Club 80-90 Forums

Yesterday morning, as previously, my camper fired up first time. It smokes for the first 5 mins & then is fine.

I took it to a mechanic who does a lot of work with T25's to get front offside underfloor welding done for a failed MOT, just inside the wheel arch.

Anyway, when I went to try to drive it off, the engine turned fine but would not start. I made about 10 attempts before giving up. My mechanic man tried and on perhaps his 10th attempt got it started. This was the first sign of it firing and it started - usual puff of smoke and I drove home absolutely fine. Once home I was able to restart it no problem when it was still hot.

This morning I had the same issue. I did what he did, flicking the ignition on and off before attempting the start – to warm the glow plugs he said. Anyway, I could not start it just now and the van is stuck in my drive with the retest on Monday....

I must emphasise, as I did to the mechanic, that this is a sudden and dramatic change in starting behaviour which in 5 years of ownership has never been an issue. He could not connect the issue to the area of the van he was working on, just in front of the fuel tank.

I have a basic level of ability to do stuff myself. Is there anything I can do to reduce my stress levels about whether it will start on Monday?

Thanks! Scott

Although the JX and it bits are not particularly sensitive I have to ask - did the welder disconnect the battery before welding?

Anyway the first thing that I would check is the glowplug fuse, it's in the black box top left in the engine bay.
The fuse is a metal strip type with a rating of 50 amp (if I remember correctly).

Do you get signs of unburnt diesel when you are turning it over?

do your glow plug lights come on when you switch on the ignition? if not, check the glow plug fuse or the glowplug relay.

Thanks for the replies - I think both replies are spot on!

But to check, I am unsure how to load an image here, but this is it https://instagram.com/p/4Y3Nc8OSNN/?tak ... ott_hortop

Is that the fuse? Would it be the sort of thing stocked at my Halfords, a short walk away?

I will mention that the red ignition light is coming on. And it did start (eventually) yesterday.

That is the (blown) fuse.
I'd be surprised if you found one in Halfwits but you never know.
They could probably get you one.

Your local VW dealer should have them.

Buy more than one.

To get you there you could as a temporary measure put a piece of wire there instead.
You could then drive to the VW dealer.

If you do try the wire trick I would get someone to turn the ignition on for you while you watch the wire and glowplug electrics for any sign of overheating.

Have the battery terminal loose so that you can quickly disconnect the battery.

But don't come running to me if it goes pete tong.

OK Excellent & many thanks.

VW Heritage is 10 miles down the road, practically next door to my mother in laws. My wife's car will get me there - I shall psych myself up for a visit!

Disconnected the battery, fitted the new fuse, turned the ignition one step - faint click heard - went to look and yes, the new fuse (50A from VW Heritage) had blown.

Bit of a bummer that!

I am not sure where to go now - fortunately I have 4 fuses left in stock! As a reminder, all was sweetness and light before some welding work at the front offside that was carried out on Friday.

Help much appreciated.

If you've got a multimeter disconnect the feed to the glow plug bus bar and check whether there's any resistance between it and the engine casing. If it's an open connection i.e. no resistance, then that could mean a deflective glow plug and might be the cause of your fuse blowing.

I have ordered a new relay for Monday. Not sure if that is the issue though....

This message deleted (red herring!)

This may help:

clift_d wrote:If you've got a multimeter disconnect the feed to the glow plug bus bar and check whether there's any resistance between it and the engine casing. If it's an open connection i.e. no resistance, then that could mean a deflective glow plug and might be the cause of your fuse blowing.

Surely the fuse will not blow on an open circuit - did you mean to say short circuit ie no resistance?

OP ... the bus bar is the thick copper strip that connects the 4 glow plugs along the side of the head and is connected in turn to the 50A fuse via a fat wire.

Thanks for that comprehensive document!

But what I am unclear on is, if there is a short in the system blowing the fuse the instant the ignition key is turned to the glow position, how the stated testing procedure (in that section) applies. Indeed, I am not sure that I can carry out any of the tests?

I can order a new relay now to pick up Monday lunchtime. Should I do that as the best bet on what could be causing the fuse to instantly blow?

That was more for when you had checked for a short circuit.
Ignition off whilst checking.
You need to check first that the busbar is not short circuited anywhere. Check visually first that it hasn't been bent so that an uninsulated piece is touching the head - favourite is the loop over the coolant flange for getting bent. Next remove the wire connection from the fuse to the busbar and check that the resistance between the busbar and the head isn't zero - if it is zero there is a short circuit between either the busbar or a glowplug and the head and you will need to find which it is by removing the busbar and checking each plug individually for a short to the head.
The relay is unlikely to be the cause of a short causing the fuse to blow, all it does is make the connection between the fuse and the busbar. The short is somewhere between the fuse and the head.