Problem with diesel manual choke

[bundoodle]

I've just had the accelerator cable replaced on my 1.6td van. Since this has been done the manual choke no longer seems to work. Does anyone have any ideas what might be wrong?

Thanks.

[Oldiebut goodie]

Someone has undone it and left it undone?
It's hard to get at - at the bottom of the pump between the block and the pump.

[bundoodle]

Thanks for your suggestion. If you pull the choke out in the van you can feel the wire moving inside the sleeve which connects to the block. Can you think of anything else?

Thanks.

[Oldiebut goodie]

Does it move the actuating lever when pulled?

[bundoodle]

It does not appear to move anything.

[Oldiebut goodie]

Seems like someone has undone it then. You should be able to see the lever that it should be connected to and see the lever move. I don't know why someone would take it off though as you don't need to do so to change the throttle cable. Take it back to them and tell them to reconnect it!

[bundoodle]

Took the van to the garage today. They checked the choke cable and it is connected to the pump. They advised against taking the pump apart as it could be an expensive job to put right! Does that sound right?

[Oldiebut goodie]

Why would you need to take it apart? If the lever is moving it is unlikely that the cold start advance isn't working. What exactly is the problem?
For reference:

[bundoodle]

Thanks for the diagram! When you start up the engine from cold it fires up fine. But then the engine splutters like there's not enough fuel going through. If you pulled out the choke it used to run fine but this no longer has any effect. Any ideas?

[Oldiebut goodie]

If all they did was to change the throttle cable I can't see what they could have done. If they re-timed the pump that might explain it.(As the 'choke' isn't a choke but an ignition advance lever)If you look at the diagram below you will see the double ended lever on the top - the accelerator cable attaches to this so there was no need to touch anything else. Did the problem arise immediately you collected it from the garage? If so I would get back to them and ask them what they touched / adjusted exactly. If not and it's just a coincidence it could be glow plugs not working (possibly they disturbed the glow plug wiring coming through the bulkhead), dirty fuel, air leak etc.

[bundoodle]

I had the accelerator cable and a new exhaust fitted about 4/5 months ago but did not use the van much after so only noticed this problem about 3 weeks ago. So guess it could just be coincidence. How easy is it to check the glow lamps?

Also there is another cable attached to the same adjuster as the accelerator cable which goes round to something at the left hand side of the engine bay. This cable looks a bit frayed. Could that be anything to do with it?

Thanks for your help!

[Oldiebut goodie]

A rough check for glow plug working status is to let them glow when the engine is cold and then feel the base or as close to as you can with your finger and see if there is any warmth there at all. If your fingers can't feel temperature you are stuck! Then:

[bundoodle]

Thanks for this. I'll have a look tomorrow.