I've got a 2008 focus 18.tdci

 

Recently I've noticed that in a morning when cold the car takes some time to start but when it does it throws out a decent amount of white smoke which looks like a back up diesel after trying to start. 

When the car has started it's fine for the rest of the day. 

Ive been looking people are saying

Glow plugs, temp sensor or starter motor. I've had the battery changed as it needed anyway. 

Anyone had the same problem or any ideas what it could be 

Cheers

I’ve found in my experience of these engines that I’ve worked on and also the one I own right now that they don’t seem to like the cold and al have behaved in a similar manner.

i have tested the glow plugs on mine and the cable to them is capable of carrying current so what I have concluded is that my plugs probably need replaced as I need to cycle the key 3 times when it’s cold to get it to start without an extended crank and a puff of grey smoke lol. They seem slow to heat up but if the key is cycled 3 times it starts effortlessly. I’ll get round to them eventually.

So you could start by verifying the plugs and supply to them are ok. Or even try cycling the key a few times before you crank it. 

Stef123

How is the best way to check them in the car as been informed a pain in the ar** "to take out. 

 

If running the plugs three times helps, you probably have at least one dead plug, and boosting the temp in the other cylinders more is helping overcome one or two  lazy cylinders.

Had exactly the same on a previous car.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Abbadon said:

If running the plugs three times helps, you probably have at least one dead plug, and boosting the temp in the other cylinders more is helping overcome one or two  lazy cylinders.

Had exactly the same on a previous car.

 

 

 

I still have 4 working plugs but they are likely getting lazy to heat up. 

9 hours ago, Andy_2k15 said:

Stef123

How is the best way to check them in the car as been informed a pain in the ar** "to take out. 

 

Disconnect the wiring from them and test the resistance of each, they should be around 1 ohm give or take. Removing them is simple enough, if they are seized however is when the fun starts. Access on the 1.8 is pretty good.

There are lots of ways of testing them, for example I have an amp clamp i can put round the cable and test how much current each is drawing without even disconnecting them.

I used to test the glow plugs on a Cavalier TD I had by removing the busbar from the glowplugs and, connecting a length of heavy duty cable to the battery and brushing the other end briskly over the glowplug top. If I found one that didn’t ‘spark’ it was a duffer! Not ideal but a quick and easy way to test when a meter isn’t handy.

2 hours ago, Russ said:

I used to test the glow plugs on a Cavalier TD I had by removing the busbar from the glowplugs and, connecting a length of heavy duty cable to the battery and brushing the other end briskly over the glowplug top. If I found one that didn’t ‘spark’ it was a duffer! Not ideal but a quick and easy way to test when a meter isn’t handy.

Perhaps a very crude and ‘field’ type test but it does prove a point lol.

Mine used to cough a load of white(ish) coloured smoke out on a really cold start until I had the glow plugs replaced, it always started mind due even if it was a little bit like Del Boys van with the cloud of smoke