Glowplugs - probably

[arcascomp]

Morning all, been experiencing a gradual reluctance to start from cold over the last couple of days - this morning was a bit colder than recently and it took a lot of cranking to burst into life - once running it'll restart beautifully, just like it used to about a week ago.

I have had 100% SVO in the tank so added a 10-15% petrol mix to help things along this morning, but I'm guessing my glow plugs have gone out to lunch on me.

So, is there a real easy way to test these - If I have to remove them, what do I need to do to achieve this without causing more harm? Assuming I'll need new ones (unless there is connectivity or relay issues) where is the best place to get them? 1996 Mk1 Td engine.

Cheers!

 

[supergnome]

How cold is it? If your motor won't start in summer without heaters look to overall engine setup. Used svo is more likely to be at the root of it. I for one have never used waste oil as Ive seen odd things happen when you mix it with other fuels, eg petrol, derv,acetone and motor oil.
Convert it to bio its only 15-20p/ Litre extra. David.

 

[arcascomp]

Bio plant is already partly built in the shed! tbh, there hasn't been that much WVO through the engine and at the moment it's running on clean SVO.

I dunno how cold it was this morning, but certainly not what even us Scot's would normally call summer! Currently 10am in the middle of summer and the office lights are all on, with the sky as dark as a winters evening.

 

[Kishada]

If you want the plugs I can get them for you at trade price.

An easy way to test could be to connect a new one via a small section of wiring cable to the connector for the one in the head and turn the ignition to live.
It would probably be wise to disconnect the one in the head first so you don't overload the circuit with 5 rather than 4 glow plugs, and please take precautions as they are designed to glow therefore generate a significant amount of heat!

 

[arcascomp]

I just remembered to look in the downloads section - really not that hard a thing to check then is it!:doh

Just need to find a moment to have a look and see what sort of resistance they're reading.

Pete, I might well take you up on that offer, will text after I get a chance to test the things.

Cheers

 

[4wheel]

If the glowplugs are ok check the relay behind the battery.That hides away and can be the problem.

 

[arcascomp]

I can hear the relay clicking in and out as it should so that seems to be good. Went to measure stuff this morning, got the multimeter hooked up and then discovered the battery in it was flat :doh! Had to get off to work, so still don't know state of me plugs.