93 L300 Rough Start

[philmeup1]

Supp Folks,

Well after enjoying my van working swimmingly well for the last year or so, things have gotten a bit Shakey here.... And since I'm limited on my skills, especially with the diesels, I thought I'd post it on here for you kind folks:)

So here's the dealieo. Had a long trip yesterday (5 hours) came home late and parked for the evening. When I got up to start the van this morning it ran a tad rough for a few seconds then evened out. Today after work I went to start it again, and it was worse. I waited for the audible glow plug click and turned it over. It started then quit. I repeated the step, and after the click fired the motor and fanned the accelerator pedal a bit. It ran really rough with lots of smoke coming Outta the tail pipe. This lasted for about 20 or 30 seconds. Then it smoothed itself out and ran fine.

The glow plugs that are currently in it are about a year and a half old. I have a nice new set from Steven at Rising Sun too. But I'm not sure what my problem is... I'm thinking maybe the plugs aren't being heated maybe. Do its like trying to start it without them being warned up??

As I said earlier, I ain't to bright with the mechanics. Any advise is as always appreciated.

Cheers folks, Phil

[philmeup1]

Well, after a little self diagnosis and some suggestions from those in the know, I'm thinking I might have picked up some bad fuel..... As I mentioned in my first post, I was on a trip with my van outta town. I had to fuel up at a station that I've never used before. I came home with half a tank, parked the thing for the night and then had issues once attempting to start it cold.

The theory is that until it warms up a bit, the water in the fuel makes it run a little rough. It was fine before all of this. And I know that the gas stations I use in my home town are reputable and provide quality fuel.

Of course, this is just me speculating. Has anyone else ever had similar issues?? Has anyone else gotten poor diesel fuel with water in it??

Oh yeah, and Happy Thanksgiving:) I'm very thankful for this site and all the helpful people on here

[yojimbo]

Lordy, what a mess when I try to reply, that to follow.

Water separates out in fuel, and IIRC it floats, so it makes no sense to be a startup issue, plus, the filter has a water trap and detector.

My money is on a split fuel pipe, you suck in some air, and the pump clears it and it runs until you stop it and some air creeps again.

Then again, its been a week since you posted about this so maybe it got better?

Meanwhile, wtf?

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[FalcoColumbarius]

Thanks for the notification, Yojimbo. We are looking into this.
Odd thing is when I hit the reply button to reply to this my page went all screwy.

Falco.

Resolution: Fixed it.

[philmeup1]

Thanks for ur input yojimbo. Steven at Rising Sun suggests the same thing as you. It does seem a little better. But it's still acting up upon cold starting. Another mechanic friend here in Peterborough said it might be a problem with my head..... Yikes!!!! I certainly hope not

Anyway, This is all new to me and great info. I'm replacing the fuel filter anyway. But it sounds like some further investigation is required for an air leak.

As always, thanks for the help. I'll keep you posted

P.S. Any suggestions on where to look for leaks is appreciated

[philmeup1]

I'm hoping people are still following this post here. While waiting for a new fuel filter, I'm still dealing with the issue of my van running rough upon cold starting. And while I'm checking for an air leak somewhere in the system, my Volkswagen mechanic also suggested looking at the glow plugs.

If anyone has any thoughts on this, I'd appreciate your input. The plugs are probably 2 years old now. I have a new set from Rising sun and I'm inclined to just swap out the old with the new....

[almac]

do you have a block heater?
if so, plug it in for the night and try to start it in the morning.
if the problem goes away, I would guess that your glow plugs aren't working properly.

[philmeup1]

I do have a block heater. And that's a great, easy thing to try!!!

Thanks almac, I will do this tomorrow night and see what happens in Thursday morning.

Cheers

[philmeup1]

Well, I finally got round to fixing my cold start issue. It was indeed one of my glow plugs that was faulty and causing it to start poorly. I had my mechanic replace all 4 plugs along with an oil change in preparation for winter. Got all the parts from Rising Sun and now she's running like a top once again.

One thing my mechanic did mention is that he thought the differential and tranny fluids looked a little tired and old. He suggested I post on here to see what you guys recommend for this.... So any advice would be appreciated.

now alls we need to do is get through the 8 months left of winter and things will be golden once again

[almac]

if your tranny fluid looks old, replace it. it
doesn't cost that much to ensure your tranny is running well...
do it yourself it might take 15 minutes.

[philmeup1]

Do you have a preference as far as what fluid to put in it??
Thanks Almac

[almac]

I have a manual transmission and I use Castrol SMX-S 75W85 GL4.

[philmeup1]

Wow, that's spot on specific!!!

Thanks almac. I going to replace both fluids this week....

Cheers, Phil