Starting troubles

[Foggyoutcome]

Car has been fine for a year, now i'm having trouble starting. What it is is i can start it eventually but need to keep the key turned, it will just keep cranking intill it reluctantly fires up.
First things first i've changed the battery for a new agm beast of a thing this morning hoping to have some luck with it. It still keeps cranking over but this time springs into action better, due to the new battery.
I got a feeling its the starter motor but i'm after a few suggestions of what els to look out for before i go ahead and get a new one only to find out it's not, money is real tight and the battery was a bit. I've not had a llot of luck with batterys so i went with a agm varta , CCA 800, 80ah. Bargain at £70 delivered from Jag-land if any one interested. Brand new.

[Lighty]

What car is it ?

[Foggyoutcome]

yes that would help sorry it's a citroen xantia mk1 1.9td. Glow plugs changed 2 weeks ago.

[RichardW]

It'll (probably) be one of:

1. Glowplugs not working - have you checked they are getting energised?
2. Air leak inthe fuel system - try pumping the primer before trying to start
3. Blocked fuel filter (although this will show up in poor performance as well I'd have thought).
4. Exhaust valves closed up and leading to loss of compression

[Old-Guy]

Been there.

First thing should have been to change the tired old injector leak-off pipes (any motor factor should be able to supply an inexpensive kit - make sure it includes a blind end for the last injector.) - they let air into the fuel system and all that cranking is the injector pump sucking up fuel to re-fill itself (there's no lift pump).

If it seems to crank slowly with your new Varta battery, check ALL the connections (Negative as well as Positive sides) between battery and starter motor are clean and bright (WD40 is good for keeping them clean and bright).

After that you need to check for air ingress between tank pickup and pump - the usual places are all under the bonnet.

[Foggyoutcome]

Hi guys,
Forgot to mention it is an ok starter once it has warmed up. Makes me think it's the glow plugs but i had them done 2 weeks ago with bosch duraterms. Once the engine is hot i thought it would not take much from a starter motor to get it started even if the starter motor is on its way out.
I've done the primer method and its got new leal-off pipes, but i will take them off tommorow and give them a clean just incase.
one other thing to mention is when i'm cranking it up i still have to keep the key turned while it starts to chug up to start, thinking about it now it acts like an old diesel with no glow plugs.
I've checked the voltage while its cranking that is on the lead going to the first glow plug and that seems fine, don't seem to be able to get anything from the others, don't know if i'm doing it right. I'm putting the positive probe onto the head of the glow plug and the negative either on the battery or the engine head.

[Old-Guy]

You need to test the glow voltage while they are powered up - the easiest way to be sure is to test while the glow-plug light on the dash is on, so you need to be quick - best to start from the far end, if there's volts there, then there's volts at the other 3. Yes, neg probe on battery negative (or any clean part of the cylinder head) and positive probe on glow plug connector.

When starting, you are waiting until the dash glow-plug light goes out, aren't you?

[Xantidote]

best to start from the far end, if there's volts there, then there's volts at the other 3

This is not necessarily true. I had a problem with glowplugs not so long ago, and it turned out that the crimping of the eyes on the main feed (bus-bar) across the 4 glowplugs was defective (corrosion?). This meant that some of the glowplugs were not getting any power, and maybe those that were might have been getting less than they needed to glow properly. Easy enough test by trying a temporary jump lead to one of the other glowplugs (other than the end one).

I made up a new link wire from high current capacity cable, but a new one from Citroen was only about £7-8, so I subsequently found out

[Foggyoutcome]

I've tested the battery on idle, it's over 12 volts so alls good there and on cranking it's just over 11 volts, so that seems ok.
I went on to measure the voltage at the glow plugs one fluctuated a bit between 9 and 4 volts, the others never went over 10 volts.

It does seem there is corrosion on the wire that attaches itself to the glow plugs. I think i've found the problem! I'll swap that out for some new shiny wire and i reckon it will start up fine. it was allot easier starting this morning after the new battery was fitted yesterday. I guess they dont all come fully charged

Pretty confident it's not the starter motor now thanks guys you saved me a bit of a headache.

[Xantianut]

Ay up!

I'd also check that the glow plugs are OK. Remove the wiring harness and check each one for continuity. Never assume a new component is perfect - many of 'em aren't!