Help Please re Nissan Terrano 2.7tdi Cold starting/running.

dog1

Hi,

I'm looking for any advice/help re my Nissan Terrano at the moment.

It's a 2000 W reg, 2.7tdi (intercooler) model. 82,000 miles on the clock.

It's first start on a cold morning is always the worst, and after that it runs fine.

If i take the revs over 3000rpm, it judders, seems to misfire, and the management light comes on. Then goes off again when I keep the revs down to under 2500rpm.

I've tried everything I know and it's already cost a lot of money. The next thing I was going to try was replace my diesel fuel filter, I service the car myself and the filter has only done 6k miles though.

Another thing I read about was a MAF filter, Mass airflow filter, I removed mine today then put it back again, seems an electric device and looked clean enough!

Has anyone had similar problems and can anyone shed any light on what I could do, other than sell it on, or keep the revs down to under 2000rpm.

I'll try anything that's left but I can't think of anything else that it could be, unless the turbo, which I don't want it to be!!!!!!!!!!! :rolleyes:

oldagetraveller

Does the glowplug light illuminate when you first switch on the ignition and if so are you waiting for it to go out before trying to start?
The glowplugs are/used to be controlled by a dedicated timer which controls the length of time they are powered depending on engine and ambient temperature. It could be that which is faulty. Or are they now controlled by the e.c.u.? Hence the engine warning light which might also mean the revs are limited to "limp home" mode.
I woudn't think a faulty blower would prevent initial start?

dog1

I always wait for the glow plug timer light to go out, I've even tried double heating them and the glow plugs were newly replaced recently.

I can only think of replacing the fuel filter next.

dog1

Well, it's running a lot smoother now.

I unscrewed the drain at the base of the diesel fuel filter yesterday and pumped the top, the fuel which I collected in a bottle may have had some water in it? from bad fuel/condensation? and the car's been running better since.

Fingers crossed!!

goldspanners

the water in the fuel filter had probably frozen,blocking the filter up when its been very cold.

epninety

I don't know that engine at all, and almost all my diesel experience is on fully mechanical diesels, but...

I had a tdi which ran badly on cold start, but was fine within a few seconds. It was a regular misfire, rather than just generally bad, so it was obviously one cylinder down. Turned out to be head gasket failure bleeding coolant into that one cylinder overnight.
Pull the glowplugs and see if they are all equally black and sooty. If one is suspiciously shiny, you have a candidate.

Is it smoke or steam on startup? What colour is it?

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

The MAF isn't a filter, its a meter. It measures the amount of air down the intake pipe so the ECU can control fuelling. If it fails, the ECU will not know how much air the engine is receiving and will mis-fuel. Do not attempt to clean it with anything other than alcohol spray, and do not touch the filament (they're quite delicate).

I doubt the fuel filter will be the culprit but at that age if it hasn't already been done it should be changed as a matter of course.

Where are you buying your fuel from?

dog1

epninety wrote: »

I don't know that engine at all, and almost all my diesel experience is on fully mechanical diesels, but...

I had a tdi which ran badly on cold start, but was fine within a few seconds. It was a regular misfire, rather than just generally bad, so it was obviously one cylinder down. Turned out to be head gasket failure bleeding coolant into that one cylinder overnight.
Pull the glowplugs and see if they are all equally black and sooty. If one is suspiciously shiny, you have a candidate.

Is it smoke or steam on startup? What colour is it?

Thanks for the info'. I've not been losing any coolant fluid thankfully. It was grey coloured puffs of smoke, on Sunday, not steam.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Theres no harm in soaking it with alcohol to loosen any deposits, but normally the best way to fix them is to replace them. Before you do that though you need to know for sure that it is faulty, as they're not cheap.

A failed MAF will normally bring up an ECU code. You can also try driving without it, to see if there is a difference. If not, it could be the fault.

Change the filter first. Its cheap and easy to do, see if that eliminates the problem. It could be that you filled up from a station that had just been resupplied, or with water-contaminated fuel.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

d!!! wrote: »

Thanks for the info'. I've not been losing any coolant fluid thankfully. It was grey coloured puffs of smoke, on Sunday, not steam.

That is unburnt fuel, which normally indicates a non-firing cylinder.

epninety

d!!! wrote: »

Thanks for the info'. I've not been losing any coolant fluid thankfully. It was grey coloured puffs of smoke, on Sunday, not steam.

Sadly you only need a teaspoonful of coolant in there, it could take a while to notice.
Much more than that and you'll have trouble cranking it over.

You may like to look at http://www.uniteddiesel.co.uk/diesel-engine-smoke.php to guide your thinking