glow plug relay?

[crazya2]

hello all

only registered today so my first post. be gentle.

i have a 54 plate 1.4 tdi se

found last night after a couple of days of terrible starting that one of the glow plugs has died.

so replaced all three and thought the problem was solved.

then this morning again terrible starting.

i'm assuming there should be 12v on the glow plug when the ignition is turned on.

there is no voltage on the plug at all.

so i'm wondering if there could be a fuse blown or faulty relay.

does anyone know the location of these?

thanks

Dean

[Skipton01]

All the electrical parts you need are located in the passenger footwell, below the aluminium cover under the carpet.

There is a 3-point relay carrier there, with 3 fuses sitting alongside and a large nut/bolt electrical terminal.

The glow plug relay (marked 202) is the nearest to this terminal and the fuse for the glow plugs is also the nearest one to the terminal too. The fuse is a 60A one, so is unlikely to have gone, unless your old plug was causing a massive fault. I would suspect the relay, which will set you back the princely sum of £20.46. The part number (assuming you have the AMF engined diesel (75PS) is 8A0 951 253.

Cheers,

Mike

[crazya2]

Hi Mike

thank you for the reply.

engine is bhc

[Skipton01]

BHC engine eh?

Unusual, most are AMF, but the relay part number is the same.

It is only the ATL (90PS) that differs and that is £47!!

Cheers,

Mike

[spike]

Hi Dean
What was the ambient temp when you did your checks ? Hope i'm not insulting your inteligence but the glowplugs are only powered up under specific operating conditions. On a stone cold engine they cut in at temps below 6 degC (or maybe 8C) but if the engine is warm they may not operate at all.

Cheers Spike

[crazya2]

Hi spike

i know next to nothing about diesel engines so your not insulting me. i'm just looking for things not working i guess temp in the morning has been 6-8 degrees but 14-15 in the evening when ive had the time to check things.

[andyman]

crazya2 would you be so kind as to report your eventual finding etc as Ive just had all three glow plugs replaced and have noticed that starting is sometimes better than others,
On colder mornings the car will start with a harsh thump/ vibration sensation and sometimes it will be as smooth as silk,
I think the more cold it is the poorer it is if you know what I mean.
Was wondering if my relay thingy is knackered too ??.

[crazya2]

todays update.

car wouldn't start this morning and also oil warning light appeared.

the car was serviced a few weeks ago so very annoyed to find this.
called the garage who serviced who offered to get it recovered but i called rac and got the car to them .

it is beginning to look like some part of the fuel filter housing could have been damaged when the filter was replaced but i will report findings tomorrow when the car should be back .

it's looking like i was going down the wrong path with the glow plugs even though one was dead may be this was nothing to do with the problem i was having.

andyman i will let you know as soon as i do.

[Skipton01]

It's an odd one that, but a diagnostic scan should reveal the culprit, now that you have a warning light on.

A damaged fuel filter housing would not normally cause poor starting in the way you describe - if it was leading to starvation then you would experience poor running and eventual stalling. Leaving the ignition off a while (or indeed overnight) would allow fuel to get back into the system and so you could start the car again.

This is just the opposite of what you are experiencing really.

Hopefully all will be resolved very soon now.

Cheers,

Mike

[crazya2]

my partner collected the car today. lets see if it starts in the morning.

the garage is saying that they have replaced a valve in the fuel filter assembly?

could this be correct ?

if this is correct then they must have damaged it when replacing the fuel filter, as there has been no charge for the replacement part.