glowplug nightmare - bongo won't start

[thomasw88]

Hi,

Currently have a non starting bongo.. The bongo hasn't been starting well recently in thats it taken a few minutes to get it started. HAd a look on here and these would seem to point to the glow plugs going. I took it to our local garage and asked them to replace the glow plugs. They have worked on bongo's before and have quite a good reputation locally for being honest and good. They said that two of them had gone.


They replaced all the glow plugs and off I went home happy as larry. \next day bongo wouldn't start so i phoned the garage and they came out confirmed it wouldn't start.. then towed it back to the garage. They said that the glowplugs had all failed, and seemed very surprised by it, they said that they'd never seen this before but were guessing that they must have picked up a dud set of plugs. Anyway they replaced them with another set, apologised profusely and then off i went again.. next day bongo was ok, so we came up to my sisters for christmas. Yesterday van wouldn't start again. Battery/ignition is ok its just that no fuel seems to be going thro.


So does anyone have any helpful suggestions as to what the problem might be, or what checks I could do/suggest to the garage.

[francophile1947]

If it was fuel, I would think you'd have problems once it had started.
Have you checked the power supply to the bas bar connecting the glow plugs? Also, were the plugs replaced with the same size ones? There are 2 sizes of plug for the Bongo (102mm and 83mm) - if you fit the shorter plugs, on a car that had the longer ones fitted, they can short out on the fuel lines between the injectors.

[westonwarrior]

are you getting power to the glow plug rail

test with a test light or multimeter from the rail to earth when turning ignition on?

do you think its fuel because electrics are ok? or have you checked fuel?

[stilldesperate]

I would second Johns comments.
I went to Billythefists Bongo a few weeks ago, It had run OK until the rail on the (shorter) glowplugs had rubbed through the insulation, blowing the fuse to it.

SD

[thomasw88]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. The man from GEM came out and got it going.
I got home ok and have parked back outside the garage and hopefully they'll be open tomorrow.

He tested the glowplugs when the engine was going and said that current was still going through them even when the engine was running. This would wear them out I guess??

He said it could be the wrong size glow plug, or the relay switch or the circuit. My instinct is that it is the wrong size glow plugs as a) its only happened since the glow plugs got replaced and b) the van is 96model so could quite feasibly be on the longer glow plugs.
Is there a sure fire way to tell what size the glowplugs should be? (I'm guessing that the old glow plugs were binned by the garage by now.) I know there was a link to a thread in the glow plug article but it doesn't work.

[wonkanoby]

current was still going through them even when the engine was running

thats normal in first minutes from a cold start

[stilldesperate]

He said it could be the wrong size glow plug, or the relay switch or the circuit.

That's quite a range of options - he got it going - what did he do to "fix" it? Was it a temporary fix to get you to the garage, or does he think it needs further investigation?

SD

[thomasw88]

He said it could be the wrong size glow plug, or the relay switch or the circuit.

That's quite a range of options - he got it going - what did he do to "fix" it? Was it a temporary fix to get you to the garage, or does he think it needs further investigation?

SD

He said it was definitely glowplug problem and said definitely needed to go back to the garage. He sprayed a bit of engine easystart into the intake(?) pipe whilst i turned the key. I'm not mechanical btw! but it was the big black pipe under the passenger seat which he unscrewed a section with a screwdriver.

He said it wouldn't start once the engine cooled down sufficiently. Wouldn't say how long it would take but said it wouldn't start tomorrow. I drove it back home from the midlands and it was fine, although I didn't stop!

[The Great Pretender]

A question rather than an answer........would constant power applied to the glowplugs with combustion heat kill them (as that could be responsible) or would the fuse go first?

[francophile1947]

Is there a sure fire way to tell what size the glowplugs should be? (I'm guessing that the old glow plugs were binned by the garage by now.)

Only way I can think of is checking how close the injector pipes are to the glow plug rail - there should be a reasonable gap. I fitted the 83mm plugs to mine (previously 102mm) and, with a block of wood and gentle tapping with a hammer, bent the injector pipes down a little - that worked fine

[thomasw88]

Is there a sure fire way to tell what size the glowplugs should be? (I'm guessing that the old glow plugs were binned by the garage by now.)

Only way I can think of is checking how close the injector pipes are to the glow plug rail - there should be a reasonable gap. I fitted the 83mm plugs to mine (previously 102mm) and, with a block of wood and gentle tapping with a hammer, bent the injector pipes down a little - that worked fine

spoke to the garage today - they said that they had kept the original Glow plugs and that they'd checked the lengths of them so I guess that makes it less likely that they put on the wrong size. They were checking it out but were hinting at possibly the circuit having gone.

[helen&tony]

Hi
If the glowplugs are O.K. it's either the relay, or wiring not making contact/ frayed. It is normal for the plugs to stay on until the engine is warm...it increases fuel efficiency when cold, amongst other things.....The reply "The Circuit has Gone", sounds like garage speak for "I don't know what's wrong"....is there someone else who could look at it for you?....an auto electrician with Bongo savvy, perhaps?
Cheers
Helen

[westonwarrior]

I dont see how currant can be going through the circuit when the engine is running if not to start it.

There is a fuse that controls the relay, and the Fusable link directly from the battery, either or both could be at fault as could the relay
I would bet the fuse or fusable link though as the could have shorted it when fiting the new plugs.

I did mine when fitting a low coolant alarm wrongly

[stilldesperate]

Hi Thomas,

Whoever came out to you just used engine starter spray as the glowplugs weren't warming up the cylinders.

Do you have the van with you, or is it at the garage now? Do you have a meter to test 12volts?

I can run through what you can test if it's any use, at least if it is the glowplugs, the garage that changed them should be replacing them FOC.

SD

[tonic]

Glow plug relay ??