No Start =-(

[Hit Man X]

Well I couldn't get the ol' 9 to start this morning. I did have a thread yesterday where I thought my GP relay was taking a dump on me but I looked at it and it was still clean and I could hear it clicking... that would alert me that it would still be okay. The GPs are new with < 3K mi on them, Bosch brand.

Could I have gotten some bad fuel in there from the local station I fill from? If so, what sort of booster/additives are best in this situation?

Prior to this, the car is and was running great. I drove it yesterday after it did start and drove like normal. Didn't seem down on power at all. Just doesn't want to start easily.

Also, when I was trying this morning it sputtered a few times upon cranking but wouldn't stay running. I also had someone help and did see puffs of unburned fuel come out of the tail pipe so I'm confident it's getting fuel still too.



Any help is appreciated!

[nuetronicretard]

Do you plug your car in to keep heat in the block?

[boneheaddoctor]

He's in TX................Cold is something they don't see a lot of compared to the northern states.

[Hit Man X]

It was only in the upper 30s here this morning.

[Jimmy Joe]

Still sounds either glow plug or fuel starvation related.

[whunter]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Joe

Still sounds either glow plug or fuel starvation related.

Glow plugs + possible fuel jell.

[Hit Man X]

Is there a way to test that GP relay? I'm leaning toward that as my GPs are new...

[Larry Delor]

Before I cleaned mine, I had to occasionally give it a light thump with my fist, in order to get it to operate. After that, I would listen for it to click off - usually after about a minute or so. Give it a whack...

[Hit Man X]

Well finally got it to start. Went and got some diesel additive too today, dropped it in and hopefully all will be good.

The additive I put in clears up water and keeps it from gelling up.

[Brian Carlton]

I don't believe that you had fuel gelling at 30°F.

Put a voltmeter on one (or all) of the plugs and cycle the relay.

Make sure that you truly have 12V at the plugs when the relay closes.

Sounds like a glow plug issue (or relay issue) one way or the other.

Brian offers good advice. If you DON'T have voltage at the plug I would check the bar fuse in the relay box. Don't expect to check it by looking at it. They can crack on the edge and look good. Check it with an ohmmeter.

Yes it's not all that cold here now, but it is cold enough that you will have starting trouble if your glow plugs aren't working.

Good luck,

[Hit Man X]

What does the Dummy Light in the dash mean anyway? If the GP relay was shot would it still light up?

I assume that you mean the yellow glow plug light. It basically is telling you that the engine is not ready to start.

Basically what happens is that when you turn on the key, the black box called the glow plug relay measures the resistance of number one glow plug, basically using it for a sensor. When the resistance gets to a certain point the glow plug relay assumes that the other plugs are at the same temperature and turns off the line telling you that it is ready to start. If your light is coming on and then going out, it means that the gp relay is getting power and thinks everything is warmed up enough to start.

If a couple of the other plugs are not hooked up or otherwise not properly functioning, the light and glow plug relay will be happy, but the engine may not start. Back when GP's were cheap I always replaced them as a set for that reason and it minimized my problems.

I have had pen type gp's that looked good electrically when measuring with a meter and looked good when you pulled and inspected them, but screwing in an entire fresh set would get the car starting easily again.

Hope this helps,

[PatrickW]

What is the condition of your battery?

You can get a cheap $3 hydrometer type tester that'll give you a ball-park estimate.

Good battery, good fuel, and good glow goes a long way...

- Patrick

[Hit Man X]

My dash light used to come on as soon as the key was all the way over... now it takes a moment to light up, then goes off sooner. If that makes any sense at all.

This just started recently too (like a week ago), so the relay has power to it but I'm going to look at the fuseable link later today on the relay itself. The GP's themselves are new with less than 3K on them... so I highly doubt they are bad and they're Bosch too. Each of the lil wires to the GPs are fine and connected. Could I have simply gotten a crap set of GPs?



Now the battery, it cranks the car over like a champ. Would it still be suspect if it does that or not?

I always buy my fuel from a station with a high turnover rate to prevent me from taking crap fuel or some with water in it.