My 1985 300TD has been doing well until about a week now. I’m having trouble starting in the morning, once it has been ran there is no problem. But when it sits for say 8 hours it has trouble starting. When I finally do get it started in the morning after it sits a while all that comes out of the back is white smoke for about a minute. I changed the fuel filters, Checked the glow plugs but nothing seems to work.



Please Help!

When you preglow the car how long does the "glow plug" light stay on ?

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Audi TT

sounds like glow plug function. the whitish smoke is unburned diesel.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

What kind of temperatures are we speaking about? Have you adjusted the valves? I thing it is probably a GP problem as well.

Thanks
David

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2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

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When I mean cold I mean not started in 8 or so hours...

And I will have to check how long it stays on...

I3,

Its not important how long the dash GP light stays on, its important how long the GP relay turns the GP on. The dash GP light does not indicate that the GP are are energized. It is just an indication how long to wait to start engine and it can be out of calibration, I.E. not telling you to wait long enough.

How did you check the GP?

Do a search on Cabin light and follow the directions there.

P E H

Can you hook an idiot light in place of the GP and see if it lights up and for how long?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
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Aklim,

Only an idiot can hook up an idiot light BUT you can hook up a 12 volt lamp to any of the GP (other side to a good ground) to see how long they stay on. But watching the Cabin light dim is just as effective without the extra work.

P E H

I found on my 80 300sd has individual wire to each glow plug, so use a volt meter or test light to check each one ,see if there is 12v to there first. And also to see how long they stay on.
Cutting out too soon is just as bad as premature ej.
If all Kosher then u may need to remove each glow to see if she's hot. I never test any GP my self, I suppose it should gives ogg heat or else is dead!

So work from here anyways.

Is the compression test done thru the gp hole?
If yes u may want to borrow a compression gauge too.

MB's have more room to remove the GP than Wabbit dsl engines I think.
Good Luck, may the force be with you.

Well I guess I have been testing them wrong....

I got home today and decided to take one out. I did and wanted to see if there was power going thru it. And there wasn’t this is just one of 5 that I am doing. The thing I don’t get is they are new glow plugs about 6000 miles on them. With my 97 F350 7.3, 80,000 miles out of them...



-l3ushwig

Well Turns out 4 of 5 were bad, got them all replaced.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out!

I3,

You are right, 6000 miles isn't many miles on a GP. Some of mine have over 250,000 miles on them and still starting my engine almost instantly.

What brand were the ones that failed in such a short time? Are you sure you tested them properly? Did you connect them across the battery or do a resistance test?

P E H