Cold start problem

FRUSTRATED COLIN

MEMBER
2006 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY
2.8L
2WD
AUTOMATIC
100,000 MILES

We have a diesel, try to start on a cold day. We have lights and everything but nothing when you turn the key.
Tried a coil battery 900 amp cold start
Once the weather warms up starts okay, but smoke from the front right side of the engine bay as you look at the engine.
Checked charging, and all okay 14.2 to 14.6, after turning lights and fan on drops to 13.9 for a few seconds then jumps back to 14.2.

Read about the ASD relay is this an option? Any comments would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,003 POSTS

Common issues with any diesel that does not start in the cold are either bad glow plugs or bad glow plug controller or power relays. Those can all be tested with a simple test light or voltmeter. Just remove the connector on each glow plug and measure the voltage them when you are in the pre-heat cycle. The lack of a real voltage drop during your testing seems to bear this out as each glow plug takes around twenty five amps while on and that should drop battery voltage by over a volt when they are engaged.

A bad coolant temperature sensor can also tell the engine that it is warmer than it really is and prevent the system from turning on the glow plugs.

They did not sell the diesel version of the Town and Country in the US, but they did sell the Jeep Liberty with this same VM Motori engine. On those the relays each control two glow plugs each and a common failure is the coolant temperature sensor and the glow plugs burn out.