MK1 cold morning starting problems

[Sticky]

Firstly let me say hi to you all.

So heres the problem up until recently my '96 Mondeo started lovely and then the real cold weather hit in. As usual the car cranked fine but would not start and when it did it threw out clouds of diesel smelling smoke (Classic glowplug symptoms). I replaced all four plugs and checked that the bus bar had power all the way across. I woke the next morning to heavy frost expexting the car to be ok but again it gave me grief and only started when i swore at it lol. (Maybe this is the new cure for the problem). The glow plug light stays on for 5-6 seconds and i hear a click from the relay after about 11 seconds. As always once the car has started it spends the rest of the day as though nothing is wrong . Yesterday i changed the fuel filter as i will admit it has not been changed for a very long time and i did run a cooking oil mix through it when the prices went stupid and have also run a can of wynns cleaner through the system but now have to wait until tomorrow to see if this has helped (No it never). The new plugs were Wellman plugs that i'm advised are made by the same people that make beru so they should be ok:?:. Does anybody know of any other problems that may be causing this as i can't see that all four new plugs are useless. OH the car has 156,500 miles on it. This is the only trouble i'm having and the car runs fine otherwise. Any help on this matter is truly appreciated.

[SierraYankee99]

Firstly let me say hi to you all.

So heres the problem up until recently my '96 Mondeo started lovely and then the real cold weather hit in. As usual the car cranked fine but would not start and when it did it threw out clouds of diesel smelling smoke (Classic glowplug symptoms). I replaced all four plugs and checked that the bus bar had power all the way across. I woke the next morning to heavy frost expexting the car to be ok but again it gave me grief and only started when i swore at it lol. (Maybe this is the new cure for the problem). The glow plug light stays on for 5-6 seconds and i hear a click from the relay after about 11 seconds. As always once the car has started it spends the rest of the day as though nothing is wrong . Yesterday i changed the fuel filter as i will admit it has not been changed for a very long time and i did run a cooking oil mix through it when the prices went stupid and have also run a can of wynns cleaner through the system but now have to wait until tomorrow to see if this has helped (No it never). The new plugs were Wellman plugs that i'm advised are made by the same people that make beru so they should be ok:?:. Does anybody know of any other problems that may be causing this as i can't see that all four new plugs are useless. OH the car has 156,500 miles on it. This is the only trouble i'm having and the car runs fine otherwise. Any help on this matter is truly appreciated.

Even a good set of heater plugs on an extremely cold day will require a couple of power up cycles before they will be hot enough. Turn your key to 2 then when the light goes off turn it off and back to 2 to give them a good chance of being hot. Should fire much quicker then buddy. I've never heard of Wellman plugs but my old Mk1 Mondeo TD had starting issues quickly solved by putting in a set of Bosch Duraterms in and doing the above process on really cold mornings.

Bosch Website

[Sticky]

Even a good set of heater plugs on an extremely cold day will require a couple of power up cycles before they will be hot enough. Turn your key to 2 then when the light goes off turn it off and back to 2 to give them a good chance of being hot. Should fire much quicker then buddy. I've never heard of Wellman plugs but my old Mk1 Mondeo TD had starting issues quickly solved by putting in a set of Bosch Duraterms in and doing the above process on really cold mornings.

Bosch Website

Hi thanks for the advice i've given it ago but stioll no joy. Having tried it for the last two days the weird thing is it's almost as though the car isn't getting enough fuel as it behaves like a petrol that is starved. In this i mean it is to the point that it sounds like it's ging to fire but just can't seem to. It does eventually but i'd like to try and solve this issue if poss.

[SierraYankee99]

Theres a thin pipe to the turbo somewhere. From memory not sure where, aint owned a mondeo for years. These were always well known for getting fine splits in. This sucked air in and made them hard to start. Could be this fella. If its not I'm stumped.

[Sticky]

Theres a thin pipe to the turbo somewhere. From memory not sure where, aint owned a mondeo for years. These were always well known for getting fine splits in. This sucked air in and made them hard to start. Could be this fella. If its not I'm stumped.

Ok i'll have a look if i get no joy think i'll have to remove the glow plugs and get them tested as maybe i've been very unlucky to get a naff set. Thankyou for your advice anyway.

[Sticky]

Just an update.

So today the cars been sat from 6 in the morning to 5.30 tonight and today we finally got temperatures above freezing. I went to the car to go to work and hey presto after spinning for 2-3 secs the car started first time. So the problem really is connected with the very cold weather.

Can i just ask. Just below the filter there is a black box that the fuel pipes run into. It also has electrics running into it. I've been informed that it is possibly a cut of valve to stop the car over running when switched of is this right and has anybody known these to cause problems?