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The never solved starting problem


jibbyman

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Here goes one last go, four years ago car started very lumpy when left over night so changed glow plugs , at the time noticed they where damp so had injectors re- nossled. still to no avail right into garage number two, lift pump , battery , still no good. Garage number three said leak back changed all the copper washers on fuel filter housing ,fuel solenoid, sender unit , guess what yes you guessed it no good , so here I am.

When its very cold the battery sound as if its flat and its harder to start "Had new starter motor"once started even for a second will start as normal.

Some where on the forum I read a topic where some one had similar problem he just removed and replaced the ECU a couple of times....... over to you?.

All thoughts welcome . Where Is the ECU on a 300 tdi auto 1997.

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Guest DiscoTD4

Hi, I have a TDi300 auto. Can you clarify what the problem is, I'm not sure from reading the post what the actual issue is.

Is it a case of the engine turns over slowly when trying to start - as if the battery is flat ?

If you can give some more info, there's lots of experienced members on here who I'm sure will be able to help.

Cheers

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Hi, I have a TDi300 auto. Can you clarify what the problem is, I'm not sure from reading the post what the actual issue is.

Is it a case of the engine turns over slowly when trying to start - as if the battery is flat ?

If you can give some more info, there's lots of experienced members on here who I'm sure will be able to help.

Cheers

Sorry for not making my self clear,at the moment while the weather is warm the engine turns over ok but starts very lumpy as if lack of fuel but when cold turns over very slow as if the battery was low. Now and again it will start as if nothing was wrong thats why I wonderd if it might be the ecu.

I hope this makes some sense

cheers steve

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Here goes one last go, four years ago car started very lumpy when left over night so changed glow plugs , at the time noticed they where damp so had injectors re- nossled. still to no avail right into garage number two, lift pump , battery , still no good. Garage number three said leak back changed all the copper washers on fuel filter housing ,fuel solenoid, sender unit , guess what yes you guessed it no good , so here I am.

When its very cold the battery sound as if its flat and its harder to start "Had new starter motor"once started even for a second will start as normal.

Some where on the forum I read a topic where some one had similar problem he just removed and replaced the ECU a couple of times....... over to you?.

All thoughts welcome . Where Is the ECU on a 300 tdi auto 1997.

If it's turning over slowly in cold weather, it's likely to be starter motot orientated.

1. Check the earth nr the start motor

2. Check the solenoid

3. Check the brushes in the motor itself.

4. Try rigging a temporary separate thick cable going from the neg terminal on the battery to the neg terminal on the starter motor.

Just as an aside, ever since I de-catted the exhaust downpipe on my '98 Tdi 300AUTO, her cold-weather starting improved dramatically. I can't explain and I don't care - she's just a better starter now !!!

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It could well have been my thread you had seen:

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=19453&hl=

I did eventually fix the problem, but I'm not 100% sure what fixed it. I had a couple of problems and all were fixed. I had an improvement by unpluging and reseating the ECU. (The ECU can be found behind the drivers side kick panel - just to the right of the accelerator). But the problem wasn't completely fixed.

The next solution I had was to tweak the pump timing (remove aircon tensioner, slacken three bolts behind then turn the big nut a fraction, retighten and replace tensioner) This appeared to have good results, but again no definite cure.

Next solution was to take the Starter Motor to a specialist for reconditioning. He tested it on a test bed and reported it to be near perfect, I asked him to give it a once over anyway which he did, he reported that it didn't really need anything doing but there was a tiny amount of play in the com bush so he replaced that and charged me £20 - which I was happy with. On putting the starter motor back I took off all leads and cleaned them up using a wire brush in the drill. The earth lead which goes to the starter originally connects to a bolt lower down on the bell housing. I removed this and moved it on to one of the mounting bolts on the starter, I also removed the other end which attaches to the chassis, cleaned the chassis and end and retightened.

After doing all of the above it behaved perfectly for the rest of winter ( It was always fine in the summer )

Test the voltage across the battery terminals before you start and during starting. My theory is that the starter draws too much juice, when the voltage drops below a certain level the electronic fuel injection pump fails to get enough power to work. This results in no fuel. Mine was dropping to around 9v. I think cleaning all the contacts up fixed it but can't be 100% sure. I did previously try running jump leads across to the starter as additional earths but had no luck with that.

Mine would start with a jump from another car or another battery.

Hope that helps - any questions feel free to ask

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Cheers for all the replys ,just tested across the battery on start up reading was 8.88 v but only for a split second engine was warm and started fine ,when I come to start it in the morning it will spin over ok in this weather but will start up like its only firing on three cylinders .Will look and clean all the earths .Just wanted to solve the problem before this winter allready had two starter motors.

Thanks again Steve

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When mine did start, it started perfectly, instantly, with how reliant the EDC models are on the glow plug I would assume that Les is correct about it being a failed glow plug, but you say you changed them - but was that 4 years ago? Check them the 4th one is a little harder to get to if you have aircon - maybe they left it?

8.8v is far too low and is probably the cause of the difficult start. It's not the nicest job to do to clean up all the connections but it's not hard and doesn't cost much - I think I used a 50p Wire brush in the drill. From memory I did the following:

Removed the battery, cleaned up the lugs on the battery leads,

Removed the first earth from down in the corner below the battery, cleaned up the metal it connected to and the cable end, and replaced with a new stainless bolt

Removed the earth between the starter motor and the chassis cleaned everything and replaced bolts with new ones, and move the starter motor end properly on to the starter.

Probably only took half an hour or so and I'm guessing it's that, that fixed it

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Thanks lads for quick reply yes it was four years ago I changed the glow plugs but was the first thing I originally changed but I will test them again and will clean the earths .I will also be going to craddocks in cannock for my new front shocks tomorrow , do gas ones really make a difference to justify the price ? .

cheers steve

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There are two valves inside the lift pump - one that lets fuel into the pump, but not back to the tank, and one that lets fuel out to the injector pump, but not back. One or both of these valves can fail, and although the engine will still start - fuel drains back into the tank overnight. If you have a faulty lift pump, then you will have to crank the engine for a while before it will start.

Les.

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Hi Les thanks for the reply I have replaced the lift pump.The car starts and will run for a few seconds then die out but once started runs and starts fine unless left to stand for the day or night which leads me to think leak back but I have had three local garages look at it with out any luck.

cheers Steve

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Here goes one last go, four years ago car started very lumpy when left over night so changed glow plugs , at the time noticed they where damp so had injectors re- nossled. still to no avail right into garage number two, lift pump , battery , still no good. Garage number three said leak back changed all the copper washers on fuel filter housing ,fuel solenoid, sender unit , guess what yes you guessed it no good , so here I am.

When its very cold the battery sound as if its flat and its harder to start "Had new starter motor"once started even for a second will start as normal.

Some where on the forum I read a topic where some one had similar problem he just removed and replaced the ECU a couple of times....... over to you?.

All thoughts welcome . Where Is the ECU on a 300 tdi auto 1997.

Hi,

Sounds similar to a problem I had a while ago. I though it was the battery, then the starter but was not going to replace them (mainly because of cost) untill I trid all other options. I cleaned the 2 earh leads. One being off the strter motor and the other btween the chassis and body but this didn't fix the issue. I decided to try another earth lead and purchased one for a few quid. I put it between the battery and the engine casing. I bolted it to the top of the timing belt cover and the problem was instantly solved. I have never suffered with that problem since. It took me 2 years to get round to it as I thought that was a trait of an older landy!!!

I think this will cure your issue

Regards

Dave

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