Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

I recently picked up my Delica L400 through Coombs Country Auto. I am in Vancouver, and am having a few problems, and have some questions for someone who has been using these things for a while. The main thing right now is when the engine is cold, it is having a hard time starting. It takes quite a few cranks to get it going, and it usually stalls after the engine finally turns over (accompanied with a large plume of smoke, which I am assuming is burnt diesel). It has had a ton of preventative maintenance, and should be running fine. Really don't have the time to take it over to them, and am hoping to connect with a knowledgeable Delica owner. There could be cold beer involved, and much appreciation. Hope this post isnt considered spammy.

Apologies if this is obvious, but when you first turn the key on you're waiting until the glow plug warning light goes out before cranking the starter, right?

Just to add....not only wait until the glow plug light goes out, but wait until you hear the click of the glow plug relay. This indicates it's finished its cycle. The light usually goes out before the cycle is finished. Wait for the click.
It will sound like the click is coming from the rear of the glove box.

I had trouble starting (even while I was waiting for the light to go out). Then it was suggested waiting until the click. Starts like a dream now.

Growlerbearnz wrote:Apologies if this is obvious, but when you first turn the key on you're waiting until the glow plug warning light goes out before cranking the starter, right?

Growlerbearnz, thanks for your reply. I am in fact waiting for the sequenced clicks, about 20-30 seconds before turning the engine over. One thing I should note is this: The glow plugs have been completely replaced..

I'm not entirely familiar the L400 glow system, but on my L300 if I waited for 30 seconds the plugs would have gone cold again. Does it make any difference if you try to start after 10 seconds of glow plug action? Though I Imagine you've already tried just about everything. Hopefully someone local can come and have a look at it.

It's unlikely that all four new glow plugs are faulty, which suggests a wiring issue. It's easy to assemble the bus bar incorrectly by putting the insulating washers in the wrong place.

If it were my engine, I'd try connecting the glow plug bus bar directly to the battery positive terminal using a jumper cable, for about 10 seconds, and then try starting the engine. If it starts ok, then you know the glow plugs are OK and the control circuit is at fault. If it still doesn't start well, the glow plugs are probably faulty- or there's another, completely unrelated fault. That said, it's not my engine, it's presumably under warranty, and waving a jumper cable around in the engine bay is generally considered a bad idea.

Regarding the smoke- black smoke indicates normal combustion (albeit a bit rich), white/grey smoke indicates bad glow plugs or excess fuel in a cylinder that isn't firing, and blue smoke is engine oil burning. From what you've described I'm guessing your smoke is white.