Vectra diesel cold start problem

Graham J · 2012-12-03T21:02:39+00:00

Vectra Club DTi 2 litre, manufacture 2004, mileage 55,000 proved by full service history.Starts OK if air temperature above about 5 deg C, but runs roughly for a few seconds.Lower than about 5 deg, starts, runs for one or two seconds, dies. Then won't start at all. Ultimately will start if cranked continuously for 30 to 60 seconds.Bought 4 weeks ago from local dealer, who had it serviced for me at local (non-Vauxhall) garage before selling it to me.Dealer took it back to service garage. They say one glow plug had failed, and have replaced it. No cost to me, dealer or garage covered it (didn't ask which).Next cold night is Wednesday (today is Monday) so I will know by Thursday morning whether the replacement has cured the problem.Question: is it likely that just one glow plug failure would cause this failure to run?Other questions, to which I can't find the answers in the Vauxhall manual that came with it:1) When cold, the glow plug indicator on the dash only illuminates for about 5 seconds. Does this also show the length of time for which current is actually fed to to the glow plugs? Or does current flow all while the key is in that position?2) Dealer suggests that in cold weather I should wait longer between glow plugs on and cranking the engine, or try 2 or 3 glow cycles before cranking. Is there any virtue in this?I'm handy with a multimeter; are there any easy tests I could do to identify whether there are any other problems?

Dec 03, 2012 21 Replies

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Graham J 13 years ago

[snip]

The PicosScope trace clearly shows the glow plugs taking the correct current.

So far two glow plugs have been replaced (or the same glow plug has been replaced twice).

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Chris Whelan 13 years ago

[...]

Not a direct answer, but non-starting Escort diesels were often cured by a starter motor change for the same reason.

Chris

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