get in somewhere else??

 

ok if you are getting smoke out of the exhaust, it sounds like the fuel is getting to the cylinders, if the fuel is getting to the cylinders but not being heated by the glow plugs it will just end up getting compressed and then blown out of the exhaust as smoke/diesel vapour, even when there is an air leak in the fuel line you would still expect the engine to fire but only for a few seconds or run very badly.

 

the glow plugs could be fine but if they dont get any power from the control module/relay they wont do anything, you really need to check they are getting power before anything else.

 

the bubbles in the fuel line could just be from when you drained the fuel filter, and as far as i know they are a self priming system as when my caddy ran out of fuel the lines where empty and it still started fine after a few seconds.

 

 

easy way to describe the combustion cycle of a diesel and petrol engine

 

petrol= suck & squirt, squeeze, spark, bang, blow

 

diesel= suck & squirt, heat & squeeze, bang, blow

:lol: :lol:

[blackcat 0]

ok, will check the glow plug relay tonight.

[TomB 0]

It is a fault with the ignition system by the sounds of it, ie. your glow plug electrics as fuel is getting from the tank into the cylinders and back out again. I'm guessing that the light comes on to tell you that the plugs are heating, but they're not actually doing so.

I had a similar thing on my Audi of a similar age when I bought it and rather than trace the fault, the cheap & easy solution is to wire in a bypass switch to activate the glow plugs manually.

I'm afraid I can't be more specific as to the nature of the fault, but if the Haynes manual covers the Mk3 diesel, I'd start with the wiring diagrams at the back.

Good luck,

Tom

[peteTDI 0]

i'll have it if your scraping it

 

How very helpfull :lol:

 

 

:oops: ok take the intake pipe off and spray a small amount of wd40 into the inlet manafold then try and start it or turn the key so the golw plug lamp comes on and go's off,then turn the key back with out trying to start it, then turn the key back again light on and off, do this 3 or 4 times then try starting

 

and if all fails i'll still take it off you :roll:

[blackcat 0]

check that you are getting power to the glow plugs, there should be a wire linking all the glow plugs together, set your meter to dc voltage and if it is a manual range type usually set it to 20 volts dc, put the black probe on an exposed metal part of the engine and put the red probe on the connection on top of the glow plug, make sure you are not dangling the leads near any moving parts of the engine and then get someone to turn the ignition to the click before the starter kicks in, the meter should read somewhere near 12v for a second or two, if it doesnt you know the problem is with the glow plug control module/relay.

 

ok, so we did this last night and (assuming that we were using multimeter correctly) there is no power going to glow plugs.

 

SO the other half has the day off work today so he's going to check the relay.

 

I don't really understand how the electrics etc work but is there anything else that could stop power getting to the glow plugs??

[coolrado 0]

check that you are getting power to the glow plugs, there should be a wire linking all the glow plugs together, set your meter to dc voltage and if it is a manual range type usually set it to 20 volts dc, put the black probe on an exposed metal part of the engine and put the red probe on the connection on top of the glow plug, make sure you are not dangling the leads near any moving parts of the engine and then get someone to turn the ignition to the click before the starter kicks in, the meter should read somewhere near 12v for a second or two, if it doesnt you know the problem is with the glow plug control module/relay.

 

ok, so we did this last night and (assuming that we were using multimeter correctly) there is no power going to glow plugs.

 

SO the other half has the day off work today so he's going to check the relay.

 

I don't really understand how the electrics etc work but is there anything else that could stop power getting to the glow plugs??

 

not sure what sort of relay or modulr it uses but it could either be a blown fuse(probably marked as a spiral glow plug symbol on the fuse box lid) or a dead relay or control module, what year and model is the car and i will look up a wiring diagram for you.

[blackcat 0]

it's a 1992 TD golf cl.

[Supercharged 2]

ok, so we did this last night and (assuming that we were using multimeter correctly) there is no power going to glow plugs.

 

SO the other half has the day off work today so he's going to check the relay.

 

I don't really understand how the electrics etc work but is there anything else that could stop power getting to the glow plugs??

 

Cool - looks like you found the problem then - I'm pretty sure yours will have a relay if it's a 92 car...

[blackcat 0]

Cool - looks like you found the problem then - I'm pretty sure yours will have a relay if it's a 92 car...

 

Fingers crossed, I REALLY need my car back :(

[Supercharged 2]

Yep - only the later 1Z engine is ECU controlled, if yours is an AAZ or 1Y then it will have a relay...

[blackcat 0]

mine is an AAZ

[Supercharged 2]

Cool - the Haynes doesn't tell you relay locations (that would be far too useful) but it should be in the instruction book with the car or as mentioned above on the back of the fuse box cover (comes off after releasing 2 green clips)

[coolrado 0]

it seems like it could be relay number 12 in the internal fuse box, bottom row far right.

the fuse seems to be a 50A strip type fuse which will be in the engine bay fuse box and will be a larger type of fuse probably held in by a couple of small nuts.

[blackcat 0]

Cheers guys, I know that the relay locations are in the hand book because I looked recently when the indicators were playing up.

 

Other half is picking up a new relay from GSF this afternoon.

 

Keep your fingers crossed for me :)

[Supercharged 2]

Cool - apart from the fact they'll probably give him a washer relay... :lol:

[nocrap 0]

Cool - apart from the fact they'll probably give him a washer relay... :lol:

 

Or give you a wiper motor and try to convince you that it is the correct part........

[blackcat 0]

lol let's hope not :lol:

[TomB 0]

Fingers crossed... O/T slightly, but how do you find the AAZ engine? I ask because I had one in an Audi 80, & was so unimpressed I sold the car :-) I guess the Golf's lighter though and so might make it to 60 before 17 seconds has elapsed....

Hope it's all fixed,

Cheers,

Tom

[blackcat 0]

Fingers crossed... O/T slightly, but how do you find the AAZ engine? I ask because I had one in an Audi 80, & was so unimpressed I sold the car :-) I guess the Golf's lighter though and so might make it to 60 before 17 seconds has elapsed....

Hope it's all fixed,

Cheers,

Tom

 

LOL, I think it makes it to 60 in about 16 seconds :lol:

 

It is quite slow but my other car is a VR so a lot seems slow compared to that! But it's not too bad past 3500 revs when the turbo kicks in.

 

I didn't buy the golf out of choice really, I need a cheap runaround that I don't care if it gets stolen/dented etc and the golf fits the bill.

[blackcat 0]

Aaaarrggh!! I've fitted new relay and fuel filter and it still won't start.

I have admitted defeat and phoned a garage!

[blackcat 0]

It is fixed :cheers:

 

Garage flushed and primed the system (or something) and it now works fine. He said to keep an eye on it as he may have just cured a symptom, not the cause.

 

Anyway, it works for now and I have just joined the AA (just in case :lol: )

 

A big thanks to everyone that tried to help me to fix it, I really appreciate it :notworthy:

[Corrado_Addict 0]

Thats one thing I've found with experiences at college, with diesels u can try so many things but it could be a simple thing of priming the system.

 

Glad its sorted :)

[TomB 0]

Yup, glad it's sorted indeed! Hurrah!