[GTO]

Originally Posted by fine69

In my case its not really about the schedule. Almost every morning I'm stuck at a traffic signal and it takes 3-4 green lights for me to pass it. During this time I turn off the ignition of the car (Swift Diesel) as it takes about 150-180 seconds between every green light.

As others have mentioned, here is a simple solution : Keep the car in "ignition on" mode. That is, switch off the engine, but keep the ignition back on (just short of a crank) and wait. 150 - 180 seconds leaves plenty of time for the glow plugs

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

But I pay no mind to the mad honking which we are rather prone to I may say

Sorry to say, but in this case, it is you who is inconveniencing other road users. You are expected to start moving as soon as the light turns green / the vehicle ahead of you moves. If all the cars were to wait for 5 seconds when its their turn to start driving, it would lead to bottlenecks.

Originally Posted by NST440

i still see my friends indica struggling to start without at least 5 times giving glow plugs heat to the engine.

His glow plugs are obviously worn out.

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

Since Diesels have to idle for about 40 seconds after starting, and 60 seconds before turning the engine off, isn't it a bad idea to turn them off at signals in any case?

Very good point. Turbo-charged engines - whether diesel or petrol - need idling of 45 - 60 seconds before driving off.

[Garipagol]

Originally Posted by v.anand

Is it only diesel cars which come with "wait till glow plug off" funda?

The lone petrol car I have seen that needs to wait before cranking is the Palio 1.6 where a fuel sprinkler kind of a symbol is glowing for like 3 to 5 seconds. What is the need and purpose for it, AFAIK petrols don't need it. So can anyone explain why it is how it is?

The head mechanic at Concorde A S S also said the same thing when I asked him to wait for the light to go off before cranking. I follow it religiously but its a pain to enforce it on other drivers or mechanics who drive the car occasionally.

In Diesel engines the ignition happens because of compression so the glow plug is not required per se. But when the engine block is cold the glow plug warms the engine block - this is particularly true in cold weather - a cold engine block may crack / get damaged otherwise. The cold engine block acts as a heat sink and lowers the temperature of the mixture preventing the ignition. If the engine block is not cold the glow plug is not required for start up. In some cars the glow plug stays on for a while to ensure that the engine starts to operate as per emission norms in a short time. At a traffic light when the engine is warm the the glow plug has no function and should cut off quickly. But when you start the car in the morning after a overnight rest it is best to let he glow plugs do its job.

Rgds

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

The older indigo had the 5 second timer(as indica) and it should heat for 5 seconds, not more not less. there is something wrong with glow plug timer if it stays on for so long!
Its an expensive part though(1700)

Well, I dont know about the Indigo, but my Indica (2006 Turbo model) does not have a fixed time. During a cold start, it definitely takes about 2 to 3 seconds, whereas once hot, it takes about 1 second.

Some have suggested in the posts above to leave the ignition switch in position 2 (where you can crank immediately). This is not a very good practice - may be ok some times, but not always. I have observed that i need a longer crank if i allow the glow plugs to heat up, and then wait for another 60 seconds for the signal to turn green. Even if the engine is hot, there is a noticeably longer cranking time as the plugs (or whatever the plugs would have heated up) would have become cold - which in turn means more load on the starter motor.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by IndigoXLGrandDi

The Indigo XL Grand DiCOR (May 2007) which has run 1,20,000+kms. Its Glow Plug turn off within 2-3 secs. irrespective of Engine Temp.
Both(Indigo DiCOR and Xylo) are Common Rail Diesel Engines.
Thanks all for helping me.

Your Engine compression seems to be in good condition. Does it start in a single rotation of crank or does it take more rotations. My assumption is it should start in a single stroke.

[RW9763]

waiting for the glow plugs is an essential thing, did not know about the idling for 45-60 seconds but thats if not impossible very difficult in Indian conditions and i am sure 90 percent people not using it. Glow plugs should be followed but in unavoidable conditions once in while its ok. The main purpose of this when the engine is cold and i dont see a reason (my personal thinking, not sure technical aspect) why should we wait for glow plugs while engine is hot.
@GTO : can you please explain the reason behind the 45 second idling for turbo charged engines its a very difficult thing to maintain.

[tsk1979]

Okay, waiting for glow plugs to go off even on hot engine is not to protect the engine, its to protect the glow plugs.
If your glow plugs are still on when engine starts or cranks, it will shorten their life.
Regarding your car requiring multiple glow plug applications, probably 2 or 3 out of 4 plugs are gone.
Even if 1 glow plug goes, there is slight problem in cold starting. When two go, problem increases, when 3 or all 4 go kaput, then the vehicle will not start in the morning if its cold.
This is esp true for small displacement IDI diesels. Unless its very cold, a big DI engine will start, glow plugs or no glow plugs

[greenhorn]

As an indigo owner, I have a tip to you. The Indigo/Indica engine glow plugs seem to remain on a little longer than the light would have you believe. Just wait a few seconds after the light has turned off, and your ignition will be faster. I was given this tip by the late trrk, and it mostly works

[jeeva]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

As an indigo owner, I have a tip to you. The Indigo/Indica engine glow plugs seem to remain on a little longer than the light would have you believe. Just wait a few seconds after the light has turned off, and your ignition will be faster. I was given this tip by the late trrk, and it mostly works

I guess, its true for most IDI diesels. I can confirm the same in the Bolero (XD3P). The glow plug relay takes a little more time to cut-off. I keep a watch on the voltmeter for it to return to the cranking voltage (12v), just to be sure before cranking.

[RW9763]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Okay, waiting for glow plugs to go off even on hot engine is not to protect the engine, its to protect the glow plugs.
If your glow plugs are still on when engine starts or cranks, it will shorten their life.
Regarding your car requiring multiple glow plug applications, probably 2 or 3 out of 4 plugs are gone.
Even if 1 glow plug goes, there is slight problem in cold starting. When two go, problem increases, when 3 or all 4 go kaput, then the vehicle will not start in the morning if its cold.
This is esp true for small displacement IDI diesels. Unless its very cold, a big DI engine will start, glow plugs or no glow plugs

I have an Optra Magnum which troubles starting in the morning during winters. The temp here does not drop below zero but its below 10, is this a problem with the glow plugs? Its about 2 years old and is giving me this problem right from the beginning.

[tsk1979]

I am not sure if your car has glow plugs, as many small displacement direct injection engines do not have glow plugs.
That said, is there a glow plug light on the console.
Does putting key to on, waiting for light to go off, and then again putting key to off and repeating this 2-3 times before starting help?
If so, it means probably 2 plugs are gone.
did you ever show it to service center? What did they say?

[deutscheafrikar]

[quote=tsk1979;2149895]I am not sure if your car has glow plugs, as many small displacement direct injection engines do not have glow plugs.
That said, is there a glow plug light on the console. quote]

yes it has tsk1979

[RW9763]

This generally does not help and is a common problem with all the Magnums i think cause i have heard similar problems with other owners as well. According to the Service Centre guys the problem is because of bad fuel quality(I dont agree!). They have put total quartz 9000 engine oil this time and they claim that this issue should be solved. I am waiting for this winters to arrive and let me check. I was going through the forum when i came across this thread so was wanting some info to check if this might be the cause of the problem(I doubt though).

P.S This happens only in peak winters and not on a regular basis.

[mishranishant]

i have logan - 1 1/2 years. the glow plug light never lights up. in the morning when i start her for the first time, it does show in the cluster panel. however, while driving, like in an extended stop sign, while recranking, it does not even light up.

have pointed it out to the service people. since i never have had any starting problems so far (car done 20 k on the odo) and the average is around 19.5 kmpl, they say everything is normal - why do you want to finger her unncessarily.

i sometimes wonder if i should "finger" her - just to get her "warmed up / hot". have not checked the same in other logans. (didnt want to cheat on my car ;-)). so if any of you guys have the same foreplay problems - kindly clear up my doubts.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by mishranishant

iin the morning when i start her for the first time, it does show in the cluster panel. however, while driving, like in an extended stop sign, while recranking, it does not even light up.

That's absolutely normal behaviour. Many cars won't use the glow plug unless its absolutely required. Why do you need the heat from the glow plugs when your cylinders / engine block are already hot?

Relax, your Logan is working just as it was supposed to.

[BuRnT RuBbEr]

slightlyyy off-topic: what to do on a signal with wait>60sec? turning off is a good idea for the fuel tank and for the air around me, but bad for the turbo? how about limping in non-turbo revzone when you anticipate stoppage for red light and again driving off below turbo-zone? would that help the cause of turbo-shaft cooling/wetting?