[qbert]

My 03 Carens won't start in cold weather. If it's below freezing outside, it doesn't start. Battery's fine and the engine's turning over OK.

Went to my (reputable) local garage who said they could test the glow plugs, but it's an hour's job as the plugs are tucked behind the engine. The mechanic also said though that the glow plugs shouldn't really come intto play to start the engine until the weather gets much colder. As an example apparently Vauxhalls glow plugs only kick in at -18c!

Does that sound right? The difficulty is that I can only get the car to the garage once the weather's warmer, so of course it starts fine and the problem can't be diagnosed. Is it worth getting the glow plugs tested?

 

[qbert]

Thanks. It's done 52k miles so I'll get the glowplugs checked. Are there 4 altogether?

 

[qbert]

Thanks for all the help everyone. The garage diagnosed the glowplugs and found 3 of them weren't working; the fitting for the 4th had corroded so it couldn't be removed. I had the 3 replaced and the car was fine for a couple of days.

Then last week - wouldn't start again! The garage towed it away and found a big leak from the fuel pump. I can see the diesel on the road outside my house. It's costing me £500 to get a new pump so I'm not ecstatic but hopefully that'll be the end of it.