please help. im female and have a problem with my car and no nothing about them?

Question

i drive an 8 tear old citron zantia turbo diesel. its terrible to start on a morning and when it finally does it blows out a large cloud of grey/blue smoke. then when i change gear the car sounds like its reving loudly. after a few mins this stops and the car is normal again. ive been ripped off at garages before and carnt afford for it to happoen again. i would be greatfull for anyones help. the car doesnt smoke at all once its in motion. thank u

Answer 1

You probably just need one or two new glow plugs that heat the cylinders on a cold start. It starts real hard when some are burned out. They replace easily just like spark plugs on a gasoline car and the bill shouldn't be more than $150 or so. I don't know if your shop technician will recommend that you replace all of them (one per cylinder) even though only one may be burned out. When you have it in the shop, it's a good time to do an engine oil change if you need one and also to have your fuel filter replaced if it's due to be replaced. The technician can purge any water from the water separator at the same time. Also double check when you last had your air filter changed.

Answer 2

I own an 84 Suburban that has a diesel engine. The hard start is likely due to couple bad glow plugs, or maybe your relay, if the glow plug relay isnt working, then they wont turn on, which will make it darn hard to start.

Just so you kinda know what we are saying. In a regular Gasoline engine, the fuel and air is drawn into the cylinder and then compressed and the spark plug ignites the fuel, causing the combustion. On your diesel angine, fuel and air are drawn into the cylinder, only with the diesel, they are compressed to the point they combust because the compressed air will rise in tempature.

The glow plugs sit at the cylinder heads and heat the cylinder head so that it helps the air to reach its higher temapture easier. Once the engine has started, the heat created by the engine will keep it warm and the glow plugs are not needed anymore, they are only used for starting the engine. On a cold morning, if you have a couple glow plugs not working, then it is gonna be harder for you to start because the air will be trying to rise in temperature inside a cold metal cylinder.

Another option that will help you out is a block heater. Factory installed block heaters will mount to the side of the engine and keep the block warm so that the oil inside is kinda warm when you try to start it in the morning, making it a little easier to start since alot of diesels use thicker oil then similar typed gasoline engines.

But make sure that you let the engine sit and warm up for a while on cold mornings before you drive it. Dont worry, diesel uses a smal ratio of fuel to air mixture then gasoline, and idling wont use that much fuel at all.

The smoke is caused by excess fuel burning off, its common of a diesel to smoke like this on a cold start when you have to crank it for a while to try to get it started. Go to the mechanic and ask him to check the glow plugs. This really shouldn't be too bad in price. The important thing to remember is that glow plugs are different than spark plugs, and they do not ALL need to be changed, only change the ones that are bad.

I would also suggest that you find a reputable shop in your area and start using them for your work, make sure that the shop has somoene ASE certified as a Diesel Engine Mechanic. For help doing this, I would suggest you ask around, see what shops your frinds have had luck with and also check with the Better Business Bureau. They will have a list of reputable shops in your area. Good Luck, I hope this has helped you to understand your engine a little bit better.

Answer 3

Starting prob could be the glow plugs or the glow plugs relay. It can cause the smoke probs when it starts, so can a faulty turbo but the turbo is nothing to do with starting. but can give smoke probs, I am only mentioning turbo as so u know what else can cause the heavy smoke, but as u say u turn engine over and over, so as u turn engine over and over, the cylinders etc get soaked with unburned diesel, and when engine finally fires up it will smoke like hell, Person who said £25 for set of glow plugs I think he or she meant each cost £25, I could be wrong but not £25 for 4.

Another person said use the stuff in an aerosol can, with respect o this person, dont ever use it as u will start using it regularly as it does help diesels to start, but if used too much the engine will never start on its own, when I was an apprentice HGV mechanic we used this stuff on one truck all the time, in the end the head had to be removed and cleaned up and refitted, we didnt have glow plugs on the truck then only a cold start button on the pump.

Answer 4

That's a classic example of duff glowplugs; the cloud of smoke is because of the excess fuel that's been drawn into the engine before it eventually starts. I've just done a set of glowplugs on the Peugeot, £25 from Halfords & 10 minutes to fit. That might give you a clue.

It is possible, too, that your cold-start mechanism's out of whack as well, though it's normal for a cold engine to rev a bit more than normal until it starts to warm up.

I'd go to a good diesel mechanic & get his opinion, now you have an idea of what it might be.

Answer 5

sounds very much like your glow plugs easist wat buy four [then u dont need to test them all] and get a freind or try fitting them urself buy a haynes worksop manual to aid u . but basiclly u need i think its a 8mm ,10 mm and i think a 13mm spanners or sockets . remove air fiter box etc to get to glow plugs on top of engine they are the ones with the thick wire running along the tops of them un bolt the wire and remove then unscrew the glowplugs fit new ones as reverse tighten but dont over tighten [as the xantia and most citreon or peugeot cylinder heads are aluminum alloy ]refit wire and try ur car first run heater plugs but dont start car switch of then try again but start the car this time [first time is too intialize the plug as the take a bit longer to heat up first time out the box] total cost if u do job urself £20about an hour for ur time for a first timer

Answer 6

try some aero start sprayed into the air filter intake if the car starts easily then the problem is likely to be the glow plugs.Replace all four plugs after checking that the electrical connections are good.as for the reving it sounds like the accelerator cable or throttle butterfly may be sticking try some WD40 sprayed onto the linkage.i asume that your battery is in good condition and the engine turns over quickly when the key is turned

Answer 7

I don't drive a diesel nor know anything about one but one thing I can tell you from the blue/grey smoke that you said was coming out of your tail pipe is a common problem most likely caused by burning oil. In other words, if diesel engines operate mechanical the same as a petro engine, one or more of your combustion chambers is burning oil during the compression stroke once your engine starts. The reason why this is caused is because either one or more of your cylinder gaskets are worn and the oil is leaking into your combustion chamber. This is a very serious problem if this was the culprit as that can eventually cause premature engine failure/seizure. Take it to your local Citron dealership as they would have all the neccessary tools to do a engine check.

Answer 8

Generally, diesels are very difficult to start on cold mornings. This is why most American diesels have a glow plug, or a warming plug that you activate about ten minutes before starting in the winter. This is also why also at most American truck stops the truckers never turn the trucks off at night. They're just too difficult to restart. Your issue sounds completely normal for a diesel car.

Answer 9

sounds like your glow plugs are worn once it starts you should let it run a while on tick over you will hear the engine revs change then its reached a temp. which is then better for the engine to rev. if it sounds like it over revs a little when you change gear it might be your clutch accelerator co ordination

Answer 10

Did you have the clutch replace recently sometimes this caused some reving after a shift.