Car has difficulty starting after service

[Clio 1.5 dci]

I serviced my car over this weekend - new oil and fuel filters, and oil. 3 out 4 spark plugs have been changed. The last one got rounded off so couldn't be removed.

The car struggles to start first time, cold or warm. This was similar to before the service, but the car always started at least on the 2nd try. But now after the spark plugs have been changed, it has taken me 4 or 5 tries this afternoon which wasn't cold.

When started, after a few moments, the orange coil light appears and the revs slightly increase. This also happened before the service.

I would've thought the service, albeit 3/4 spark plugs would've helped?

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

Spark plugs? In a DCI?

 

[Scrooge]

Do you mean glow plugs?

 

[Clio 1.5 dci]

Apologies, yes glow plugs!

(Was having a discussion about spark plugs, so was in my head)

 

[Scrooge]

Had it plugged in?

Most starting issues on DCis are down to injectors.

 

[Gavin.]

My sisters old 1.5 had this, one glow plug was jammed and couldn't be removed and it was supposedly that causing the starting issues. We had two different garages have a go and both said it was a head off job. We got rid, the repair costs would have been more than the car was worth.

 

[RS Charlie]

I would have said glow plugs initially since IME 'OE' or pattern ones do not seem to last as long as genuine items IME ; on a 306 of mine 3 NTKs went back under warranty!

However, direct injection/common rail cars do not really need the glow plugs to start. Christ, my old PD Passat fired up fine with one glow plug being down for ages.

It could be down to a fuel leak as well. I don't know about DCis but I do know that on XUD engined Pugs it is very easy to distort the fuel filter housing by overtightening. But I would have thought in your car running a more modern setup a fuel leak could be spotted easier. Can you see any air the diesel pipes? I know the 1.5 DCI Kangoos had clear pipes in places for this.

 

[Clio 1.5 dci]

Thanks for the replies.
It's all strange because the starting is worse than what it was before.
Admittedly, the car does have injector problems. When I accelerate hard the engine and glow plug orange light appear and then disappears when i ease off the pedal.
I put a tank in my premium diesel along with a can of BG244 to clean out the system as much I can without removing parts.
I'm going to have to take it round to some garages to see if that one glow plug can be removed. I also don't know whether my new plugs were any good quality - I bought them online with the rest of my service parts. But surely they can't be that bad to be worse than the originals.

 

[Scrooge]

You could unplug all your glow plugs and it's still start eventually due to the pressure of the fuel system. The heat just helps it along.

Putting additives in will not fix injector issues

 

[bashracing]

Drawing air into fuel system from filter change, check all pipe connections and any bleed/drain screws that have been disturbed or better still remove them and smear a little vasoline over the fittings to guarantee an air tight seal

 

[Clio 1.5 dci]

The air draw-in pipe is broken, but this has been the case for a while. Nothing else was touched or removed.
Could it be the metal contacts between the ends of the plugs and the black connectors?
It started first time this morning surprisingly. It took a moment or two but it fired up. The glow plug light came on as normal during idle.

I'm having a hard think of whether I should risk it driving to Czech in a week or so.