VW T4 - Glow Plugs & Cold Start Issues

[@mikefreitas1331]

I bought my aab t4 as a non runing barn find. Imediatly changed the diesel filter, good service, repaired the alternator and starter motor, 4 new wheels and tyres, treated wing arch/windscreen superficial rust... after 2000km she burned 3L of new oil, had to rebuild the engine and now it's doing that cold nightmare. When we rebuilt the engine we already changed thw most difficult glow plugs, now that seems to be the problem. i read in one of these coments that somebody replaced/upgraded the glow plugs wires... got me thinking and problably will do that too. Thanks for the helpefull video and reaction coments Joel.

[@davidmitchell8937]

Got same problem after watching your video, think I will put mine in the garage many thanks for making the video

[@dampcurtain]

I've just ordered new glows plugs n stater motor. As my glows plugs where on there way out, i tired doing the whole spray into the air take. Worked once, then tired that again. Then ended up frying my stater motor 😅

[@itsmyjeepthing]

thx, now i saw on your video that there is a wire from cilinder 3 and 4 and from 4 to 5. just replaced 4 from 5 glowplugs.. the 5th near the timing belt i measured the ohms and seems to be good. the 4th is doable yourself from above, ring spanner 8 from top bit by bit takes a while then with spanner 12 bit.. turn spanner bit turn spanner.. and so on. to replace i used magnet to aim it in place wiggle in hand turn it as far as possible then the long spanner thingy reverse. same with the 8mm bolt.. your van starded ( not start ) exacly the same as mine so i guess the problem is solved now. Tip of using startpilot or break cleaner or whatever... ( same not starting as yours ) it turns over fast that strugles.. thats to much gas no oxigan.. keep the starter fluid i bit further away from the intake so it mixex more and it will work to start with broken glow plugs. awsome video thx i hope i tributed a bit for other people.

[@jameseddison5356]

I did all this to mine n still had problems ended up changing the power lead from the glow plug rail to thicker wire as it gets brittle over time also the big relay on fuse board n no more issues. Bear in mind as it really does make a difference. Mine will cold start with just over 9 volts in battery. Cheers je.

[@JoelsStuff]

What a nightmare!

[@nickmay2925]

I had almost identical problem with starting, new glow plugs, battery, starter motor, went through a few mechanics, turns out that when i put a new fuel filter on i cured the problem, seems it hadnt been changed when serviced as was rusted in!

[@JoelsStuff]

You never know what it will be!

[@R0I3I3IE]

The joys of owning a T4! I had a 1.9td with starting issues (when I first bought it). Changed the plugs, re-built the starter motor every 1.5yrs (so that never cost me any more then new brushes), and got a good battery. *Ensure* the starter's earth cables are good too. They'll be a huge detriment if worn and brittle. I upgraded my earths and added an additional 30amp cable.

[@theadventuresoflario]

Glad you got it sorted 🤙🏼

[@Foolspeed66]

Try it with a full Tank! Could be the fuelsender.

[@nunoli]

I had the same problem..., unfortunately was more expensive that I thought . in the end was the injection pump

[@JoelsStuff]

That’s what I’m onto now 😬

[@jennyt2925]

I feel your pain with this

[@robclinton5237]

£70 to fit 1 glow plug you remove 4 & 5 from the side remove injector pump belt cover bit fidiling its done

[@mnp3713]

Often when the vag using these starters wont crank or push in the starter, only klick. then the positive wire from the small starter push motor to the start crankmotor is corroded. just hotwire it with a spanner or anything and change the wire. i dont think your starter was bad, most likely a negative connection failure

[@captainchaos3053]

I hate to say the obvious but only doing 3 is a bad idea for the long-term reliability. Plus those plugs didnt look bad did you test them? That 540 should start a diesel no problem.

[@cannaroe1213]

he obviously had a bad injector...

[@captainchaos3053]

@@cannaroe1213 look that way.

[@JoelsStuff]

The injectors were fine. I changed all five plugs after this and it worked perfectly

[@captainchaos3053]

@JoelsStuff Good to hear. Its more often than not that hard starting and odd looking plugs is caused by a bad injector.

[@Apollo-p1l]

Did you use the cold start advance lever when trying it originally? I have a t4 a couple of years older than yours with a 1.9 td engine. If cold it generally requires the advance lever.

[@JoelsStuff]

Yep forgot to include this but it didn’t seem to help

[@Apollo-p1l]

@@JoelsStuff Yeah it was probably the underpowered battery , every diesel Ive ever had used a 90 Ah battery.

[@BigArch6564]

Is this a 2.4d AAB?