Smoky start in cold weather. What next?

[sotal]

I've had this smoky start in cool weather for a while now.

Took the glow plugs out today and all 4 looked the same (a bit sooty) connected each up to 12v and they all glow the same and burn off the soot quickly.

I can't find either of my multimeters to test the resistance but they are glowing the same and they are all hearing up at the same speed.

When starting in cold weather the engine fires straight up but it sounds rough. A little throttle settles it down but by this point I have a cloud of smoke.

Any suggestions as to what to check next?

[mikeonb4c]

Have you load tested the battery to ensure it can continue to deliver glow voltage to 4 glow plugs while cranking the engine?

[Northern Bongolow]

when it starts and sounds rough its usually the cold start solenoids not working when they should or the throttle cable is not adjusted correctly.
if the cold start solenoids pick up the revs like a choke would in the old days they should not let the revs on tickover go above about 950 revs or it will turn off the glow plugs as it thinks its warmed up or revved.
so during warm up the 2 cold start solenoids aim is to keep it running at just below 950 revs this is done with one solenoid bringing up the throttle to (full choke) until it warms up a little, then as the revs rise the second solenoid takes over giving half choke, at no time do the revs go above 950 so the glow plugs stay on until the second solenoid goes off (coolant temp about 50 degc),

have a read of this link.

http://igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/view ... ds#p585176

[sotal]

If it is related, I had to take the pipes off the solenoids today to get the glow plugs out. The solenoid closest to the front of the bongo made a hissing noise when the pipe was pulled off, as if there was a vacuum etc. The next one didn't make any noise, nor did the egr ones.

I eventually found the multimeter, the resistance was the same across the 4 different plugs.

[mikeonb4c]

My cold solenoid doesn't work but i don't have these problems

[Bob]

Night Nurse, Bill.

That'll sort 'ee.

[mikeonb4c]

Night Nurse, Bill.

That'll sort 'ee.

Sadly Ben, she's not here. Might have to settle for a little Weed

[Bob]

Next best thing.

[Bongolia]

If it is related, I had to take the pipes off the solenoids today to get the glow plugs out. The solenoid closest to the front of the bongo made a hissing noise when the pipe was pulled off, as if there was a vacuum etc. The next one didn't make any noise, nor did the egr ones.

I eventually found the multimeter, the resistance was the same across the 4 different plugs.

The following is generic but should work OK with Bongo.Someone will correct it if not so leave it a bit so others may comment.
Disconnect all the solenoid plugs and using a pos and neg leads flash the terminal of the solenoids one by one you should hear them click this normally indicates they are working, they could be seized mechanically but normally if they click they work, if you wanted to check further you would need a vac pump or use a piece of tube and suck while flashing the solenoids.
Reconnect all the plugs .
Check the vac pipes for splits and kinks etc tracing them back.
Using your volt meter attach the neg lead to a good ground and the pos to the GP rail.
Switch on the ign don`t crank it. Note the voltage and the duration before the voltage drops. When the volts drop you should hear a click, from the OS screen pillar area I believe, this is the GP relay clicking. Ignore the GP light.
If all that checked out then try reheating the plugs, turn the ign to start but not crank and listen for the GP relay to click off , switch off and switch back on again wait for the click and then start . Did that make any difference?
I did say this was generic and some vehicles require the engine to crank before giving full Vs to the GP`s but I would GUESS this is not the case on the Bongo.
How old are the G/plugs?

[Northern Bongolow]

[sotal]

No idea on the age of the glow plugs. I've had it for 2 years now. So over 2-years old.

With the solenoids does it matter which way round I connect the positive and negative?

[Bongolia]

I would think not but best to observe polarity having said that some Fords are polarity sensitive. Maybe Geoff could comment?

[Bongolia]

Sorry missed the last bit re plugs age.
It depends on frequency of use really if you use Bongo as a daily drive then the number of stops and cold starts.
Depending on you finances and if they look a bit long in the tooth (the plugs ) I would be inclined to change them. Do the checks first though.
If it starts better after the reheating then that would be a clincher for me.
At the least you would know that the GP system was pretty much OK unless there is an obscure underlying problem you can cross it off the list.

EDIT just re read your first post and it would seem they are OK from what you say!

[sotal]

Tested the solenoids and both click audibly.

Resting voltage was a bit low on the SB at 11.81v (not the most trustworthy multimeter ever)

Glow plug rail started at 0v, when the ignition was turned on it went to 11.25v for 16s (timed by me counting and saying 'elephants' between each number! ) before the relay clicked and they dropped to 0v. During this time the glowplug light was on for about half of that.

Checked all the pipes and found one with a split at the top, when I came to remove it I realised that the other end wasn't connected to anything! Not sure if it will be related as it goes to the EGR solenoids but it looks like both sets are inter connected.

The pipe that has broken connects to the air intake pipe, it has sheered off just above the fat connector bit. It then connects to the front pipe on the EGR solenoids - it had heat shielding round it too.

Not 100% sure it was sheered off before maybe moving things around has sheered it off?

Either way is that the main feed for all 4 solenoids? How do I go about repairing it! It looks like the green connector has snapped inside. I could possibly use a screw to pull out the green from the pipe and trim the split end if there is enough pipe left but not sure about the end attached to the air intake pipe.

[mikeonb4c]

Sorry missed the last bit re plugs age.
It depends on frequency of use really if you use Bongo as a daily drive then the number of stops and cold starts.
Depending on you finances and if they look a bit long in the tooth (the plugs ) I would be inclined to change them. Do the checks first though.
If it starts better after the reheating then that would be a clincher for me.
At the least you would know that the GP system was pretty much OK unless there is an obscure underlying problem you can cross it off the list.

EDIT just re read your first post and it would seem they are OK from what you say!

What about load testing the battery Bongolia - would it be worth eliminating it from enquiries? I could see a situation where the battery fails to maintain glow plug heating at the instant the starter motor is engaged. I can remember frustrations with model glow plug engines where a test of the glow plug showed it glowing well but still the engine would not start, until a new battery was tried. My guess then was that the battery power was inadequate to prevent fuel quenching the glow, thus preventing ignition. If you add the drain of cranking an engine to all this, it could explain poor starting. It's just a theory but...

Sotal - Sorry, you may have said but what AmpHr/CCA is your battery, how old is it, and has it been flattened before?

Edit: went to post this and saw Sotals latest post. Does make me think the battery condition needs to be established. The way i see it, if its condition is suspect then it could do with replacing anyway and that at least removes it from the list of possible causes.