Cold start issue
My 2011 Kia Venga 1.4 CRDI Ecodynamics 2 with 25,000 miles on the clock has an issue with cold starting, particularly in the colder weather. It takes between 5-10 seconds of cold cranking to get it to start. When I bought the car last year the start/stop didn’t work properly, but a new AGM battery sorted that out. There is no problem with hot starting and the fuel economy is great, averaging more than 65mpg. I think it could be a problem with the glow plugs, as all the fuses are OK, but there are no error codes stored. Can you tell me how to access the glow plugs and test them? There is a lack of online information about this particular model or its sister car, the Hyundai ix20.
The glow plugs should be at the rear of the cylinderhead and connected with a single electrical rail which is plugged into the loom. The first thing to check is that the glow plugs are being fed when the ignition is first turned on. By placing a probe into the connecting plug with either a test light or voltmeter you should be able to detect if the glow plugs are being correctly fed. If they are, the next step would be to check the glow plugs themselves, which can be done without removal by using an ohmmeter. First, disconnect the top electrical connecting strip, ensuring you do not drop any of the fixing nuts – these can be fiddly. Then, using an ohmmeter, place one probe on the centre electrode and the other on the cylinderhead. As a rule of thumb, the reading should be below 6 ohms, all the readings should be equal and a high resistance or an infinite reading will indicate a faulty glow plug. The book time for replacing the glow plugs is 0.8 hours.