Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hey guys,

having some trouble with cold weather starts like many others. in temperatures above -15c the van will start fine until the glow plugs turn off then it will chug and spit out some black soot along with some dark smoke. If i bring up the rpms to about 1500-2000 it will push out lots black smoke then run better once warm all is golden.

I have replaced the glow plugs, checked the relay and had the fuel IP seals changed. fuel filter and oil filters have been changed as well.

Any thoughts?

I wonder if it was timed correctly.

Time to read the technical manuals on the L400.

What are the RPMs at idle? Should be around 800.

Its sitting around 800

Phil I have has the same problem... When the glow plugs kick out it runs pretty rough... I now let it idle for a min then drive well the glow plugs are still hot. I also will be installing manual throttle cus it runs ok around 1500-1200 and then runs fine when warm

I have also spent countless hours screwing with the cold start timing and cold idle circuit bit had no success

Get someone to check the timing :)

On the L400 the glow plugs are on for ~2minutes after startup so are you saying that it runs fine for 2 minutes of driving and then gets rough?

Why would you suggest timing?

Yes it runs fine for those 2 minutes and then starts having trouble. Lately I have been running 2 glow plug sequences to allow the van to warm up a bit before driving it and it helps quite a bit.

403delica wrote:Why would you suggest timing?

Just a guess, but if the timing is off the fuel injection would be amiss with TDC. So perhaps the diesel is not ignighting properly, and the cylinders are not hot enough when the glowplugs are off?

That is a complete guess though.

any updates? mine seems to not like humidity. Gonna do a resistance check on the glow plugs and polish the bus bar and fuil filter in about a week and see if that changes anything

403delica wrote:any updates? mine seems to not like humidity. Gonna do a resistance check on the glow plugs and polish the bus bar and fuil filter in about a week and see if that changes anything

Mine does not like humidity either - it is actually harder to start at 5-10 Celsius at 100% humidity than it is to start at -5 with 0% humidity.

Yah i agree! but i would still love to know why it runs rough after the glow plug cycle