starting problems - battery? glow plugs? both..?

[Gigantor]

Hi,
My bongo's suddenly started having difficulty starting in the morning. it's a 1995 4wd 2.5 turbodiesel.
My first assumption was that it's the battery - if I charge it overnight, the bongo starts first time, but it's really juddery for about 30 seconds. After a day or 2 of short journeys I get starting problems again. The Battery is a 4 year old monstrosity I got from BatMan and the voltmeter on the dash reads around 11+ v
I've no idea how these things work - I'd assume the battery needs replacing but the judder when it does start makes me suspicious, and I'm not sure when the glow plugs were last replaced. Is it possible that having a highly charged battery can compensate for crumbling glow plugs?

Any help would be most appreciated - I can't afford to just buy a battery if it turns out the glow plugs are the real problem!

Cheers,

Dave

[g8dhe]

Both an old battery and old glow plugs will cause much the same problem at the point of starting, once running then old glow plugs will carry on causing the situation you see. I would change the glow plugs first followed by the battery. Suprised that the voltmeter only suggests 11 volts once actually runnning and the alternator is charging then you should see the voltage rise to 13.6-14.4 unless the battery is really bad!

[Diplomat]

Reading between the lines, if you've had the Bongo for the four years of the battery's life and you don't know when the glow plugs were last changed, then I'd say you've been lucky they've lasted this long.

About two and a half winters is about what I seem to get out of a set of glow plugs. There are not may days in the year when I don't use the Bongo, so the glow plugs go through a massive number of start cycles.

I would expect to get more than four years out of a decent battery. my 1997 Bongo is only a few years into its second ever battery, the original Japanese battery lasting well over ten tears.

I would look at the glow plugs first. If the battery needs frequent charging has it been getting enough use and is it frequently left discharged?

Like Geoff, I would deal with it in the same sequence. At the worst, you will know straight away that the battery needs replacing if new working glow plugs eat up all its cranking power.


Frank

[Gigantor]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies.
Just to clarify, the 11-12 volts is when the engine is off - once the engine is running then it ups to 13-14v.

So, if I'm understanding right, old glow plugs require more power from the battery? If so then it's off to the garage for new plugs

[g8dhe]

Yup basically they don't get as hot or some may have failed altogether.
If its 11-12v without the alternator and 13-14 with then that's about right, but it doesn't actually tell you anything about what the capacity of the battery is.

[khisanth]

How difficult is it to change the glow plugs and where are they. What plugs would you recommend

[g8dhe]

There is a fact sheet http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/member ... wplugs.pdf on how to do it.