Update:
Sorry I'm a bit slow on follow-up. I try to do all the work myself and was short on time these last 2 months...
In the previous post I told you that the car was going to a Bosch center. Well when it got there the temperatures had started to rise and cold starts had improved. So they told me to come back when it was freezing again...
Then last week with some cold nights the car wouldn't start again. As I was away from home my wife called the road assistance who showed up an hour later.
The guy checked the usual suspects first (battery, fuses, fuel, glow plugs etc) but couldn't find anything wrong and no fault codes.
Upon closer inspection he found that the fuel pressure sensor on the rail gave of about 1V which according to him meant rail pressure too low. Which in turn means no signal to injectors.
In the end he started it up with brake cleaner (according to his receipt) and sent my wife on her way. He advised her to have a garage check the pressure loss.
So what could be happening here? Possible suspects for low rail pressure?
- HP pump? > visual inspection shows no leaks, still have to get it tested at Bosch
- injector(s)? > suspect also because of uneven idling, will perform a leak test
- pressure regulator? > had already changed o-ring on that one (meant taking whole rail off), faulty regulator itself would give fault code which is not there
- pressure sensor itself faulty? > could be, but wouldn't that give fault code aswell?
DIY injector leak test
Allright, this I can do myself. Having become a dad last year, there are still a lot of small milk bottles with rubber nipples lying around. The nipples providing a nice flexible seal for the 6mm hose to the injectors. So fixed myself a homemade leak test "kit".
Although I was warned, I still managed to spill quite a lot of diesel over the engine from the disconnected injector return line. Clamped it down, but just not tight enough.
Ok, so I turned on the engine and walked back to the front of the car. Wow, number 2 bottle is filling up fast. Real fast! Watched it for a few seconds and then hurried back into the car to shut off engine.
Below a picture of what it looks like after about 15 seconds of running:
Ok so number 2 injector is at fault. Only number 1 injector (red bottle cap) had started filling up aswell, but that one had the shortest piece of hose, being the closest.
I still want to know how the other 4 are doing compared to eachother, so I fetched a glass jar and put number 2 leak off hose in the glass jarr.
End result of (left to right) injectors 5-3 and 1 (far right, red cap). The diesel inside the uneven lengths of hose is drained into the bottles aswell, making it a fair comparison:
End here's with the number 2 leak off in the glass jar:
So conclusion: number 2 is shot, other 4 are looking ok as far as leak off goes.
Will replace number 2 injector.
- you guys think this will finally fix my cold start issues after all the other work I put into it?
- as to replacement: what are your thoughts on remanufactured injectors vs. new ones? Remanufactured are less than half the price here...
Thanks again for your input!
Marty
