won't start! help!
 

so this morning i went out to start up helga (my 300D)
she turned over with a little hesitation and ended up stalling out. i turned it over to heat up a bit more, went to start her again, she started right up but stalled again. sometimes this happens if i don't give her enough time to heat up so i didn't worry too much about it.
third time, i think instead of turning her over into the glowplug position, i turned it all the way over, but didn't notice b/c it didn't start up or make stalling noises, etc. NOW, she won't turn over at all, all that i hear when i turn it over is a small click. All my lights work, radio, heat, everything, just can't start her up. what's going on??!

When that happened to me, I needed a new battery. The accessories don't need as much juice as the starter.

Also, when it's really cold out, I allow two full glow cycles (until the relay clicks), 1 pump on the accelerator and then start. Thats what the Owner's Manual says to do as the "cold start" procedure.

Yeah, sounds like the battery to me, too.

Yes, the inability to turn over points to a weak battery. However, the stalling after starting isn't explained by a bad battery. I have experienced that symptom when I've had summer fuel in winter conditions. What temperature is it at your location and are you running winterized fuel?

i'm an idiot!
 

nope! i just realized i had her in reverse from the second stall, hence she wouldn't start...
easiest problem i ever had to fix!

thanks again for the input

Congratulations.:D

I guess things like this are why computer tech support people start by asking if your computer is plugged in.:D:D

So now we are wondering how you got her to even ' start up and stall' if it was in reverse....
Instead of multiple glows... just leave the gp circuit engaged for a TIMED 60 seconds... that is what the FSM suggests...

How is this done? My relay clicks off after 30 seconds.

does that click coincide with the light. That is determined by a temp sensor near the head or in then t-stat housing.

The actaull GP relay does continue for much longer than the light / click would have you belive. It is something like one full minute as mentioned.

My light goes out after about 10 seconds and the relay clicks at about 30 seconds.

I have had Max not start several times after the glow plug warm up. The key will just turn slightly, but nothing happens. Usually, if I just switch it back to "off' and go through the sequence again, it starts right up. This may be a worn starter switch I'm guessing.

Of course, I have also freaked out because the car wouldn't start only to discover it wasn't in park first. Doh! It's nice to know I'm not the only one . . . .

What happens if you don't allow the GP to heat up? Does it hurt something? Mine will start even when I turn the switch immediately over to start, forgetting that I'm in the deisel rather than one of the other cars. So far, it starts just fine.

Does not hurt to start diesel without glowplugs... IF it will start it just means you have good compression, good starter and battery, good fuel dispersion...
ONLY if you are having start problems ... typically when the engine is cold... then the glowplugs really are important.
Thank you jt20... exactly correct.
Some people may be hearing the timing circuit for the light go off... Etc... which is only a ' suggestion ' type device... use a watch to time the glow... people typically can not guess at time well...

That's good to know. Max's engine does sound very solid and strong.

I used the clock in my dash as the timer for the 10 and 30 seconds I referred too.

Why would the timer circuit for the light click 20 seconds after the light actually goes out?