Help!!!! We have a 2002, 2.5td grand voyager. Back in November we had issues with the car dying while driving. It went in and had the crankshaft sensor replaced. In January we started to have problems with starting and it would only start with easy start.
I took it too the garage who gave it a service and replaced the plugs etc. We thought that would cure it! It didn't! The garage were at a loss and wanted me to book it in for a whole day! We cannot afford that!
We tested the glow plug relay (our neighbor has our cars twin lol) its not that! The car once running is perfect! Not a splutter!
It doesn't always need easy start! But there is no pattern to when it needs it! Despite us looking for one! We have tried many things, pumping the gas pedal, waiting for the coil light to go out several
times and even doing funny voodoo dances around the engine!
Like I said there is no pattern, it could be hot, cold or snowing! Its not weather related at all. We were thinking injectors. I have used buckets of injector cleaner so if it is then its totally blocked (but surely that means it would never start)
I've had enough now and want to sell it! But if I could at least find out what is going on then we could see if its fixable. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thank you
Nicola

 

You need to disconnect each glow plug in turn, and check the brightness of a heavy-current test-lamp such as a car headlight bulb wired between battery +ve. and glow-plug tip. (Ignition off). You may find one or more that give a weak light on the testlamp. Look at the MAKE of glowplugs fitted. Only Bosch are anygood, the italian ones don't last long. At least this test will tell you if your glowplug system is working properly. You could also wire the testlamp straight from any glowplug tip to groung to see you have a good light with ignition on at first (before the timer relay clicks out). Some circuits have a resistor in series with all the glowplugs as a current limiter, which if bad/high resistance will spoil the glowplug performance. It's unusual to have starting difficulties with direct-injection diesels, but the older indirect injection jobs were notorious for hard starting.
The glowplug circuit draws a very heavy current, so any poor connections will spoil the action. Test by employing glowplugs, but dont start the engine. See if any of the connectors various are hot. If so, there's your problem.

Leedsman.

 

Hi Leedsman, thanks for your reply.

As mentioned in my original post I have had all of the glow plugs replaced so I know that none of them are duds.

Additionally, as the engine will not start even when warm (both long journey warm and 19°coutside warm), the heat is not an issue for starting.

I expect that it is either a compression or fuel issue but don't know what to look for from here.

 

Lift bonnet, find the hand primer pump it should be hard, pump it, if it takes more than one pump to make it rock hard and impossible to pump any harder you have a low pressure fuel problem. Check the (1) spin-oil filter is not loose and the (2) screw on water trap is not loose.

If the hand primer needs pumping you are leaking pressure out or allowing air into your low pressure fuel supply, the most obvious are the two I've suggested, either of which will lead to a car not starting warm or cold.

NOTE : The picture of the filter & water trap is for the 2.8 CRD and the hand primer is for a Ford so both are for illustration and recognition purposes only.

 

I was thinking of the fuel running back and air in system as well. But my immediate wonder was why the crankshaft sensor was replaced and not the camshaft one or preferably both. Just wondering here if its corrosion on the relay contacts as the fault is not consistant.