ThreeSheds Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Hi,0 Last year I inherited a Disco 2 TD5, which is very much a 'second car'. But with the recent cold spell and my home situation (both single-track access roads being steep and covered in snow) it has become my main transport for the moment, and I have noticed that it starts fine even well below zero, without use of the heaters. My question is - is it better to use the heaters anyway? Do they help with cold running after startup, or anything else that I haven't thought of? Cheers, Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierrafery Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 (edited) The answer is deffinitely YES, the glow plugs are important cos they are not there only for starting, they work after the engine was started if it's cold outside for few minutes... untill the coolant temp input gets to 20*C.... without them properly working there will be more carbon build up. ENGINE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - TD5 ; DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION 18-1-31 Quote The 4 glow plugs are located in the engine block on the inlet side, in cylinder 1 to 4. Cylinder 5 has no glow plug. The glow plugs are a vital part of the engine starting strategy. The purpose of the glow plugs is: l Assist cold engine start. l Reduce exhaust emissions at low engine load/speed. ....... Pre-heat is the length of time the glow plugs operate prior to engine cranking. The ECM controls the pre-heat time of the glow plugs based on battery voltage and coolant temperature information via the glow plug relay. Post-heat is the length of time the glow plugs operate after the engine starts. The ECM controls the post-heat time based on ECT information. If the ECT fails the ECM will operate pre/post-heat time strategies with default values from its memory. The engine will be difficult to start. Edited March 4, 2018 by sierrafery 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally V8 Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 As Sierraferry says they ARE important,but also that your engine starts well without waiting for them is a good sign.It means that the fuel system is in good shape and the engine has good compression.Look after it well and it will do alot of work. Also be thankful that it isnt a TDV6 D3 etc, once they get to around 80,000 miles most if not all of the glowplugs will be dead.Also engine compression will be down a bit... When the temp drops below about -3 they won't start. Not an easy task to replace the glows on them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 Thanks for that people! As usual, excellent advice on the best of fora... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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