Vauxhall/Isuzu Diesel Cold Starting

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Sat 7 Dec 2002 16:58
Vauxhall/Isuzu Diesel Cold Starting - Dizzy {P}
There have been a lot of discussions here about poor cold-starting of Vauxhalls fitted with the Isuzu diesel engine and many answers have been attempted.

A friend of mine has suffered this problem for at least two winters and tried 'everything'. Everything, that is, except having the valve clearances checked. Someone recently told us here that re-setting the valve clearances on his engine was the answewr (sorry, I've searched but I can't find the relevant posting) so I suggested to my friend that it was worth trying.

He had his valve clearances checked during the week and it was found that valve seat recession (sinkage) had led to some valves being held open slightly. This made cold-starting very difficult because he wasn't getting full compression but once the engine started and warmed through a bit it was fine, except that it smoked terribly immediately after starting.

The clearances were reset and the engine now starts immediately. It turned for less than two seconds this afternoon (on a very cold day) before firing on all four. Apparently valve seat recession on Isuzu diesels is well known within the trade for causing cold-start problems.

Another success story for the forum!
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Sat 7 Dec 2002 17:32
Vauxhall/Isuzu Diesel Cold Starting - googolplex
Had a similar problem with same engine about 100K miles ago. Same diagnosis and no starting problems since. (Trouble is, the same Vauxhall garage seems to mention the same diagnosis for most other faults despite there eventually being other things to blame.)
Its worth your friend being wary of the starter motor now since I think the strain of turning over the engine caused mine to go. These are not particularly cheap in this diesel being a "geared device", so I am led to understand.
Splodgeface
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