Grey/white smoke on cold Solved,,,,,,,,

[Mothman]

Hi guys just thought i would share this little issue i have been having with my Engine with you guys,, when starting up from cold the engine would smoke like a 2 dollar Hooker Grey/white smoke surgesting unburnt diesel,,
Never had a problem starting up though! until the engine was warm it smoked bad, so ive just changed the glow plugs for new NGK £18.00 set of 4 from CAR SPARES, HALFRAUDS WANTED £41.00:scared: so fired it up from cold & the jobs a good en,, no more smoke so i must of had 1 or 2 glowplugs down, thought i would share my findings on this simple fix

Mothman,

 

[scotsy]

nice one

My Sprinter 310D does that as well, your post has just reminded me that there is a way of testing them but i can't remember exactly how? (wouldn't want someone to try it before i've tried it myself)

Mind you at £18 for 4 you might as well swop them all anyway (although my 2.9TD would need 5 )

Is the shop actually called CAR SPARES?

Cheers Mothman

Ian

 

[Mothman]

Hi ya yes they have lots of shops in birmingham not sure if they are nationwide??
The way to test them is i belive a set of jump leads on your battery the negative terminal to the body of the glowplug & the positive terminal to the end of the glowplug ie the end where you would screw the buzz bar on! then see if it glows red hot test the lot to see if ones slower to heat up than the other or nothing at all,,,, ebay have some sets on there very good prices,, yes for that price i never checked mine thought i would just change the lot,

cheers Mothman,

My Sprinter 310D does that as well, your post has just reminded me that there is a way of testing them but i can't remember exactly how? (wouldn't want someone to try it before i've tried it myself)

Mind you at £18 for 4 you might as well swop them all anyway (although my 2.9TD would need 5 )

Is the shop actually called CAR SPARES?

Cheers Mothman

Ian

 

[Miz]

Hi ya yes they have lots of shops in birmingham not sure if they are nationwide??
The way to test them is i belive a set of jump leads on your battery the negative terminal to the body of the glowplug & the positive terminal to the end of the glowplug ie the end where you would screw the buzz bar on! then see if it glows red hot test the lot to see if ones slower to heat up than the other or nothing at all,,,, ebay have some sets on there very good prices,, yes for that price i never checked mine thought i would just change the lot,

cheers Mothman,

Or, just disconnect the wiring from them and check the resistance to earth of each plug.

 

[bevo]

grey smoke

hi
try changing the engine oil, you can get this symptom if your oil is too thick, or if somebody has put an engine additive in similar to stp.
good luck

 

[Nosha]

You can check the current draw for each plug.

I thought glow plugs were just for cold starting, but I've since found out that some engines run the glow plugs at a lower current or cycle them for the first 5mins or so to encourage perfect buring/reduce emissions and improve cold idle, Hence it curing the early smoke.