[Spruce]

Just a thought, could it be that the engine oil may be thicker due to the cold, making it more difficult for the battery/starter to cope?

Or am I the thick one!

John.

No, you are not the thick one! add to the thicker engine oil, thicker gearbox oil as well which further adds to the drag. The colder it gets the less efficiently the battery works as well - all factors which make cold engine starting even more difficult.
To make matters worse, a Citroen Hdi engine needs to be spun faster than the earlier 1.9d to get it to start.
Spruce

The thickness of the gearbox oil will have no effect on the starting of an engine.

If you start your engine with the gearbox in neutral and your foot off the clutch, then the oil that lubricates the spigot shaft and gearing will cause additional drag.
Spruce.

[SPE]

Just a thought, could it be that the engine oil may be thicker due to the cold, making it more difficult for the battery/starter to cope?

Or am I the thick one!

John.

ha ha ! funny you should say that, had never changed the oil in over 3 years, a mate suggested that and had it done last week, my logic too would suggest so, but the problem still prevailed

[Spruce]

Hmmm  interesting - i didn't post my van problem here as i thought it wasn't suitable, but some interesting answers

my combo has almost identical prob, altho it still will not start from a jump straight away - the leads need to be on for
five minutes then it fires up - after that its a good un - even if i stop it straight away, so the batt has life - just not first thing in the cold  :

ps - it did require new glow plugs at the start of this cold spell - only 1 out of 4 working ...

it has to be down to a loose connection

Darran

Hi
Maybe another thing to try is wait for the heater coil light to go out, switch the ignition off and then on again, and then try to start the engine when the light goes out a second time. This may give a little extra time for tired glowplugs to reach the required temperature.

Then sorry to ask, (not insulting anybody's intelligence) but are you waiting for the heater coil light to go out before trying to start it. The trouble with the new diesels is that we tend to start our diesels exactly the same way as we start a petrol engine. In the summer the new diesel will usually start straight away, but in winter we need to wait until the light goes out.
I mention this because I had trouble adapting back from an Hdi to a 1.9d Engine.

Also should ask if you have checked that there is current to the glowplugs in the first place. A relay is used to actuate these through a fuse. Any issues here will cause poor starting.
Spruce

[paul saunders]

Just a thought, could it be that the engine oil may be thicker due to the cold, making it more difficult for the battery/starter to cope?

Or am I the thick one!

John.

No, you are not the thick one! add to the thicker engine oil, thicker gearbox oil as well which further adds to the drag. The colder it gets the less efficiently the battery works as well - all factors which make cold engine starting even more difficult.
To make matters worse, a Citroen Hdi engine needs to be spun faster than the earlier 1.9d to get it to start.
Spruce

The thickness of the gearbox oil will have no effect on the starting of an engine.

If you start your engine with the gearbox in neutral and your foot off the clutch, then the oil that lubricates the spigot shaft and gearing will cause additional drag.
Spruce.

I stand corrected.

I'll shut up now.

[SPE]

my last reply was before I had finished reading all the posts, which have all been good and could well have been contributing factors to cold start problems, glad to hear I am not alone anyhow !
 Ok well I popped in this morning to where I bought the battery from just over a year ago (2YG) , just like quick fit he tested battery too, he then syringed out the distilled water from one of the cells, it was black. He said that running a split cahrge relay from the battery to my leisure battery for pump and short trips and stop / starts had all taken their toll on the battery. Taxis apparantly change their batteries every few months because of this added wear. So solution was a new battery, not under guarantee as battery was not at fault, well a second hand one for £20 instead of £50, he reckoned a new one was pointless as the way its being used would only give a years use, honest enough of them I feel and I may well just change to a fresh second hand battery every beginning of winter as a matter of course in future.
So for time being I'm a happy bunny again, a few frosty mornings and time will tell though I guess.
Thanks all
 
Simon

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

just call in local filling station
can of easy start job done 

[Nameless Drudge]

my last reply was before I had finished reading all the posts, which have all been good and could well have been contributing factors to cold start problems, glad to hear I am not alone anyhow !
 Ok well I popped in this morning to where I bought the battery from just over a year ago (2YG) , just like quick fit he tested battery too, he then syringed out the distilled water from one of the cells, it was black. He said that running a split cahrge relay from the battery to my leisure battery for pump and short trips and stop / starts had all taken their toll on the battery. Taxis apparantly change their batteries every few months because of this added wear. So solution was a new battery, not under guarantee as battery was not at fault, well a second hand one for £20 instead of £50, he reckoned a new one was pointless as the way its being used would only give a years use, honest enough of them I feel and I may well just change to a fresh second hand battery every beginning of winter as a matter of course in future.
So for time being I'm a happy bunny again, a few frosty mornings and time will tell though I guess.
Thanks all
 
Simon

Thats a faulty cell and they have palmed you off and out of the 5 or 600 taxi`s known to me i have never heard of anyone changing every few months,thats nonsense and most probably an outright lie.Get back and give them another chance to replace it.

[Clive McDonald]

Not a mechanic and no knowledge but when did that stop me.

It's a tight engine.Put some thinner oil in.End of problem.

[SPE]

my last reply was before I had finished reading all the posts, which have all been good and could well have been contributing factors to cold start problems, glad to hear I am not alone anyhow !
 Ok well I popped in this morning to where I bought the battery from just over a year ago (2YG) , just like quick fit he tested battery too, he then syringed out the distilled water from one of the cells, it was black. He said that running a split cahrge relay from the battery to my leisure battery for pump and short trips and stop / starts had all taken their toll on the battery. Taxis apparantly change their batteries every few months because of this added wear. So solution was a new battery, not under guarantee as battery was not at fault, well a second hand one for £20 instead of £50, he reckoned a new one was pointless as the way its being used would only give a years use, honest enough of them I feel and I may well just change to a fresh second hand battery every beginning of winter as a matter of course in future.
So for time being I'm a happy bunny again, a few frosty mornings and time will tell though I guess.
Thanks all
 
Simon

Thats a faulty cell and they have palmed you off and out of the 5 or 600 taxi`s known to me i have never heard of anyone changing every few months,thats nonsense and most probably an outright lie.Get back and give them another chance to replace it.

Oh bugger ! really ? I honestly would'nt know, it sounded a plausable explanation to me.
£20 and its a bigger battery than before, cheaper than replacing glow plugs and if it gets me through the winter without any more problems it was worth it. But would like to know if ther was any truth in what he was saying 

[Smudger]

I would get a garage to check glow plugs.

and yes i think they've pulled a fast one with the batt.

Spruce - cheers,  i do on extra cold mornings do the ignition 3 times - just to help it along - if the garage has fitted new
plugs surely they would have checked the current ?? ( wouldn't they.... )

Engine block could be frozen, make sure youve got the anti-freeze in there.

The last AA man did mention the Anti freeze looked a little weak .....

Darran

[Richard Neal]

My Movano has been slow to start since weve had the cold weather, when it does start there's a load of diesel smoke so i reckon ive got at least one dodgey glow plug, its fine stopping and starting all day after that.