starting problems on 3.0d
 

Hi all and apologies have asked this before so don’t beat me up, when outside temps fall under 10c I have difficulty starting followed by a bit of fuel smelling white exhaust fumes out the back…. Car then is fine all day no matter what the temps start fine…


Batt checks out although on occasions where I had the issue the constant retries eventually meant the starter motor wouldn’t even turn over and I had to charge up with the ctek for a few hours and then ok to go


Now a lot of people say battery (am on the 3rd year now with this bosch after oem lasted 9 years) yet read on this same site and others diagnosis that varies from a faulty fuel pump relay, glow plug relay, glow plugs, or fuel pump, or faulty starter motor causing a huge amp draw and sapping battery after each start, question is would these things develop gremlins at lower temps?
I don’t think I drive it enough, just over 3-4miles a day and probably a bit more at weekends ….any pointers welcome

Good day!

Well, lower temps are great for electronics, but not so much for items that need heat to run... Batteries always have a CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) and that is generally what everyone goes by... It will say normal cranking amps around there somewhere and will be a bit higher... The battery might be taxed a bit more in the cold due to the longer wait time needed to get the glow plugs up to temp before starting... Diesels are always harder to start due to their compression in the cylinders... Everything does point to the battery, but I wouldn't rule out the starter entirely... I don't think the fuel pump relay or pump would have issues just in the cold... I've actually seen fuel pumps stop working after heating up, then working again once cooled off... Again, not impossible I guess... I would swap in a known good battery (from a different vehicle you have??), just to see what happens... If you are still having the same issues, I would do the starter... Just my two cents...

Good luck and let us know what you discover!

Cheers!!

I'd say glow plugs.

Ta for all the replies, this time last year did an amp draw test on startup and it peaked at 390 could it be the starter too, or could bad glow plugs be causing this amp draw, please see pick to see if i am reading it correctly

390amps seems pretty reasonable for a 3.0d - its a big motor to turn over. :-)

Until you pull the codes from the DDE everything is just a guess. Could be glow plugs but they really only come into play when its a bit colder than 10DegC. You can see the words "pre-heating" appear briefly in the BC when they are in use for starting.

Are you set up to read error codes from the car (INPA or PA Soft BMW Scanner)?

Alas not setup to read the codes, really need to get hold of the kit to do it. Like today it was a 17c and fires up fine! I have not once seen the anyhow pre-heat message and it is that darn initial labored startup at colder temps that bugs me...I took x5 to 0c area let it sit after trip in the snow and cranks fine after this ....thanks for the replies

happened again today temp was 12.5c in the morning , crank after crank soon drained my batt I think as i was getting about 12.39v on voltmeter, midday after leaving on ctek 4.5 hours it was reading 13.1V and started immediately, alas temp had also risen a degree so not sur eif it was the rise in temp that helped as well as the partially charged battery