Probably a daft question after 14 years and 155k of ownership, but……do we use a touch of throttle when starting when cold after the glow plug light has gone out? I never have done, but this morning I couldn’t get the her started and gave up at -7 degrees after a couple of mins of cranking off and on.

Later on, tried again at +2 degrees with a touch of throttle and away we went!

I’ve probably answered my own question but interested to hear views before tomorrow morning’s frosty start!
Thanks
Pete 154k miles from new!

There's no need to touch the throttle pedal for starting, hot, cold or below freezing.
The ECM will sort everything out, including a start delay if needed. 2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Hyundai Ionic 5 Ultimate on order.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.

Sounds like some/all of your glow plugs have failed.

yes - its does sound that way - they were replaced 20k ago as i had problems then too....

i shall have to check and replace and rely on a can of starter for now! 154k miles from new!

Glow plugs should last a lot longer than 20k miles.

Mine has done 55K miles and started this week without an issue at -5C.
Press the starter button - glow plug light illuminates for a few seconds then it starts without the use of accelerator pedal.

Corroded contacts or bad engine earth maybe - the glow plugs need a lot of juice.
Does it turn over at the normal speed ? Jules

Yes it turns over fine and in fact has just started at 0 degrees - but tomorrow will be a different story if it drops down below freezing overnight

I was thinking it could be rubbish glow plugs fitted last time or the relay/timer but the light comes on for 2 or 3 seconds and goes out so that looks ok.

Tomorrow I shall remove the engine cover and see what the resistance is across the plugs
Thanks
Pete 154k miles from new!

I had the same issues as you when I bought my car a couple of years ago. New AGM battery, new glow plugs ( correct voltage supplied by advance factors, NGK units that are supposedly the original units fitted by LR ), cleaned earths, checked large fuse by battery compartment.
Result ...... The car starts better, but cranks for longer than I would expect sub 0 degrees, and starts rough for a couple of seconds.
As far as I know you can not test the glow plugs without stripping the engine to the point where the glow plugs can be removed. A fair bit of work.
Here is a link to a thread I started regarding my glow plug issues

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic37636.html

After I changed the starter, the car did turn over faster, but still struggles in the cold.

Here's another thread regarding the two different glow plugs and voltages. I suspect your 2008 will be the same as mine.

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic36420.html


Good luck

I've never seen the glow plug warning light on mine, but in Cornwall it seldom goes below 0°C. It starts just fine though. 2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Hyundai Ionic 5 Ultimate on order.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.

hmmm - the GSF website does show two different plug models so its not going to be that, but I'm having my doubts now that they are the problem...looking at my invoices they were changed in 2018 at 125k miles and given that its unlikely they've all failed there may be another explanation.

The starter spins over rapidly and the battery is fairly new (prob 2 years) so power supply is probably not it - perhaps the relay or control may the problem? at -5 I'd imagine that 3 seconds or so would be a bit borderline on heating the plugs - perhaps its that; the plugs are not getting properly heated?

is there a relay or switch unit that can be changed to start off with before doing the plugs? would a plug in diagnostic show something amiss?

and as an aside, having just driven home from an errand this afternoon, there's a lot of cars and drivers out there who find the snow quite challenging to drive in! being behind someone crawling along at 10mph is quite stressful...
p 154k miles from new!