W211 jump start

[walsi]

Had a 6 cycl volvo 740 td and even if 1 plug went down it wouldnt start but that was in the good old pre cdi days.

 

[alexmoon]

Phoned AA at 2.30pm and was told they were busy and would take two hours. Phoned again at five and was told it would now be 6.30pm. Will let you know. Cheers.

 

[Mercedes cozy]

For some reason I find RAC are quicker than AA.

 

[Gridlock]

Forgive my ignorance but what's 'easy start'?

It's like "Start Ya *******" except without the good marketing department

 

[walsi]

And a lovely smell

 

[Gridlock]

For some reason I find RAC are quicker than AA.

Simple really, they have a better customer/staff ratio. Good from a customer's point of view, not so much the shareholders.

The AA's despatch system is like Skynet (in that it's all-pervasive and controls the whole operation, not that it wants to destroy us all) but unfortunately if you've got a car stuck right outside your house and you're not a "high risk customer" you come pretty far down a pretty long list of dead battery people.

 

[Gridlock]

It's like "Start Ya *******" except without the good marketing department

******* - good enough to put on the side of a can, too bad for Merc owners' sensitive constitutions

I like this forums' peccadilloes, like how it's obviously originally a webmaster forum so when I use words like PR and SEO it defines them with a little mouseover action - would be useful to keep my W124s straight from my W211s and R129s etc etc

 

[walsi]

I have to second that, i have been an RAC customer for several years and dont have a bad word to say about them and they have recovered me on many occasions over some substantial distances and there has never been a problem or an excessive wait for service

 

[alexmoon]

AA finally arrived and got it going with Easy Start. Guy reckons it's almost certainly the glow plugs. He said he's had a lot of calls to Mercs in this sub zweo weather and they've all had glow plug problems. He tested one of mine and said it wasn't getting enough heat. Suggested I get them all changed as they're probably the originals and the car's now done 90k. Gave me a tip for starting the car with dodgy glow plugs – turn ignition on till plug light goes off but don't crank engine. Do this four or five times as each time you do it, it adds a little bit of heat to plugs. Then crank it.

 

[walsi]

He is giving you good advice but i will add just turn the engine over once after the first blast of heat so there is some diesel in there to warm up but im still supprised that it needs glow plugs to get going. You will need to find how much the time difference is between the light going out and the relay clicking and try to stop just short of the relay cutting power to the plugs

Good luck Martin

 

[camerafodder]

Gave me a tip for starting the car with dodgy glow plugs – turn ignition on till plug light goes off but don't crank engine. Do this four or five times as each time you do it, it adds a little bit of heat to plugs. Then crank it.

Yes this often helps but remember it can cane your battery

 

[alexmoon]

My mechanic fitted new Bosch glow plugs this morning so will wait till tomorrow AM to see if car starts – forecast is for minus 7. Incidentally it started this morning but temp was only around zero!

 

[corned]

My old 2.1 TD Pug used to light up the glowplugs for about 5 mins IIRC, if cold, to aid combustion until the engine started to get some warmth through it. However it would switch them off again after about 30 seconds if the engine had not fired up, to save the battery.

Not unreasonable to expect a similar deal from MB?

The glowplug indicator lamp going out means almost nothing. It is wired to a timer and not a lot else, I'm sure. Now, if it was wired to a clever thermocouple set into a combustion chamber which extinguished the lamp when a certain temperature was reached, then you could place more reliance on it.

So, if you are having trouble, ignition on, wait 20 seconds or so, and then try to crank it. Hopefully some heat will have permeated through by this time, sufficient for a couple of cylinders at least to fire up.

 

[alexmoon]

Last update – I hope! Car started first turn this morning so fingers crossed the problem is sorted. Got car in November but in last three weeks have spent £600 (incl labour) on her, replacing two batteries, thermostat, glow plugs and a tow hook. Fingers crossed now... Ta for all your help.