Starting a diesel engine with only 3 glowplugs

[Jules]

Hello everyone

Do anybody have knowledge whether one would be able to start a diesel engine with 3 and not 4 glow plugs ?

Shalom

[Kagiso II]

Ek reken jy kan -- i do believe you can -- I'll pm YOU A NUMBER - then ask Ben for his Dad;s number [him a diesel mekki] Was him that went with to Seronga to get Sendeling Willie's Aisiestog running again ..

[Alex Roux]

When my trol was still a diesel I had only 3 gloplugs working at some point
Then after a while the irregular idle was replaced by normal smoother idling.
It does not start easily in this situation.
Note at Midas you pay a third of the price for a gloplug compared to stealers.
You can simply ask them to replace it for you and just pay for the service.
At least one of the 4 ZD30 plugs are quite tricky to replace yourself.

[Kagiso II]

'Lexi -- oompie does surmise that the question stems from the fact that some nit-wit messed up the Merc's HEAD and thus one glow plug will NEVER work .. again [they drilled *&*^&%#skeef]

JULES - nearest Diesel mech should be able to advise [without charging you for it?]

[ricster]

I don't know which vehicle you are referring to Jules, but my 6 cylinder diesel when I bought it only had 3 of the 6 glow plugs working. First start in the morning on a spring/summer /autumn morning, took two or sometimes three attempts to get it started. It would idle rough and blow a little diesel smoke out the rear, but only for about 20-30 seconds. Then would run perfect..... But.... cold winter morning would take a lot more warm ups ( 6-7 times) before it would start. The idle speed had to be set up a little for about a minute then it ran smooth.

On 4 cylinders with 3 glowplugs working should be no problem.... in my opinion

[Russ Kellermann]

A diesel motor doesn;t need any glow plugs to start, however you would then need to be parked on a hill and roll start it. The compression when it kicks is more than often enough to combust any fuel added to the cylinder, i used to do this on the farm many many times.... the only time it would need glow plugs is during exceptionally cold climate.... unless you plan on starting it on flat surface , like normal people do... ...then you would need a few plugs, but 3 would surely do it if one was in a position where that was all you had....

[johanp]

My 2.5 Ford started with only one glowplug. Lots of white smoke and rough idling in summer but it started first time.
In colder weather it took 3-4 attempts before it started.
I replaced all 4 glowplugs for R700 about a year ago.

[Jules]

Thanks for the reply's , Oom Mac ek sal Ben se Pa bel

Yes Oom Mac is correct it is a Mercedes Benz A Class 180 Cdi , here is the reply the owner of Casting Repairs Services send me regarding fixing the current head, the vehicle will probably be mostly used in the Stellenbosch - Cape Town area

Hi Julius,

I was going to cut into the head, close the hole with welding and then close the front glow plug hole also with welding. However I could arrange to close off just the glow plug front nozzle hole and put the back section of the glow back in the head with silicon and pressure test to ensure against leakage. Either of the two repair modifications will be done without a Guarantee due to being a modification and not normal original factory approved method. When you select which repair method I will also have to quote you to overhaul the head and fit new valve stem seals.

Regards
Gordon McCreedy