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Engine Specific Info and Questions => IDI Engine => Topic started by: peacedub on December 15, 2009, 08:39:29 pm

Title: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 15, 2009, 08:39:29 pm
Hello all, this is my first post on vwdiesel.net !

(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267/Wallxopia/Picture003.jpg)
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267/Wallxopia/Picture001.jpg)

i got a 87 jetta with a 1.6 TD, water froze in the cooling system and im trying to start it.

i put up heat lamp and heaters around it, does anybody have any ideas they could give me to start my car.

cheers, and peace.
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: 8v-of-fury on December 15, 2009, 08:43:56 pm
hmm.. plug in the block heater for a couple hours.. probably 4+ to get enough heat in to it..
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 15, 2009, 08:47:42 pm
plugged in the BH, but im not sure if it works, doesnt make any sort of noise (my old rabbits BH would make a quiet buzzing sound)

lets hope it does work

any other ideas?
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: ToddA1 on December 15, 2009, 09:05:05 pm
My buddy in WI told me he once had to drape comforters over the hood to the ground.  He put small electric heaters under it for a few hours.

The BH should just be a heating element; I'm not sure what would buzz.  I can't hear mine, at all.

-Todd
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 15, 2009, 09:21:43 pm
ok sounds good, it should be +4 tomorrow so im hoping to get it to start...

what would prevent it from starting, it hasnt ran in almost a year. theres half a tank of diesel and a good battery.
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: rabbitman on December 15, 2009, 09:34:14 pm
My block heater "buzzes" too.
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: trev on December 16, 2009, 07:18:07 am
My block heater makes a noise like a kettle starting to boil. Sort of a sizzle sound.

Not sure if yours is heating? Follow the wires to the block heater itself. You should be able to feel some heat with your fingertips. Worth checking to see that the wire actually is plugged in to the heater, and is in decent condition, too.

Got a halogen work light? They throw a lot of heat. If you place one on the shop floor, under the engine, and leave the hood closed, you will warm the area enough to get the block above freezing eventually.
A propane radiant heater on a BBQ bottle would throw good heat too. Enough to warm the whole interior of the garage enough, long enough. Shouldn't be left unmonitored, and allow for some fresh air. Use a CO monitor if you got one.

Even at +4, if it's water, not coolant in the block and rad, it's not gonna thaw enough to be useful without some outside heat. If the there is coolant, but not enough to keep it from freezing in the last round of cold weather, get thee to crappy tire, and buy a couple jugs. Buy the concentrate, not the ready mixed stuff.

Good luck!

 Cheers
  Trev




Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: jettabrendan on December 16, 2009, 09:55:05 am
What seems to work better on my car anyways is to keep the cold start lever in untill it starts firing because it seems like advanced injection causes the engine to spin over slower...
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 16, 2009, 03:44:00 pm
trev what do you mean by : "get thee to crappy tire"

all the ice has melted and it still doesnt start.

i havea question about the cluster, theres a yellow light which is the glowplug primer right?when it ***s off i should start the engine. what does it mean when it flashes? and what about when its still?

cheers.
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: theman53 on December 16, 2009, 03:45:36 pm
If it does start it will squeel like a pig. The water around the pump being frozen won't let the pulley turn...ask me how I know. If you get your garage up to about 40 for a while things will go better for you. A kerosene tube heater will do it, but don't get it too close to plastic stuff...again, ask me how I know. It will take alot to thaw it and if you get it running the temp gauge won't show you what is going on until the hot water finally melts the ice then it has already over heated. If I were you I would take off as much stuff as I could *radiator,hoses, coolant tank* and take them inside. Keep working on the rest, but if you don't have as much volume to change temps it should be easier for you.
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: theman53 on December 16, 2009, 03:47:42 pm
now you tell me the ice has melted. Get it warm as you can and make sure the glowplugs are working.
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 16, 2009, 04:08:14 pm
alright, im heating it with a block heater and a house heater and two heat lamps so i think its warm enough now, the block heater has been plugged in for about a day now and the collant tubes feel soft and so does the heater tubes (they used to be hard as ****)

what kind of tool do i need to remove the glow plugs? 1'' wrench?
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: burn_your_money on December 16, 2009, 04:15:52 pm
8mm and a 12mm wrench.

Read http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=22517.0 (http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=22517.0) and do everything that he has done.

When you are cranking do you have smoke out the tailpipe?
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: theman53 on December 16, 2009, 05:07:03 pm
alright, im heating it with a block heater and a house heater and two heat lamps so i think its warm enough now, the block heater has been plugged in for about a day now and the collant tubes feel soft and so does the heater tubes (they used to be hard as ****)

what kind of tool do i need to remove the glow plugs? 1'' wrench?

When you say things like that it makes me nervous. The big things are the injectors and take a 27mm if I am not mistaken and a 17mm on the nuts for the lines. These are simple engines that take a lot...but for instance if you time it improperly it can destroy your valves and cylinder head. Stick around and learn here, unlike me most are helpful. If this is your first VW diesel proceed with caution and if in doubt check the FAQ section then ask here.
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 16, 2009, 06:08:45 pm
thanks everyone and thats why i posted here, this is my first diesel so im trying to learn as much as i can.

like i said when i crank it i hear a loud clicky bang type of noise, as if one cylinder is firing up, could faulty glowplugs cause that?
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 16, 2009, 06:15:28 pm
and for the exhaust question.

a little bit of vapout usually comes out from the exhaust, today in the morning when 2 cyls fired it made a little bit of smoke. ;D
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 16, 2009, 09:06:41 pm
i pulled the glowplugs out tonight, they were a mess, first one was caked with oil and diesel? second one was chipped on the end and also covered in oil, third was very worn down on the end like a pencil, and the fourth had little chips on the end of it.

i also flushed all the water/coolant out it was brown in color.

what do ya think?
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: trev on December 16, 2009, 09:13:35 pm
New glow plugs for a start.

Check the torque specs for the install, and use a torque wrench!

Coolant. Flush the block out as best you can, flush out the rad, and the heater core too (garden hose in one end, bucket on the other) then use coolant properly mixed to handle cold weather per the instructions on the container.

Alternately, fill and drain the system with water a couple times (about as PITA as the other way to flush it) run the engine till warm then repeat. Either park it dry, or repeat several times, then fill with coolant like it should have had.

That'll be a start point anyways.

Cheers
  Trev
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 16, 2009, 09:39:23 pm
getting new glow plugs tomorrow hopefully BOSCH ;)

i cant ran the car at the moment, but ill do your garden hose method for sure.

i read the solar guy's thread, we seem to have different problems, my engine is old as *** its got 460000 and the PE didnt really take care of it, so it need a lot of work. Hopefully a rebuild in the near future, i just want to try to get it running for a start then see what to do. <diesel3

cheers.
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: zukgod1 on December 18, 2009, 12:20:10 pm
Once you get the new Glow plugs installed things will go better. As long as you have compression/ fuel it will fire..  ;D
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: cyrus #1 on December 18, 2009, 01:22:22 pm
Glow plugs that are worn as you described can be caused by poorly spraying injectors.  Definitely get them checked out if you plan on keeping the car.
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: burn_your_money on December 18, 2009, 04:04:35 pm
Glow plugs that are worn as you described can be caused by poorly spraying injectors.  Definitely get them checked out if you plan on keeping the car.

Yep. Injectors only get worse. They do eventually get so bad that the wear the end of the glowplug and then it goes bouncing around in the cylinder causing all sorts of problems.

I've actually seen it where it burned a hole in the precombustion area into the coolant passage. I didn't have a very good camera back then so I couldn't take a picture
Title: Re: Turbo Diesel Cold Start
Post by: peacedub on December 18, 2009, 04:56:40 pm
thanks everybody, i got some glowplugs that seem to be in good shape for PNP, im gonna try to start it today, will let you know how it goes.