Mystery starting problem?

[GQP747]

Hi there!
I desperately need some suggestions / advice on what's up with my patrol. It's a 06gu td42 coilcab
Pretty much the issue is, some times it starts first crank sometimes it keeps cranking till the battery dies? It is completely random, some mornings will start first shot others i need to get the boys to push start me, I can go to the shops and get stuck in the car park, so being warm or cold doesn't affect the problem. I put in new glow plugs last week and didn't change the problem, iv made sure the earth's have good connection, a few weird things iv noticed it always takes ages to start after I fill up with fuel coincidence maybe? Also the first glow plug has a white residue on the nut on top, I have no idea about electrics and what could cause that. I'm pretty sure it's electrical and not fuel because it roll starts straight away and if it was fuel I would think that would affect the roll starts? Please any ideas or advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers

[the evil twin]

If you are sure it is electrical... Intermittent Glow Plug Relay maybe?

I think there is another identical relay in there that you can swap for fault finding.
It's the A/C or something or other.

[GQP747]

I will give that a go tomorrow

[Rossco]

Should start fine when warm with no glow at all. Maybe fuel cut solenoid is being a bit temperamental, although it still wouldn't start when roll stated if it was playing up. Worth a check tho. . . Good luck.

[Winnie]

Yeah my thinking is the glow plug relay. Mine did the same but was not intermittent.

[MudRunnerTD]

NATS and the Immobiliser and fuel cutoff solenoid would be my guess. does the red LED light light up on the top of the dash? is it on when you are driving? Do you have more than 1 key? does it happen with both keys? they can be temperamental and a hit with a hammer or slight knock can get it going again like the old days with a dodgy starter. regardless not ideal and no way to trust it.

Have a look here for my experience with this little doozey. NATS-Immobilizer-light-staying-on

If it is your NATS then it will turn over until the cows come home and just never fire.


Alternatively you may have a fuel air leak, this is a bugger and can be very hard to find. i have had this too and took 4 months to find. I was a week away from having the pump stripped and rebuilt when i find the problem. I had a split fuel line on top of the rear spring tower that was letting air into the system and allowing the fuel to bleed back into the tank and away from the pump. do you have pressure at the primer pump under the bonnet when it does not want to start?

I reckon NATS is your trouble but the air could also present like this.

Your TD42 is very simple. Air and Fuel is All it needs to start. It should not take more than 2 cranks to fire.

[GQP747]

Iv switched the relay well see if my labourer gets stuck in town today at lunch like yesterday haha

[Winnie]

Try use a bit of thick cable and touch it from the positive battery terminal to the glow plug rail. If it starts, the problem is in the wiring to the glow plugs somewhere, if it doesn't then your problem is elsewhere.

[GQP747]

My car has no kind of immobiliser and only one key pretty lame for an 06 model car! The fuel primer is always rock solid? I will give the cable idea a go too as the cable on it looks like it might have slightly melted a bit?

[MudRunnerTD]

My car has no kind of immobiliser and only one key pretty lame for an 06 model car! The fuel primer is always rock solid? I will give the cable idea a go too as the cable on it looks like it might have slightly melted a bit?

That would surprise me ALOT. is there not an inbuilt red LED in the top of the dash only visible from the outside of the car through the windscreen. This is standard Factory NATS (Nissan Anti Theft System) its very basic and cant be bypassed. It is attached to the back of the fuel pump and is a Biatch. Have a look at that thread i posted as there are quite a few that have suffered the same fate. The LED is very hard to see in the day light and now at night i can see it reflecting the inside of the windscreen like a Headup display. Have another look mate as i would be very surprised if you did not have the NATS system from factory. (I could be wrong but was not aware that they selectively fitted this. it is not an accessory like an alarm)