Xsara picasso being a bugger to start

[mozzy]

Hi gents a ladies, I have a 2003 picasso 2.0 hdi (gave £160 for it on ebay a few months back lol) it has 215000 miles 10k of which i have done so it has really paid for itself already, but strangely considering i am a total petrol head, this is my 2nd picasso and i love them, nice to drive, cheap to run etc

my problem is here, it could be down to its silly high miles but i dont believe it is totally, it has become a total (-expletive removed-) to start when cold, it never fails to fire but sometimes takes a minute or so of cranking for it to start (once warm it starts perfectly) but left off for 3+ hours he turns over alot more than it really should before firing
I have noticed today my heater plug light is not illuminating at all when starting.......this could be the bulb in the dash but i very much doubt that considering its problem, i have not replaced the heater plugs yet ( i will remove and test them monday as i am a mechanic but work for a hire company repairing diggers etc, stuff with very basic mechanicals and becasuse of this i have lost touch with modern technology lol)

I am going to a breakers yard in a minute for something else so i may just get everything releated to the preheat system,

does anybody have any ideas...ps sometimes when it has been cranking for 30 secs the airbag light comes on im gussing this is because the massive strain on the battery, the battery never dies though)

[spider]

Does it crank quickly ?

They do need to spin at a reasonable speed.

The glowplug light is normal, it won't come on below 0c typically. See here for more information > http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... 11&t=33672" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The ECU will not signal the injectors below a certain fuel pressure either, although if its too low for long I'd expect the engine management light to come on. I wonder if you've got air ingress overnight which would cause poor starting.

[wheeler]

I'd agree with the fuel pressure theory but maybe not the air ingress one, the 2.0 HDi picasso has an electric pump in the tank which would likely rule out any problems with air ingress as its taking longer than 30 seconds to start, one of these that has completely run out of fuel would start within about 5 seconds of cranking once new fuel was added. You really need to get it on a decent diagnostic machine (Ideally Lexia) that can read live data & see what the fuel pressure is like on cranking, should be a minimum of 120 bar before the injectors will even consider firing.
The 3 most likely causes of low fuel pressure on this car (assuming the fuel filter is ok) is a faulty in tank low pressure fuel pump, Can you hear it priming for a second or two when you turn the ignition on ?
Faulty injector(s), the best way to check theese are a leak back check on the injector return lines.
Or a faulty high pressure fuel pump.

[spider]

Good point about the in tank pump, I was thinking some of them may of been like the smaller units ie no intank lift pump.

I wonder if its worth opening the fuel filter (usual precautions against dirt) to check for metallic particles.

A lexia session would be the ideal choice though, although I would of expected the light on but you never know it may hold some stored codes as to a clue...

[mozzy]

the fuel filter is about 3 weeks old, it made no difference, the in tank pump is a bit grumbly and i did have a prob recentlywhere the starter was not engaging when trying to start, usually a few flicks of the key would get it to go......i have a spare starter ( i kept a load of bits of my old picasso when i scrapped it)...it does seem a little slow turning over but the battery does not seem to die, i will check the battery to see what its cranking amps are tomorrow as maybe the battery is to small,i have never looked at it....i have a nice meaty battery off of a kubota slew so will try that as a matte rof course....i did notice this morn after an extremly cold night the glow plug light did illuminate for a maximum of a second, upon trying the multi meter to the plugs they show 3.9 volts for 1 seconds when the ignition is turned..... i suppose the mileage is probably doing it no favours lol