Technical another Doblo multijet starting problem.

[geddy1972]

please can anyone help.

i have a 57 plate 1.9 Diesel multijet with an annoying starting problem.

when the car has been left overnight, i cycle the glow plugs 2 times the car starts fine.

the glow plugs seem to stay on for the desired amount of time.

however when the weather is warm or the car has been left for about 5 - 6 hours the glow plusg only seem to stay on for about a seconfd and the car wont start.

if i then cycle the glow plugs for about 5 - 6 times with them staying on for about a second at a time it eventually starts.

it goes to start but then dies.

i think its the glow plug control unit thats doing this but can anyone shed any light on this.

what tells the control unit how long the glow plugs stay on for ?

does it use the temp sender or something else ?

im tempted to just go ahead and buy a control unit as i would need a garage to change the glowplugs if thats the problem.

cheers for any help.

 

[Greasytrucker]

I’ve got an 07 Sedici with the same engine and my glow plug light only stays on for a couple of seconds regardless, I swapped the glow plug relay but made no difference. Interestingly if you pull the wire on the green temp sensor on the front of the block the glow plug light stays on for about 8 seconds, also tried swapping that but again no difference

 

[geddy1972]

you must have 1 of the only few ever sold in the UK. i worked for a Fiat dealership for 5 years in the early 2000's and we never sold one.

back to the glowplug problem, not sure about changing the control unit now you have said that.

i do get the glow plug failure warning light come on when i start the car no matter what temp it is or early morning or afternoon.

the light continues to flash for about 30 seconds after starting.

i would pull the temp sender wire off the sender but its buried in the engine bay under lots of other stuff.

it does sound like its the glow plugs maybe so i may have to bite the bullet and pay a garage to do it.

luckily im near a place called the small car centre in hampshire who are a fiat/alfa specialist.

i have used them to do the cambelt and when i had a limp mode problem.

 

[Greasytrucker]

Yes i did the glow plugs in mine thinking they might be the problem (even though i had no errors) and it’s not a 5 minute job! Struggle to even see them let alone get a deep socket on them!

 

[geddy1972]

theres no way im doing them.

took me 3 hours to change the egr valve (for no reason i found out later on)

my hands and arms looked like i had been in a fight with a sabre toothed tiger !