Starting issue

[Foz77]

Greetings all - first time poster here

Rather embarrassingly I put petrol in my 1.8 TDCi a couple of weeks; only realised after driving a mile and a bit

Got it drained and the car runs OK so touch wood no injector issues

Thing is, now it struggles to start in the cold, whereas before it's always been a great starter. It actually turns over and starts first time, but unless you give it plenty of revs, it just immediately cuts out

We've changed the glow plugs and tested the circuits and all OK. As I said we don't think it's the injectors as once it starts, it runs fine (no smoke), and when the engine is warm, it starts almost instantly with no problems

I know the fuel filter was not changed when the petrol was drained - could this be an issue?? Or it could jut be co-incidence with the cold weather coming (only got it May so no real experience starting in cold)

Holding the clutch in on start up (as per the owner's manual's advice) actually alleviates the problem slightly

Sorry for the long email!

Thanks

Mike

[InstructorPiggy]

Does it pull the same, a ok?

The petrol may have worn the rings somewhat, causing low compression.

Or the petrol has worn the extremely hard yet well protected by secrecy metal coating on the inside of the main pump for the injectors, it wrecks the pressure in the rail, then you get bad starting.

Most defintly should have changed the fuel filter. Probably remnants of petrol still in it.

Did you drain, then refill full with diesel? And put some good diesel treatment in, not the crappy redex stuff!?

Piggy:)

[Foz77]

As far as I can tell it goes OK - still responsive on acceleration

It was drained by a local garage - not sure what quality of diesel was put in, but it was half a tank's worth

I since filled up @ Shell, so the "bad" stuff should be out of the system now, plus it still starts no problems when engine is warmed up

I would like to think the petrol was not in long enough to havwe a chance to wear anything down!!

[ASHMAN]

As far as I can tell it goes OK - still responsive on acceleration

It was drained by a local garage - not sure what quality of diesel was put in, but it was half a tank's worth

I since filled up @ Shell, so the "bad" stuff should be out of the system now, plus it still starts no problems when engine is warmed up

I would like to think the petrol was not in long enough to havwe a chance to wear anything down!!

Unfortunately the petrol does damage to the engine as soon as it fires up.A friend of mine put petrol into an escort van and drove 50 yards before he realised his mistake,ruined engine,pistons,rings,head ect...

[InstructorPiggy]

yep.

Sorry dude.

Could be major.

You need a compression check and diagnostics.

Need to check injectors, and pump and fuel rail pressure when turn ignition on and then try and start.

Could be presupply pump actually, not giving enough umph to help the thing start. The petrol will have done its worst damage to that. It sits in the tank and has the gauge atatched.

Always should fill up after wrong fuel really, dilutes any remainder, plus fuel filter is a must, shame on the garage.

Piggy :)

[Foz77]

yep.

Sorry dude.

Could be major.

You need a compression check and diagnostics.

Need to check injectors, and pump and fuel rail pressure when turn ignition on and then try and start.

Could be presupply pump actually, not giving enough umph to help the thing start. The petrol will have done its worst damage to that. It sits in the tank and has the gauge atatched.

Always should fill up after wrong fuel really, dilutes any remainder, plus fuel filter is a must, shame on the garage.

Piggy :)

Hmm, and I dont suppose Ford would run a diagnostic check free of charge??

[SierraYankee99]

Usually £90+VAT for a diagnostic, though any work revealed usually gets reduced in cost by the price of the diagnostic effectively making it free.