Problems starting in the morning or when cold ? Adjustment

[MardyDelica]

psilosin:
now hope i could chip in to this.everybody has there own point .
maybe relay or not dont know you guys could diagnose on this.
i am now checking and trying to understand. between L400 and mitsubishi challenger with same engine 4m40 2.8 liter
diff is L400 has a higher fuel filter housing pump than Challeger.
now as far as the challenger its almost the same level as the injection pump thru fuel filter housing pump level.
for now my challenger i used dont even have any problem when it comes to cold weather. same engien with l400
now but sometime have problem with L400 on the start up: diff is when i pump the fuel pump assembly when ur not using it for short while
it create air to the system i think,
and to make this work you need to pump the fuel a little bit on this.to get the pressure to take out the air form the system
to make it thru your injection pump. when i do that it help and the engine fire up.
just the design is no good but no choice as there is no room for L400 lots of room for challenger:
now as per relay and glow plug.
i believe its the set up or ecu glow module thake too long to shut off even the car is already running.
that why soem glow plug burn so quick.
but if you do it manually direct it with push botton then it work fine.
i did try to some of my client it works.
as for now nothing we can do as the program on ecu glow plug to shut it off quick when engien start.
need soem kind of modification i guess;
i am having hard time also.
toyota has diff system.
if they do same system as my new 1996 mitsubishi challenger with same engien ,then i guess no problem with this.
dont know on 1997 model if they modified it and improve this ecu glow plug problem.

hope this help

[psilosin]

psilosin:
now hope i could chip in to this.everybody has there own point .
maybe relay or not dont know you guys could diagnose on this.
i am now checking and trying to understand. between L400 and mitsubishi challenger with same engine 4m40 2.8 liter
diff is L400 has a higher fuel filter housing pump than Challeger.
now as far as the challenger its almost the same level as the injection pump thru fuel filter housing pump level.
for now my challenger i used dont even have any problem when it comes to cold weather. same engien with l400
now but sometime have problem with L400 on the start up: diff is when i pump the fuel pump assembly when ur not using it for short while
it create air to the system i think,
and to make this work you need to pump the fuel a little bit on this.to get the pressure to take out the air form the system
to make it thru your injection pump. when i do that it help and the engine fire up.
just the design is no good but no choice as there is no room for L400 lots of room for challenger:
now as per relay and glow plug.
i believe its the set up or ecu glow module thake too long to shut off even the car is already running.
that why soem glow plug burn so quick.
but if you do it manually direct it with push botton then it work fine.
i did try to some of my client it works.
as for now nothing we can do as the program on ecu glow plug to shut it off quick when engien start.
need soem kind of modification i guess;
i am having hard time also.
toyota has diff system.
if they do same system as my new 1996 mitsubishi challenger with same engien ,then i guess no problem with this.
dont know on 1997 model if they modified it and improve this ecu glow plug problem.

hope this help

Thanks for the good info and ideas Mardy. Lots of clues to investigate with this issue on the L400. It definately appears that there are multiple possible causes for different peoples problem starting, not always the same in each case. If everyone works together we should be able to come up with a pretty good and simple step by step troubleshooting checklist for isolating different cold starting problem sources and solving them.

[lopar]

i believe its the set up or ecu glow module thake too long to shut off even the car is already running.
that why soem glow plug burn so quick.

the longer post start-up burn time is for the environment (Mitsubishi design) it is suppose to help reduce emissions and such, blah blah blah.

Many glow plugs are designed to take this long post start-up burn time

[Rising Sun Auto Import]

i believe its the set up or ecu glow module thake too long to shut off even the car is already running.
that why soem glow plug burn so quick.

the longer post start-up burn time is for the environment (Mitsubishi design) it is suppose to help reduce emissions and such, blah blah blah.

Many glow plugs are designed to take this long post start-up burn time

That's the "self regulating 11V glow plug control system" for longer duration ( self variable resistance versus outside temperature< engine temp > ).
It is designed like that, nothing wrong with that.

Steven

[lopar]

That's the "self regulating 11V glow plug control system" for longer duration ( self variable resistance versus outside temperature< engine temp > ).

What's doing the regulating; two options: the glow plugs (changing resistance with temperature), or the ECU is varying the Voltage which in turn controls the current, temperature, blah blah........

[lopar]

answer to my own question........ its the glow plugs that are self-regulating, not the ECU, ECU will just pump 12V "ish".

MAKE SURE THE GLOW PLUGS THAT YOU INSTALL ARE SPECIFICALLY SELF-REGULATING, DON'T CARE WHAT BRAND, OR THEY WILL BURN OUT VERY PREMATURALLY............ BTW - CY55 ARE SELF-REGULATING CERAMIC :)

[Rising Sun Auto Import]

Interesting. The new relay I just installed on Tuesday is toast.

Trigger wire from ECU (SRG) is operating fine supplying voltage for ~6 seconds. Power supply to the relay is fine. 0 power at the switched terminal when activated. Not yet bench tested but it looks dead by all account.

Jcolvin, I am interested if you had a chance to re-test your new relay to see if it cooked as well. I'm going to pick up another today and reinstall to see if this is just bad luck or if shinanagans are afoot.

For fun here is another startup video. This time trying to start the L400 at -4oC. I got tired of eating smoke sandwich so I gave up before she fired (sensitive viewer alert: f-bomb dropped).

I returned from USA last night, so I didn’t see this video until this morning.
Yes, glow plug relay was completely gone.
It will be very simple to fix, just replace it with new/used oem.
I said several times not going cheap aftermarket relay as they turn out hassle and more money in the long run. Not worth to argue about this.
We have lots of OEM glow plug relay in stock FYI.

Steven

[jessef]

We have lots of OEM glow plug relay in stock FYI.

That's just lovely for you to point out. As well, unless you were looking over his shoulder, I doubt your telepathic ability to know that he is using a cheap inferior solenoid compared to the one you are promoting *cough* selling, *cough* suggesting.

[Profister]

The title for this thread is 'Problems starting in the morning or when cold ? Adjustment'. ADJUSTMENT!!! Do you get it? I was expecting some action from moderators since this thread went off rails. Are you going to do your job?

[Rising Sun Auto Import]

The title for this thread is 'Problems starting in the morning or when cold ? Adjustment'. ADJUSTMENT!!! Do you get it? I was expecting some action from moderators since this thread went off rails. Are you going to do your job?

Ask psilosin or see his earlier post mentioning topic.

Steven

[jcolvin]

Yep, checked the supply power lines to relay...all good. And the ECU is activating the trigger wire (likely not the proper terminology) that activates the relay so it seems the ECU is acting normal. Tested the relay with a seperate trigger and while it clicks no power ends up to the switched pole so like before it looks like the relay is the issue. The question now is, is a second relay failing within days just bad luck or can something be cooking it? You would think a fuse would blow before the relay itself if there is some crazy power surge happening though. It is extra interesting since Jcolvin looks to have had the same scenario play out. If the relay cooks again I am definately going manual control as the next step...have such a nice shiny boat horn button in my bucket of parts for years just waiting for a use.

I am positive the fuel system is not at fault as you say. There is 0 volts going to the glow plugs...100% an electrical issue. Other tips that the fuel system was not the issue was fuel ecconomy is normal and she runs without a hiccup after starting. My Hilux with a mild IP leak exhibits a very different scenario...fuel filter needs pumping up after a few days of no driving and it is easy to start but bucks and misses for 10-20 seconds until idle smooths and chugs and hestiates while driving for a couple minutes until the IP seal swells up, and fuel ecconomy took a hit.

LOL I did jinx you din't I? the L400 seems to come standard with a cold-start gremlin. I tested my new relay and it was fine; it's putting voltage to the plugs. Now I have to remove a couple plugs and see if the brand-new ones cooked. I can't see why they would unless they were the wrong spec....the glow relay only goes on for a max of 8 secs (easy to hear it click on and off) which should not be enough to cook plugs.

I can't see how you could cook the relay so quickly unless you have a short somewhere in the plug side that could melt a contact inside the relay, and this would blow the fusible link.

I'm still not sure if my issue is glow or fuel. I'm scheduled for a pump-seal change-out this week so we will see if this finally kills my gremlin.

[nxski]

The extent of my moderating right now will be to say please be nice to each other, focus on the op, and no advertising. (I can't do much else from my phone). As for doing my job, that is what I'm doing right now and do 7 days a week.

[jessef]

One thing that has not been mentioned is a proper contact ground. If there is not a rock-solid ground, the solenoid (any solenoid) will fail sooner or later.

[Rising Sun Auto Import]

The extent of my moderating right now will be to say please be nice to each other, focus on the op, and no advertising. (I can't do much else from my phone). As for doing my job, that is what I'm doing right now and do 7 days a week.

All OEM parts are being sold by Mitsubishi only.
Part numbers with pics tell everything with easy way.

Steven

[nxski]

I agree, there is nothing wrong with part numbers and pictures.