starting problem ecort1.8d

have you checked that the heater plugs are actually supplied with power?

MrCheerful

More likely is the cold start device has died, the garage won't have touched the internals of the pump & there's no real adjustment available on cold start. Just check the heater plugs are actually pulling current though.

I'd second the cold start devise.. had a transit which the cable had snapped.. started fine in the spring, summer and autum, but come winter the bugger wouldent start unless i wedged the lever open manualy, (boss was too tight to buy a new cold start solenoid.. think the cable can't be replaced seperately)

Anyway, on the pump you may see 2 cables going to it, one on the top connected to the throttle arm.. that's the accelerator cable, one usualy on the back side of the pump, sometimes it goes to a position on the engine, or could be the electricaly heated type, either way there will be a large silver cylinder, with a cable coming out of it, going to the pump,

Check to see if the cable is not broken.. try to move the lever it's connected to by hand, it'll be spring loaded, but you shouldent be able to move it when it's cold.. as it should be pulled fully on.

If your wondering, that lever advances the pump timing a few degrees, to allow the engine to fire up quicker.. hence a diesel usually sounds a lot louder when cold.

You said the garage tweaked the pump when it had it's mot (or implied they did) did you tell them to do this, or is it something they do to all diesels.. as i want to avoid anyone who messes with a setting that's costs £120 plus vat to be re-set (providing you take the pump off and hand it to the re-calibrator.. and you can use a dial gauge to re-time the pump when putting it back on)

I have tweaked the max fueling screw on my own van a couple of times.. but i always make referance marks so i can put it back where it belongs.. as i've recently had my pump re-calibrated, but in any case it's my vehicle.. so if i screw it up, i know what i've done and accept it'll cost me another £120 to have it re-set,

And if your not sure exactly which screw to tweak, how much is safe to tweak it and so on.. don't even attempt it, some of the screws adjust the injection pressure.. twiddle one of them the wrong way and it's time for new injectors.. or maybe pistons :)

Best way to get a diesel through an MOT anyway is to take it for a good blast before getting to the garage.. hang on in a gear lower than usual and thrash it for a bit.. clears all the soot out of the exhaust system.. and dont let the mot guys leave the engine ideling for ages before doing the test.

If it fails after that.. then it's time to consider new injectors.. my dads