03 1.8 Glow-plug light flashing before starting... - melchett21
I went to start my TDCI-115 the other day after it had been sat still for 20 minutes after previously driving for 30 mins. It started then immediately cut-out and left me with the glow-plug light flashing.

I tried on and off for the next 20 minutes to start the car and it would not start if I left it to wait for the glow-plug to warm-up - however it did start if I went straight from the 'off' position on my ignition to engaging the started motor. However, the car would stall as soon as I took my foot off the accelerator. I was about to give up and get towed home but it decided to start and I got home (with the engine sounding a little clanky).

The next day the same thing happened but it will not start at all now and is sat there with the glow-plug LED flashing constantly as soon as I turn the key 2 clicks. I tried switching the relay for the glow-plug with the one from my fog-lights to see if that worked, but no joy. I also checked the glow-plug fuse and that is fine too.

Any ideas on what it could be please? My guess was either a dead glow plug (or plugs? I'm not sure how many are in these cars?) or I've also heard about about the Camshaft sensor being a problem on these cars?

Cheers,

Richard

P.S. I noticed when checking out the relays in the under-bonnet fuse box that all the relays listed as being to do with glow-plugs weren't there!? There only seemed to be 1 of them, is this correct?
03 1.8 Glow-plug light flashing before starting... - melchett21
Further to my previous post I'd thought I'd make things a bit clearer and add some further information:

In the Auxillary Fuse Box I have Relay 9 (R9), and Fuse 5 which is a 60-amp one and these two items are for the Diesel Pre Glow according to the manual...... The fuse looks fine and I swapped the relay with one from my fog's and it still made no difference

R2 and R10 in the manual are listed as Glow plug heater's 1 and 2 but neither of those are there in the fuse box - I just want to check if this is normally the case, I'm assuming so, as the car has been functioning fine without them!

I've just gone back to my car as it was left overnight and lo-and-behold it has started 1st time again! So it would seem it only runs for a period of time (about 20 minutes or so) before cutting out and then not starting again until it has fully cooled down. This could be a coinicidence but I am not so sure.

Can anyone shed any light on what the problem may be?
03 1.8 Glow-plug light flashing before starting... - fastbysuzuki
a flashing glow plug light means that there has been a fault code written you will need to have it read via a diagnostic reader to point to the fault
03 1.8 Glow-plug light flashing before starting... - WorkshopTech
Could be numerous things. You need to get it looked at by someone who knows these cars.
03 1.8 Glow-plug light flashing before starting... - melchett21
Thanks for the advice guys, I'm booked into a garage tomorrow and I'm hoping it will get there without breaking down.

Interestingly I've just gone out to it and started it and it's running OK but the ABS light has now come on (with the glow-plug light not flashin anymore)! So I've no idea what to think now and it will be better off in the garage I think.
03 1.8 Glow-plug light flashing before starting... - Focus, i dont like you!
Hi I have the same problem. A week before x-mas my ford focus 1.8 tdci 2002 115 would not start, glow plug light flashing!

This has happened to me before and I took the car to a Ford dealer who reset the ECU costing £99. They said there was an issue with the injectors and if it happens again, new injectors will be required. (Costing approx £165 each, and you need 4 of them!).

Anyway, this time i took the car to a diagnostic centre and they sent the injectors for testing. All 4 injectors came back needing to be replaced. I found a website where you can get them for £90 each, and you send them your old ones.

They did a diagnostic test on the car which came back with 2 fault codes.
1: P0204-Injector Circuit Malfunction - Cylinder 4
2: P1200-Injector Range/Performance

So, having paid a garage to change them and test the old ones, it has cost me £780.

We got the car back 4 days later and the same day we picked it up, after having driven it once with no problems, we were driving and the glow plug light started flashing, the car limited its revs to 3000. When we arrived at out destination, i turned the car off. Later that evening, the car wouldnt start, same EXACT problem as before, bearing in mind i have just had the injectors replaced.


The garage who did the work said the fuel pressure was a little low, and that the fuel pump might also need replacing!

Any ideas guys? A second opinion would be greatly appreciated.

03 1.8 Glow-plug light flashing before starting... - WorkshopTech
These cars can be absolute pigs when they develop a fault. My suggestion is to get the car to an auction and sold ASAP. Not taking the mick here, I really mean it.
Then buy a car with a petrol engine or if you want a diesel get a VAG model with the PD engine.
Cant offer any suggestions without seeing the car and running diagnostics over it. If you want it fixing then get it out of the Ford dealer and to an independent dielse expert.