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Cold Starting 1.9JTD
The 156[1] has been a nightmare for the past month or more,
with a ritual of parking nose in under the car port for the night with the battery charger plugged in, and using a heat gun over the fuel lines and into the air intake, still taking at least 5 or 6 attempts to get it to fire. The past 2 mornings, however, were possibly the coldest it's been so far, and it started first click! Notably the glow plug light seemed to stay on longer, and it ticked over at 1k for a while, whereas previously tickover was below 1k Is it possible that the temp sensor is faulty? [1] *Not* the i159 -- Rob Pearson 156 1.9jtd sportwagon (now) 164 V6 Lusso (gone) |
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#2
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Cold Starting 1.9JTD
On Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:06:27 -0000, R C Nesbit > wrote:
>The 156[1] has been a nightmare for the past month or more, You are a masochist. >with a ritual of parking nose in under the car port for the >night with the battery charger plugged in, So, either the battery is gubbed or the alternator is gubbed or the car isn't getting a long enough drive when you do get it going? >and using a heat >gun over the fuel lines and into the air intake, still >taking at least 5 or 6 attempts to get it to fire. Unless you've not got winter diesel in there, heating the fuel lines won't make any difference. If it did, then the diesel is waxing up and the car will *never* start let alone run properly. UK winter diesel is well up to the task of the current UK temps. >The past 2 mornings, however, were possibly the coldest >it's been so far, and it started first click! >Notably the glow plug light seemed to stay on longer, and >it ticked over at 1k for a while, whereas previously >tickover was below 1k Sounds normal. >Is it possible that the temp sensor is faulty? Possibly but, more likely IMHO, the glow plugs are past their best and have gone higher resistance than they were when new. The longer heating time of the maximum cold start mode has allowed them to warm up enough to do the job. The car (in UK unheated block spec) probably will not turn over below about -20C (which is likely to be about the freezing point of average coolant anyway) so below -5 to -10 ish (depending) the car will go into its maximum cold start mode (longest pre-heat and increased idle). I never abused my Alfa like you're doing so I don't know if it'll do this but, it may be possible to do multiple pre-heat sessions. Try waiting until the glow plug light goes out then (quickly before losing heat) turn off the ignition and on again and wait for the glow plug light to go out. Repeat so you get 2-3 heating cycles then on the last one after the glow plug light goes out, fire up the engine. It's an old trick and it may not work - don't do it more than 2-3 times because if it doesn't work at that then it probably won't work at all. Look, it's not that complicated. Take it to an Indy and get *all* the glow plugs replaced. Don't do it yourself unless you're mechanically capable of getting a glow plug out that shears off at (or below!) the block surface. -- Z Scotland Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather (sold) 'Oil' be seeing you.. (Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the subject line to get through auto-filtering) |
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Cold Starting 1.9JTD
"R C Nesbit" > wrote in message ... > The 156[1] has been a nightmare for the past month or more, > with a ritual of parking nose in under the car port for the > night with the battery charger plugged in, and using a heat > gun over the fuel lines and into the air intake, still > taking at least 5 or 6 attempts to get it to fire. > > The past 2 mornings, however, were possibly the coldest > it's been so far, and it started first click! > > Notably the glow plug light seemed to stay on longer, and > it ticked over at 1k for a while, whereas previously > tickover was below 1k > > Is it possible that the temp sensor is faulty? Possibly or maybe the glowplug relay or a connector. My glow plug light came on as usual then started flashing for a while after starting. More recently that has cured itself. I've heard that there are lots of cars having problems that self-cure after a while and I guess it's the weather. My brother's Nissan turned the radio up when the steering wheel went to the right and down when it went to the left. That has self-cured today. My canbus light came on but there was no fault, that has also self-cured. Yours could have been a faulty pump or injector as well, but if it remains OK don't worry about it. TonyB ( 156 JTDM Veloce 2004 ) |
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Cold Starting 1.9JTD
"TonyB" > wrote in message ... > > "R C Nesbit" > wrote in message > ... >> The 156[1] has been a nightmare for the past month or more, >> with a ritual of parking nose in under the car port for the >> night with the battery charger plugged in, and using a heat >> gun over the fuel lines and into the air intake, still >> taking at least 5 or 6 attempts to get it to fire. >> >> The past 2 mornings, however, were possibly the coldest >> it's been so far, and it started first click! >> >> Notably the glow plug light seemed to stay on longer, and >> it ticked over at 1k for a while, whereas previously >> tickover was below 1k >> >> Is it possible that the temp sensor is faulty? > > Possibly or maybe the glowplug relay or a connector. > > My glow plug light came on as usual then started flashing for a while > after > starting. More recently that has cured itself. > > I've heard that there are lots of cars having problems that self-cure > after a while and > I guess it's the weather. My brother's Nissan turned the radio up when the > steering wheel > went to the right and down when it went to the left. That has self-cured > today. Well, there we have it..... in my Alfa 156, the front radio speakers tend to cut out on one side (left or right, take your pick) at random. The fault is often fixed by the simple expedient of operating the rear window electric controls (I kid you not). I reckon your brother's Nissan is actually an Alfa in disguise (a bit like Lada's were actually Fiat 124's). Dave S.... >) because we're now past the shortest bleeding day. I hate the winter, bring on the sunshine ! > My canbus light came on but there was no fault, that has also self-cured. > > Yours could have been a faulty pump or injector as well, but if it remains > OK don't worry about it. > TonyB ( 156 JTDM Veloce 2004 ) |
#5
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Cold Starting 1.9JTD
>
> Dave S.... >) because we're now past the shortest bleeding day. I > hate the winter, bring on the sunshine ! Chuffed that my so called unreliable Alfa has come through this weather without missing a beat though. Drove across the Fens last night, roads like a skating rink but that anti-slew thingy worked really well. TonyB |
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