Smoky and missfireing on start up

[bennibopps]

Hi all im new to diesels i have a 4.2 turbo with 130000ks. On start up its quite smoky and miss fires for about 15secs especially when cold then comes good. Driving around you only get a small puff of smoke on gear changes. I wait for coil (glowplug) light to go off and listen for Glowplug relay to open before hitting starter. Am thinking Glowplugs am i on the right path?

[YNOT]

Glow plugs is where I would start looking. Is the smoke white?

Tony

[Yendor]

Sounds like it could be a glow plug problem.

You need to test that you are getting power to the glow plug rail (when the glow plug light is on in the dash).

Then you will need to check each glow plug and make sure it is not open circuited (you will need to remove at least the busbar from the glow plugs).

[bennibopps]

Glow plugs is where I would start looking. Is the smoke white?

Tony

Yeh the smoke is a blue white colour. Will test each plug with multimeter. Will remove the bus bar and test from top of each plug to engine (earth) to see if they are open circuited. Any one know what resistance i should be seeing or is it if they are around the same resistance they are all good?
Hope im on the right track

Got a quote for new plugs $150 for set of six seems ok price.

[wildgu6]

Quoted by Tim (Finly) when i had the same issue....Before buying new plugs, do you have a good battery system. A lot of time if power is down they won't heat properly. I also doubted as you are doubting me now. I was having exact same trouble. New battery, no problem since.

Come to think of it Tim, I never really solved my prob' it kinda just went away, well still does every pink moon...*L*, not enough to worry about, anyway like i said it kinda just went away and now i think about it, i have had a battery replacement ???? mmmmm i wonder.

Something else that could help, when your glow light goes out, leave until airbag light goes out and then crank, glo light should glo for about 8-10 sec's ??, mine wasnt (3-5) so that extra helps on mine.
Read in a post somewhere about the same issue, the only glo plugs that worked for them were genuine nissan, they had tried new after market and still had prob, went to gen niss and prob' solved.

Cheers Pete

[bennibopps]

Have checked battery voltage 14.5 when engine running 12.8 before starting. Bought new plugs after market put them in problem halved. Still a bit smoky and rough. Think i may be expecting to much from the old girl its a very old design engine after all, thats why got her for its simplicity!!!!

[the ferret]

Have checked battery voltage 14.5 when engine running 12.8 before starting. Bought new plugs after market put them in problem halved. Still a bit smoky and rough. Think i may be expecting to much from the old girl its a very old design engine after all, thats why got her for its simplicity!!!!

Mate, 130.000 ks is nothing for a 4.2 TD, New glow plugs as has been mentioned should sort it, maybe she needs to work a bit harder, ya can't kill em y'know.
Cheers, the ferret.

[BearGUST]

Missfire on start-up can be a symptom of a head gasket leak, if water is leaking into one cylinder it will misfire until it burns off...
Can you get hold of a pressure tester to pressurise the system on start up?
That wouldn't really give blue smoke though so hopefully the glow plug theory is more on the money.

[bennibopps]

Missfire on start-up can be a symptom of a head gasket leak, if water is leaking into one cylinder it will misfire until it burns off...
Can you get hold of a pressure tester to pressurise the system on start up?
That wouldn't really give blue smoke though so hopefully the glow plug theory is more on the money.

Am not using any water and engine oil is not milky. But am trying to track down a suitable tester just to be sure. Will be good to do check it may show up other potential problems better to find out in shed than in the middle of nowhere.

Benni

[SEEBEE]

Leaking head gasket can be difficult to correctly diagnose with pressure test only. Checking cooling system for combustion gases will give you a more positive assessment. My thoughts are with the glow plugs.

[FullFlxd]

Sorry to go of the topic a bit but causes the white/bluey smoke you see on some diesels???

[GypsyD]

Howdy,I had the same problem at around 130000 km and it was the the Glow Plugs but I also has to replace the Injectors as well. Hope this helps.