Harder and harder to start

Josh · #1 11-11-2009, 04:52 PM

Well, seems like every morning I go out to start my car, its getting harder and harder to get going... I've even tried letting the glow plugs cycle 2 or 3 times and it still take a bit of cranking and once it starts to wind itself up, it definitely isn't running on all of the cylinders for a minute or so.. Not really sure what can cause this.. Glow plugs dead? Its weird because it only happens if the car sits for a while. If I start it later in the day, even if it is dead cold, it'll start right up. Only seems to happen after sitting for more than 8 or 9 hours.

v8volvo · #2 11-11-2009, 06:05 PM

Sounds like a classic case of dead glow plugs. Probably only starting on a couple cylinders. If several are dead then you can cycle the key as many times as you want but it still won't start worth a damn. Pull the buss bar off and check to see if any have failed (test with ohmmeter, if they are open to ground then they are dead).

Alternate possibility is that the pump seals are starting to fail and leaking air in overnight, causing the system to lose prime. Try cracking an injector union before attempting cold start next time you have a chance and it has been sitting overnight. Crank it a few turns without cycling the glow plugs beforehand. See if fuel squirts out. If it does, the glow plugs are the problem. If it doesn't, then pump seals might be your issue. A plugged fuel filter will exacerbate that, so if it is old and cruddy then replace it. Also a good idea to try putting some biodiesel in -- BD frequently helps to swell up the pump seals and solve prime-loss issues, at least temporarily.

Jason · #3 11-13-2009, 05:30 AM

I recently had the same problem but it turned out to be just one bad glow plug, that hadn't totally failed. As Gearge said, test them with an ohm meter, you may find one to be half bad with a ton of resistance. I noticed my light was staying on for a LONG time and it wouldn't start for crap. I think the one bad plug was putting such a draw on the system with its super high resistance that the rest of the plugs weren't getting hot. I disconnected that one plug and it started great on just the other 5 untill I had a chance to change it.

Jason