starting problems

[Dr Bungle]

hi there,

i have recently been experiencing starting problems first thing in the morning. i called out the trusty?! RAC who upon testing the engine informed me that i had a couple of glow plugs needed replacing. i whipped my pride and joy into the local garage and £100 later collected my bongo new plugs and all (i changed the full set of plugs). feeling smug and pleased with myself, i gave the 'Bongoloid' a clean as a reward for being better and went to bed.

Imagine my horror when i awoke for work next morning, attempted to start the Bongo only to find that the problem has not resolved itself at all and was just as bed as before. can anyone suggest a possible reason for this persistent problem? i have heard of similar issues on other manufacturers vehicles being caused by a faulty relay which operates the glow plugs, could this be the problem or is it likely to be something else? if this is the problem, where is the relay located and how can i test it to determine whether it is faulty?

any help would be wholeheartedly appreciated

regards

a lonely, stranded and now unemployed Bongonaught

[francophile1947]

Welcome to the madhouse Don't forget to put your location in your profile - somebody local is often willing to help.
The glow plug relay is under the bonnet, on the driver's side, between the battery and the wing (it has a stiff polythene looking cover). You should hear it click when you turn the ignition on.

[missfixit70]

Measure to check if there's the voltage on the glow plug rail with the ignition turned on. There's a fusible link in there too apparantly that has blown with one or two people, there's a thread on it in techie from a week or so back.

[dandywarhol]

Take it back and tell them you're a £100 lighter, no further forward and to fix it properly!

[mister munkey]

Case point there Dandy.

Money was spent on a provided sevice to fix a problem.

Problem still exists.

Someone elses problem.

[westonwarrior]

Take it back and tell them you're a £100 lighter, no further forward and to fix it properly!

If you asked them to "fix it" you can. If you askd them to change the plugs, they did as asked so no come back unless the job or plugs are faulty.

What exactly happens? does it turn over and start after a few turns or loads of turns or never?

As Kirsty says is there a current to the glow plug rail a simple test light between the rail and earth will come on when you turn on the ignition if there is a current no light then look for fuse or fusable link.

[dandywarhol]

Fair point weston..............................

[mikeonb4c]

Fair point weston..............................

It is, but yours is too Dandy. It reads as though they said Bungles Bongo had 2 duff plugs before Bungle said anything.

But, real life being what it is, getting stroppy probably won't help. On the other hand if they understood you were unemployed (v sorry to hear that too, been there myself as have many on here so I know what its like) and money was a worry, they could do the decent thing and at least diagnose and fit a working relay (if that is the problem and its hard to see what else it might now be on the 'ignition' side) for cost of parts only (and you might be able to supply something from a breakers yard if 'new' is too expensive).

Good luck getting it fixed, as well as with job search and keep us posted.

Mike

[westonwarrior]

The RAC diagnosed the glow plugs not sure yet if the garage tested them would be interesting to know and a failing glow plug could have caused a fuse problem????

[mikeonb4c]

The RAC diagnosed the glow plugs not sure yet if the garage tested them would be interesting to know and a failing glow plug could have caused a fuse problem????

Woops. My turn to blush. Really must actually read things before posting - ha ha!

[bigdaddycain]

£100!?... ONE HUNDRED POUNDS? Is that sterling or peso's?

Are you sure the garage has fitted the correct length plugs, there is a known discrepency in plug length with the bongo.

Your garage should have been aware (simply by visual inspection) That the relay bar was a bit close to the manifold, which could cause arcing of the current, meaning the glowplugs don't receive all the juice they could.

I beleive that relevent spacing of the glowplug bar can be adjusted via the use of nuts and?or washer's.

This is of course based on the assumption that the wrong length plugs have indeed been used. One hundred quid... Five 20's....20 fivers....

[mister munkey]

In the Real World, thats how it is mate. I was quoted something like £35 each for Ranger glowplugs from my local Ford outfit.

Needless to say - I made my excuses & left the premises.

[bigdaddycain]

£35 pounds each?...70 50p's?etc etc

[mister munkey]

Indeed. Thats about 16 pints of Timothy Taylors where I come from.

I'd rather give it that extra few seconds to warm up than surrender that.

Ebay do them at a comfortable price but the NGK ones are a tad steep.

[bigdaddycain]

yep, the general consensus seems to be that the NGK items are worth the extra money though, i have bluprint plugs fitted, which i think cost less than a fiver each, so far they have been fine, but never quite start the bongo as well as the originals did whern they used to wrok perfectly.

6 months or so down the line they are still performing the same as they did post fitting.

If they show any signs of laziness over the next 18 months or so, i'll replace with the NGK items next time.