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Oily heating plugs

My 1998 306 TD LX was never a good starter. It has always taken 3 or 4 s on a good day to get it going, even after fitting new heating plugs. I last changed them about 40,000 miles ago - it's now got

120,000 on the clock. So when the car almost refused to start one very cold morning last week (it caught just before the battery totally died) I figured it might be the heating plugs again. The next day it started fine but the next cold morning it went the same way, ing and making a wheezing / whistling sound. Bought some new heating plugs but when I took out the first 2 old plugs they were black and oily and covered in grit. Then I noticed that the main air flow into the intercooler also had a sizeable amount of black oil in it. My best guess is that I've got a damaged piston ring possibly, causing oil to leak into the compression chamber. Is my amateur guess right? What would it cost to repair?
Reply to
BrokenWing
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The first thing to check is that the heater plugs really are getting power to them. Your non starting symptoms sound as if the control relay is not working. You would need a voltmeter, or a 12 volt test lamp which you can connect between the engine block and the terminal on the end of any heater plug. Then, when you turn them on you should see probably between 10 and 12 volts, or the light should illuminate quite brightly. As far as the oil in the intercooler is concerned, this is from the engine breather, which feeds into the aircleaner box, or near to it, part of the emission control system. It means that there is some blow-by past the piston rings, pressurising the crankcase. Don't worry too much about it. Brian.

Reply to
Brian

Thanks, Brian. I'll check the control relay and take it from there. Would my heating light on the dashboard still light up even if the control relay is not working? Also are the gritty oily plugs nothing to worry about? The last ones I removed were oil free but had blackened / sooty tips. I guess my constant attempts at starting could leave them coated in unburned diesel. I'm very much an amateur at this stuff - if it has more than 2 spanners next to a job in the Haynes manual I take it to a garage. Is replacing the control relay a big job?

Reply to
BrokenWing

No to replace the control relay will only take you about 10 mins to fit.and i found a good place to get one was french spares,they are very helpful.web site is

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tele.01777817070. give them a call or look on there web site.good luck from chris addlestone

Reply to
Chris

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