Alexm Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Hi all, This is my first diesel as a personal car I do want to start off saying,the lorries I drive all sound like crap because they are lorries so I can't really make a fair comparison to a domestic car! But is it normal for clatter from cold startup ? 1.8tdci 2007 focus, how do yours sound ? The clatter subsides in approx half a mile, but being used to petrols, on startup it sounds like the beginning of catastrophic valve train issues (on a petrol). Could my issue be glow-plug related ? The car is sitting at 51k, the light takes a fair while to go out In the morning. It's been serviced literally 200 miles ago with fully synthetic ford spec oil and I use millers diesel Ecomax in it and its had an Italian tuneup on a 200 mile round trip also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike77 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Sorry to say this, but it sounds like you are in for a very expensive repair, very very soon. Sounds like you have a cloapsed glow plug internal, which will be what you can hear on start up for about half a mile, the broken off piece will be slowly chewing up any moving parts and will eventually cause catastrophic engine failure. APRIL FOOL, lol, its a diesel, they all do that, mine sounds like a tank for the first mile everyday, then calms back down to normallity lol :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOCA Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Irridium plugs and a new coil pak should sort it out! :) LOL Very funny - was just about to reply "colapsed glow plug internal"? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexm Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Lol I thought it had something to so with the headlight fluid level !! Ahh good, just a normal oil burner characteristic then.. Phewwww 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitmonster Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Yep, mine's the same and cold weather makes it worse. When summer comes it'll be a lot better, and your fuel economy will improve too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artscot79 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Its a noise i could never get used to when i had diesels still cant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 They all sound like skeletons humping in a biscuit tin until they warm up. As stated, more noticeable in cold weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOCA Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 They all sound like skeletons humping in a biscuit tin until they warm up. As stated, more noticeable in cold weather. Thats exactly the sound! - just as well it only lasts 3 minites - LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Thats exactly the sound! - just as well it only lasts 3 minites - LOL Three minutes? I manage two, and half that's taking me socks off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexm Posted April 2, 2013 Author Share Posted April 2, 2013 What an articulate description lmao! Do you think if the glowplugs were renewed as a matter of course Mr skeleton will be even more premature ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Probably be a lot quieter faster I reckon. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexm Posted April 2, 2013 Author Share Posted April 2, 2013 Yeah or one of them block heaters that Alaskans use lol, maybe that's a bit overkill for a ford focus is England. Just concerned its getting damaged at the noisey few mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexp999 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 All sounds normal to me, on my car, if it has been a while since I gave it a good run it sounds even louder, especially first thing on a cold morning after a weekend if I haven't used it. The engine management tries to control noise by varying how and when it injects fuel to counter the diesel knock (remember there are no spark plugs, diesel ignites on pressure, hence the thicker engine block). Of course when the engine is cold a lot of that noise control goes out the window as the ECU tries its hardest to warm the engine up and reduce emissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOCA Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Yeah or one of them block heaters that Alaskans use lol, maybe that's a bit overkill for a ford focus is England. Just concerned its getting damaged at the noisey few mins All sounds normal to me, on my car, if it has been a while since I gave it a good run it sounds even louder, especially first thing on a cold morning after a weekend if I haven't used it. The engine management tries to control noise by varying how and when it injects fuel to counter the diesel knock (remember there are no spark plugs, diesel ignites on pressure, hence the thicker engine block). Of course when the engine is cold a lot of that noise control goes out the window as the ECU tries its hardest to warm the engine up and reduce emissions. + because the tuning box injects more diesel, some of that "noise control" is lost, it is unlikely to do any harm though, and because more energy is put into the "system" the engine may warm up a bit quicker For example, I have an electronic boost controller, which i can turn up/ down or switch off, i have a 3-mile run into town, i used to leave the boost off untill the engine warmed up, now i just switch the boost on/up 30 secs after i start the car, as i realised this helps to warm the car up faster, and i get more power at lower revs, so i don't have to rev the engine so high, so it is probably kinder to the engine, the tuning box may have a similar result The block is heavier than a petrol, so is the crank, rods, etc (tougher) so although the "cold start rattle" sounds bad its not likely to do any harm and the engine should be able to cope with it, - regular oil/ filter changes help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOCA Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Yeah or one of them block heaters that Alaskans use lol, maybe that's a bit overkill for a ford focus is England. Just concerned its getting damaged at the noisey few mins The mk3 Mondeo diesels imported to the UK has an electric heating element in the coolant circut just before the cabin heater, on cars going to artic regions this is replaced with a small diesel-burning heater, for 1/2or 3 months of the year the UK kinda is an artic region, it may be a worthwile mod Ive converted my car to an electric waterpump now, i leave it switched off for the 1st 5 mins, i recently fitted an elecronic tempprature gauge, and was surprised to see halfway (where it normally sits) on the original temp gauge was only 70 degrees centigrade, and it almost never went over 75, they say the best temp for economy is 88/ 90 - these things run too cool and the temp drops when you use the heater Ive seen truckers burnig fires under their fuel tanks in freezing conditions - a bit extreeme! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOCA Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Its a noise i could never get used to when i had diesels still cant I hate the sound too - i like the sound a forcourt petrol pump makes even less, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Ive seen truckers burnig fires under their fuel tanks in freezing conditions - a bit extreeme! I've done that with military land rover's in Norway and the Gulf, diesel was freezing in the tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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