2005 1.4 diesel Fiesta, sluggish cranking

[DIYspanner]

Visited my uncle yesterday. His Fiesta battery seems to be end of life so he has trouble starting the car.

I told him to get to a local factors and have the battery tested.

Modern diesels, as far as I'm aware, start no bother with decent cranking speed.

One thing I noticed, I didn't see a heater plugs light in the lights cluster. I had a look round the net and it seems the heater plugs circuit on the Fiesta only comes active when required, I.E. cold enough to need them.

 

[Peter.N.]

Could be the battery or the starter, as you say they need a good cranking speed, the glow plugs on most common rail engines do little to improve starting unless you live in Siberia.

You can check the battery by checking the voltage across it when the starter is engaged, if it goes much below 10 volts it needs changing. You could try jump starting it from another vehicle and noting the difference in cranking speed.

Peter

 

[Burnerman]

As above, the glow plug light may not operate at all - may not even be there. The benefits of direct injection!
John

 

[DIYspanner]

Most obliged Gents

I'll let you know the outcome, maybe useful to others.

I've got my sister's Bora TDI to service month end and its got a sluggish crank first thing. Started warm, its no bother.