Help!
my 2006 GV 2.8crd has over the past year intermittently stopped starting although with a few turns and a wait it usually always started. anyhow with the cold weather it has now decided to not start in the mornings. My local garage has had it for a week and still no joy. He has installed new battery (always been a problem on this car) checked fuel spill off, pumps and replaced both cam and cam shaft sensor and still no better. as it seemed to be okay once going i thought glow plugs but he has checked them aswell.
any ideas before i commit to main dealer which i fear could be costly?

thanks in advance
Nick

 

Does the starter operate? Have you checked for water (ice) in the fuel/fuel filter?

 

My 2.5CRD has done this every winter since I've had it.

When it's difficult to start, when it does fire up, is there a bit of a smoke cloud at the rear?

Mines does, mechanic workmate recons it's injector related (fuel leaking into a cylinder or 2 overnight).

I tried parking the back end up on car ramps overnight incase the fuel was running back but this didnt help.

 

mechanic (who gave up today for no charge to be fair) says the fuel injectors are okay, the starter is okay, the fuel pressure is good, he has checked tank and okay so how he came up with cam and crank sensors i am not sure but nevertheless he hasn't solved problem.

however as i now have it back with new gel battery and not snowing it is starting although it is a little temperamental. also i get a fluttering noise from behind dash sometimes after starting which i am not sure what this is. i cannot help but think this is both a battery related and fuel related issue which is made worse in winter. it is just a pain as it always plays up just when you don't expect it to.

he did check fuel filter and says okay although i would not mind changing it. is this easy to do and anyone no where it exactly is?

thanks again
Nick

 

If it's the same as the 2.5, it's underneath, next to the fuel tank.

Mines is a disposable filter inside a large black plastic housing rather than a metal self contained one.

How did he test the injectors? For me to get it done, I'd have to remove them and send them away to a Diesel Specialist. It's not something my mechanic would be able to do on site.

Previous cars I've had give a fault code/engine management light for cam or crank sensors.

I've just learned to live with it, jump start it when it fails to start.

 

I suppose I should mention that the ECU is looking for a certain cranking speed and fuel pressure before it allows start...

These cars have a real problem with batteries and most people do not get replacement batteries that are capable of doing the job for long. If a battery simply has plates it does not have enough area and therefore not enough initial (10 seconds) power; the battery needs to have spiral cells rather than plates if you want to depend on starting. The VM 2.8crd takes a lot to turn it over and really needs an Optima or similar battery - normal plate batteries simply do not have the initial punch to move things along.

A lot of people have starting problems in the winter because their battery is simply not up to the job.

 

see last winters battery question in the UK

 

For starting problems there are quite a few things that need checking

Assuming that no error codes are stored then I'd suggest the following

1st is to look for air in the fuel. The simplest way is to add a section of clear hose into the pipe from the fuel filter to the injection pump. Air in the fuel or fuel draining back down will cause havoc with starting

2nd is cranking speed, live data via a scan tool will show you this

3rd is fuel pressure during cranking, live data via a scan tool is not quick enough to get the fine details of this and an oscilloscope will be needed

If the crank or cam sensors are failing then they should have a stored code and the same goes for the injectors.

It may also be worth swapping the battery out for a sodding great big one and connecting it via fly leads. Jump leads won't work as you can rarely get a decent connection and most are far too thin. Use nuts and bolts on eye terminals to connect the fly leads and make sure they don't short out.

Regards

Richard

 

Hi there,
A bit confused her on why you fitted a Gel battery, as these of what I have read about are for Caravan & Motorhome lighting support systems. You need the acid plate battery for that instant torque power especially in Winter time.
The Voyager is from reading its spec a Bloody Computer in itself and needs all the power it can get to load up the ECU during cranking speed.
So as too winter times being a pain, maybe we need the twin battery output for this engine. Have you tried starting your engine with a higher powered battery just to see what happens.
Oh here noticed something missing in tried this and this and reads.
ECM uses engine Temp Sensor and Crankshaft Position Sensor Inputs to determine Fuel Injection Quantity in start ups.
Ah wait, Crankshaft Sensor, is there one, there's CKP in Manual. Still to figure this out as Camshaft sensor is there.
I'm looking at Temp Sensor here, what voltage will it pass when its colder, will it make it harder to start....
Just a little Idea...
Goggs.

 

I looked at it and decided that the honeymoon spiral enjoyed when first released came to an end after 12 months of its release when people started posting their findings. Most said 'go back to Merc' old fashioned lead-acid. What we need, unless each day is a long daily run in the UK, is the nearest to 80 over 800 and it won't fit. I bought the S6/AGM and made it fit and I've never looked back since. I can now leave it 14 days in (-) 5°C and know the thing will start.

Spirals work for some, but not for me - they are twice the price of an 800CCA and its the CCA that does the cranking. The thing with batteries is you need to read the tech pdf's there are different 019AGM Batteries all called 019AGM but with different outputs.

In the UK you have more chance of marrying the Pope than getting useful codes, a quick 'key dance' on all voyagers will give you the P codes but getting useful codes is £97 each and every time at a main stealer. Every fitter I've known, and I know many dozens stares in disbelief when his three grand diagnostic setup gets about the same info as a 'key dance'