Winter...

[Green1]

How many cycles of the glow plugs are OK?

as many as you want... I will do up to 5 on a REALLY cold day (ie, -26 when it hasn't been plugged in... that's the worst I've done with the L400 so far)

And is it after so many cycles of the plugs “crank away until the battery dies or it starts”?

Exactly. If you let off on the cranking you undo any progress you have made, keep the engine cranking if you want any chance of getting it going.

What are the best things to do for your delica if this is going to happen every so often?
I am going to guess 5-40 synthetic oil (or 0-40) and a good battery but what else can you do?

there's not really a lot else you can do, if you know it's going to be started, plug it in, but if it sits for a while, and then you suddenly need to go somewhere without any warning, all you can do is start it up and go.

Oh and if I don't want to drive away right away because I want to warm up the rest of the van (and defrost/scape the windows, get the transmission warmed etc). is it better to sit for a few minutes with your foot on the accelerator while in neutral (bring it up to what? 1800 rpms or ? for a few minutes). Driving away right away may be good for the engine but everything else is still frozen solid. Im looking for the optimal compromise.

on the older delicas there is a hand throttle which is the best way to handle this, unfortunately the new ones don't have one, I'd recommend somewhere around 1000-1500 rpm as the best place to "warm up" ("high idle" on big diesels is usually somewhere around 1200rpm) I'd say revving it up to 2000+ is probably not good either.

had a minor issue starting my deli the other day. engine turned over fine, with lots of juice, however, it took a 4 tries at about 5-6 seconds each time, before she would "catch". if it was a gas engine, my first guess would've been a fuel pump issue... and MAN was she not likin it either! very rough idle for about a minute. neighbor said his car wouldnt start.

Your big issue here was that you only gave it 5-6 seconds on a try, when you released the key after each try, you undid most of the progress you had made, if you had just held the key in the cranking position until it caught you would have been done in one try, and likely under 10 seconds total.
Now if it was cold enough that other cars weren't starting at all, I wouldn't be too disappointed if the vehicle was a bit rough after starting for a few moments.

[almac]

good information here. thanks guys.

it was odd today.. actually got to something like +4C. snow is melting.

*wonders if spring is here already* lol.

[William]

Alberta for you I guess. -40 a few days back and today in the plus

[jessef]

I set the RPM's at 1,200 on the L400 with my foot while warming up. Feels and sounds right.

[djelica]

Right on. Thanks for the replies, this is very helpful.

[Spearo]

Diesel starting instructions
ALWAYS APPLY PARKING BRAKE BEFORE STARTING
1. For manual transmission shift into neutral and hold clutch depressed. For automatic transmission shift into P or N
2. Turn key to "ON" when "glow plug" light goes off turn key to "START" and depress accelerator pedal as follows
A. HALFWAY for temperatures above 32F (0C)
B. FULLY for temperatures below 32F (0C)
When engine starts release key and allow accelerator to return to Idle

The instructions should go on to say to ease up on the accelerator as the engine catches, and the idle stabalizes (trying to keep rpms around 1000) if you let off the accelerator too quickly the engine will stall.
Jason

This is exactly how I start my van. Closed throttle will not start my van unless it's Summer temps.
Cheers,
Erik

[Green1]

A. HALFWAY for temperatures above 32F (0C)
B. FULLY for temperatures below 32F (0C)
When engine starts release key and allow accelerator to return to Idle

This is exactly how I start my van. Closed throttle will not start my van unless it's Summer temps.

that's interesting, I found the same in my L300, however the L400 has been different, the only time I used the throttle when starting was at -26 without being plugged in, and I don't honestly know if I needed to or not.

[Erebus]

Oh and if I don't want to drive away right away because I want to warm up the rest of the van (and defrost/scape the windows, get the transmission warmed etc). is it better to sit for a few minutes with your foot on the accelerator while in neutral (bring it up to what? 1800 rpms or ? for a few minutes). Driving away right away may be good for the engine but everything else is still frozen solid. Im looking for the optimal compromise.

The transmission won't warm up at idle unless it is in gear. Everything else is frozen too, but won't warm up unless and until you start driving.

The only way to warm anything other than the engine is to drive. It's that simple.

[Aztec Nomad]

Hey,
When I was a young lad and purchased my first car, it was a 84 jetta diesel with about 380k. Everything on it worked great until the switch on the key for the glow plugs decided to pack it in. So I installed a manual switch for the plugs and if it was really cold (school at North Bay, some nights -40), I would just hold the switch on for awhile after the engine started. I'm not sure if this was a good thing to do, but I noticed after the car started it would blow smoke like crazy, like all diesels do, but stop after idling for only a few seconds. Maybe all the cold starting delicas out there could run a manual glow plug switch for better starting performance. Not only could you hold them on after starting, but you could hold them on for much longer before cranking.
Adam

[Erebus]

Maybe all the cold starting delicas out there could run a manual glow plug switch for better starting performance. Not only could you hold them on after starting, but you could hold them on for much longer before cranking.

That would work if you also replaced the glowplugs. The stock glowplugs run at high voltage (around 12) for a few seconds, then drop down to their proper voltage (around 6) for the clicking on and off part. So a manual switch would burn them out in short order, unless you changed the glowplugs for ones designed for 12 volts.

Another issue is that the ECU does more than just cycle the glow plugs, so bypassing it can possibly cause other issues.

[jwfchase]

WHERE'D WINTER GO??!!?

I want it back! A week of +9deg.C in Kamloops in January? What's this world coming to?

[Spearo]

WHERE'D WINTER GO??!!?

I want it back! A week of +9deg.C in Kamloops in January? What's this world coming to?

Careful what you wish for!

[Firesong]

Here in Saskatoon it's gotten mild this last week and a bit
but we were having the cold hard time.
Only twice did I need to actually jump into the van
to start it.
I plug in the block heater 1.5 hours before (it does have
an oil pan heater too).
I lean in, make sure that the unit is in neutral and parking
break on so it doesnt roll back.
Turn it over till it catches, usually a couple seconds and then
pull out the throttle guessing at what will be 1100 rpm once
it decides to relax a bit.
Let it warm up, sometimes coming back out to adjust to 1100.

Only time I had a close call (not really) but was surprising
was in Rosthern for my kid's hockey tournament. All day
it was -38 (without the wind). What a brutal day. I was
starting it every 2-3 hours.. except when I jumped into
my parents van to go for lunch. It sat for 4.5 hr's or so.
(It was an early day) and when I went to start it, it took
2 attempts and a bit more cranking. Sheesh that was a cold
one. The wind on top was brutal. We had all our icefishing
gear/clothes in case we had to stop on the side of the road.

It's not let me down yet and I've pushed it pretty good.
Even got it stuck pulling the tiny trailer with an ice shack.
Should have taken a picture but I was a little tired.
lol, broke one of those stupid telescopic emergency shovels
from Princess Auto. I had bought it over a month prior
and the sheer cold was too much. Who in their right mind
goes ice fishing in a white out, -32 celcius with insane
wind chill in a Delica? ME! Anyway I walked into Princess
Auto with a chunk of blue shovel not larger than the size
of 2 hands put together. No handle or anything and said
could I return this. She said 'no problem' Without a receipt
she looked it up and I did buy a metal shovel at that time.

Excellent customer service. I'm sure she enjoyed my story.

Winter and 'Cricket' go together just fine.

Firesong

[jwfchase]

WHERE'D WINTER GO??!!?

I want it back! A week of +9deg.C in Kamloops in January? What's this world coming to?

Careful what you wish for!

I know, I know, but I'd rather put up with some nasty weather now (it IS winter after all!) than have another epic summer of everything burning down around the province and all the other associated water shortage problems...