Can jumpstarting a diesel damage glow system?
 

Ran the battery dead leaving the lights on. AAA came, tried to jump it several times, would not start. Now I have a new battery in it, still wont pop. Only got it to run once with (aack) starting fluid, it ran fine then till cold again.
I highly suspect that jumping damaged something, as I was having no problems till this.
Any thoughts on this?

Is your dash indicator lighting up in the pre-glow stage?

Yes, it is.

take a volt meter to the plugs when in the glow position

I've tried jump starting my diesels before too and it never worked. I had to take a good battery out of one of my others to put in. Even tried to jump with my 2005 Silverado diesel with two batteries and still wouldn't work.

Are you sure it's not fuel related?

ive never had a problem jumpstarting mine.

I must just have crappy jumper cables.:mad:

4 gauge
 

Cables will spin it fine. Don't buy a cheap set, they don't work well, and don't last either.
Get them at an auto parts place, not china-mart.

me neither. And no problems starting at all since I replaced those pesky worn pistons:o

Don't just put them on and crank. Let the booster vehicle charge your battery for 5 minutes.

Make sure you clean those battery terminals too. We jump started an F350 TD but took a lot of scrubbing, and a can of good old fashioned Coca-Cola probably wouldn't have hurt either.

Hit the pre-glo, let donor battery charge weak awhile and go!

I've done it.

Tom

X2... easier on the alt too. Whenever possible I use the wheeled charger over a "jump" to get a vehicle started.

:cool:

Did you watch the AAA fellow who did the connection? The reason I ask is because there is a story about AAA, they sent a dufas that connected the leads backwards to a late model MB. It was a gasser but the story is applicable so read on.
A shower of sparks flew when he touched the terminals, its an old trick to check for accidental mis connections, if you see sparks you know the polarity is wrong or something is shorted in the electrical system and in such case you check polarity or don't apply the jumper cables!
When this was done it fried a number of things in that car, including the electronics modules that run the ignition, the buzzers, etc and even the clock was kaput. Obviously the car had to be towed because it was DOA.

The shop ran up to something over $1500 to fix it and the guy contacted AAA to file a claim against them (his own insurance company). He argued that the accidental jump start was due to their employee, the driver of their tow truck and that they would have to pay. They balked and finally agreed to repair everything except the clock. I was contacted to comment on the issue of the clock. AAA said that most auto clocks fail after 10 years or so (the car was about 15 years old) and since they wear out (in their experience) auto clocks weren't covered by their insurance.
To fully understand their mindset you have to realize that AAA is basically run by greedy lawyers that work hard finding ways to weazel their customers out of coverage and thereby make million$ of profits. Just own AAA and have an accident with another AA driver and you'll see. No I never had AAA insurance, this has been discussed elsewhere to great lengths.

Anyhow after a dozen car owners, shop owners and so on all provided written testimonials that Mercedes clocks generally keep excellent time even 10 to 20 years after they were built and shipped in a car, AAA agreed to fix the man's poor clock. This guy wouldn't drop the isseu and refused to accept their policy. :P

IF AAA accidentally mis-connected the battery cables while trying to jump start your vehicle it is possible they fried the GP relay box, the cruise control, radio etc.
Check everything carefully! and in case you need it, I hope you have a receipt for services rendered?

You can get an idea if some plugs are working by seeing how much your lights dim when you turn the ignition key to "glow plug" position.

:cool:

What is the weather like?

With a decent engine spinning at a decent speed (at least 100rpm's) it should start without glowplugs. That is if it not too cold out.

you say you used starting fluid, and it ran fine... That point me more towards a fuel problem.

Did you follow my write up in your last thread? Did you replace the primer pump yet?

Also
 

If you have an infared thermometer shoot the base of the plug, if pencil style and see if it is hot.
If it is the loop style, shoot the #1 wire and if its hot you know at least 4 of them are working. (I usually spit on the wire and make sure it is fizzing.):D
Good luck!

Thank you all very much for your tips and advice.
I got out the multimeter and discovered that 3 glow plugs were not working at all, the other two are dubious. Replaced two of the for sure bad ones, and got her to fire. Haven't ruled out fuel troubles compounding the issues, and have not changed the primer pump yet. (i just mail ordered one).
So, at least she runs again. though a much harder start, than three days ago...Really strange how it all started, just by leaving the lights on...strange coincidence. Just goes to show that things are not always what they seem on these cars. I still can't help but wonder if all that attempted jump starting lead a few plugs to an early demise.

In any event, thanks much for you support here folks. I was at wits end.