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Put some new branded (NGK or Champion - can't remember) glow plugs on my '95 Fiesta 1.8 Diesel in about Jan/Feb 2005. With this recent cold weather it's very difficult to start from cold, gonna have a look at the glow plugs this afternoon. How should these last normally? I would have thought thet'd last for more than 2 years normally?
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Both my Golfs have the originals in, 5 and 8 years old. Is getting power to them?
Is there any air in the fuel lines? Also a major cause of poor starting in diesels
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Have you tried activating them more than once before starting? Turn the key, wait for warning light to go out, turn key to off position, activate again, and once more if needed. On -5 mornings that's what I do with the 405, and it kicks first time.
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The glow plugs have never been changed from new in my wifes 1993 car.
However I think it depends on the car to a certain extent. I think the Perkins engine in her car would start even if the glow plugs weren't up to scratch.
In the older indirect type of diesels which yours may be they are essential to starting.
Halfords brand among others have been slated on this site for not lasting many months...
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Have you checked your battery? I had a similar vintage 1.8D Fiesta which became difficult to start. Checked electrolyte levels and they were very low - I thought the battery was sealed for life so never bothered checking it. A quick top up and the car ran like a dream.
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Update: Checked the plugs, and on the 2nd one from the right the end that heats up has sheared off, and must have fallen down into the combustion chamber! I found an old plug, checked it still heated up (it did) put it in and back together and it fired up first time, just like it does in warmer weather. I'm guessing the heating element end of the plug must have fallen off a while back, and must have shot out the exhaust valve already. Been for a 2-3 mile run round the block and it's running fine. I appear to have been very lucky that this hasn't caused any further damage to the engine's internals.
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Lucky - or what? I am glad you haven't lunched your engine with Xmas coming, mortgages up and so on!
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yeah, I would have been a bit peed-off especialy as I only got it MOTed on monday after some ball-ache!
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I understand that BERU are considered to be the best, if you have a choice.
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Have you tried activating them more than once before starting? Turn the key, wait for warning light to go out, turn key to off position, activate again, and once more if needed. On -5 mornings that's what I do with the 405, and it kicks first time.
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As mentioned above Beru's are the plug of choice especially for french cars. I've heard stories of a large retail motor outlets failing within months. Maybe GSF can advise on Beru's for your car.
---
Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
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In 106 diesel I have replaced all 4 - once. Two 4 years ago and 2 last year. We have owned the car from new in 1993. Used NGK replacements for first 2, cheap ones for last two. I will be interested to see how long they last.
Probably until the demise of the car at this rate..:-)
madf
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Hello Richy, can you tell what make the broken one is? Out of interest is it printed on or stamped in?.
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They were NGK glowplugs. I wouldn't take this as an excuse to not use their products, I put NGK platinum sparkplugs in my MR2 last year and will continue to use them in the future. All manufacturers can suffer failures, it may well have been my fault for not checking the torque when I fitted them.
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Just out of interest what is the milage on the 106??
I remember reading somwhere that changing glow plugs every 40-50k was good practice although that may have been over cautious
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I used a large motor retail outlets in SWMBO's old 306 D-Turbo and they were still working fine after 9 months. How much longer they lasted I couldn't tell you.
I noticed when removing them for the cambelt swap (so I could turn the engine without inducing a hernia) that the Mondeo has Beru plugs. They're pretty weathered suggesting they've been in there a while, but work fine.
Cheers
DP
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Leaving work this morning it would'nt start again. Gave the glow plugs 2 chances to heat up, cranked it over for 20 seconds then nothing. Tried this 3-4 times untill the battery died and a college turned up and gave me a jump start. Even jump starting it from a big 2.0 diesel Zafira and heavy duty jump leads it did'nt seem that keen to start, it was'nt even that cold last night (2 deg C min)
Gonna check the glow plugs again today, but seeing as they were ok last week I'm starting to run out of ideas. FYI once running or warmed up it runs fine and the car gets a good 12 mile cross country run each way to work and back each day so it's not like it's always on short trips like some cars.
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Ford plugs are usually BERU on a car of that age.
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It's got NGK's in there at the moment and they seem to be heating up ok
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I bought 4 new beru plugs for my 406 from GSF last week.. November offer £5 each + vat
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I swapped a set of 6 year old Lucas plugs in a Xantia for brand new set of NGK's and the starting deteriorated noticeably - it plumed smoke when it fired up and was rough for about 5 seconds. I swapped them for Beru a few days later and it started like new again.
I've used NGK spark plugs in the past without problem, but I wouldn't touch their glow plugs again.
If the tip of the plug has been damaged, it may indicated a problem with the spray pattern on the injector. Other problems with cold starting could be an air leak or a problem with the battery.
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"Xantia for brand new set of NGK's and the starting deteriorated noticeably - it plumed smoke when it fired up and was rough for about 5 seconds. I swapped them for Beru a few days later and it started like new again."
Same experience with a BX- original glowplugs were Beru, after 100k swapped for NGK or Champion, I forget which, but they failed after 6 months. Got some more Beru and they were still going strong after a further 70k. I do about 15k a year.
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Phil
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Alright thanks for that guys, seing as several of you are recommeding BERU plugs then I'll give them a go. Will try my local factors on monday morning unless anyone knows a good mail order place?
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