ZX STARTING PROBLEMS

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mezuk04
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ZX STARTING PROBLEMS

Post by mezuk04 »

Well it was easter last week and after a 80 mile drive to Bridlington parked up on the "cold damp grass" next to the caravana and Wilkobobs car, however in the "cold damp" morning the car would not stop and had to keep turning it over about 8 tries, left for a moment and tried again, after a few curse words the car started and the revs slowly picked up as i pushed the throttle, (cold damp grass doesnt affect diesels does it????) so no problems after that until came to the car in the morning yesteday and it started doing the same thing, but this time just kept it turning over until it started, after a few attempts it started and sounded then chuggy chuggy and the revs seemed a tiny bit worse when i pushed the throttle, so im getting my mum to get me 4x glow plugs on the advice of Wilkobob (and it may be the relay)....but was wondering if there could be any other known issues as to why its having trouble but obviously quite rarely.
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jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

Sounds like glowplugs especially if loads of grey/white smoke comes out of the exhaust.
One way of looking at it is that the car is a victim of its own success - it starts so well that when its mildly warm the glowplugs aren't needed - but when the temperature drops a little they are not there.
In fact all 4 plugs will generally fail at nearly the same time - and one down is not really noticeable. 2 down is a bit reluctant, 3 down difficult and 4 down impossible!
Jeremy
mezuk04
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Post by mezuk04 »

If it were the glow plugs (which I have no doubt is the problem) wouldn't I be having difficulty everytime I first come to start it, this morning wasnt a problem what so ever and started up normally as always.
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jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

Well they are easy to check out - take the wire off and measure the resistance between the terminal on the top and the engine block. it should be very nearly nothing - anything substantial and they've gone. (System takes 45 amps or so when working) If you haven't got a meter use a bulb.
Starting may be a matter of luck - perhaps temperature critical - couple of degrees colder and its more difficult to start? I know its always colder in Bridlington!
jeremy
mezuk04
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Post by mezuk04 »

Well thanks for the advice, Im sure that its the plugs which are the cause so they shall hopefully be replaced today (wheres Wilkobob) if not very shortly.
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wilkobob
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Post by wilkobob »

Hmmph... One day chris, you might have a go at doing these jobs yourself...
mezuk04
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Post by mezuk04 »

My friend.....when you ever need a bridge that needs designing....im there for you
wilkobob
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Post by wilkobob »

On another note, anyone know how much you have to remove to get at the glowplugs on a 1.9D? How many hours should I charge him for?
oilyspanner
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Post by oilyspanner »

No more than an hour on a 1.9 without the intercooler on top.
Stewart
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Post by wilkobob »

i tought it would take longer, just looks damned tight to get them out. On my TD, id have to remove the intercooler, but then it looks easy, also it looks like the injection pump might get in the way on mezuk04's as its the bigger bosch one. Im giving it a go tomorrow so il see what happens.
wilkobob
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Post by wilkobob »

Well job took 1 and a half hours, its rather tight in there.
James.UK
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Post by James.UK »

Did it solve the problem? :-)
mezuk04
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Post by mezuk04 »

Will only know if its solved the problem if it doesnt do it again, so technically if it has trouble again then it wasnt the glow plugs [:D].
Regards
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