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when i turn the ignition the coil lamp on the dash only stays on for a second rather than the usual 10 seconds. the engine then cranks but doesnt start.
im not too familier with diesels as this is my first one.
my question is this, is there some kind of heating element that heats the glow plugs prior to starting? if so id guess this is the problem.

Err, the glow plugs are the heating elements. I presume this is a D8, IIRC the glow plug control box doesn't pay any attention to how hot the engine is so I reckon this is the problem. As per check the connections first...

Could be the battery too

It could be but, as my dad would say, it would manifest itself in a more apparent manner...

While we're on the subject, my 2.1 D8 sometimes won't start, regardless of whether the engine's hot or cold or what the weather's up to and I have to light up the glow plugs 3 times before it goes, then it chucks out a cloud of smoke. Not that I'm too worried as I'm trying to flog the beast.

steve_earwig wrote:Not that I'm too worried as I'm trying to flog the beast

And sell the car!

You leave my hobbies out of it

cheers guys, wheres the control box located?

Depends, Heinz says on the side of the fusebox for the 1.9 and under the throttle pot for the 2.1.

its a 2.0 mk2

D'oh!!

That's a whole different ball game! Unless you live in Siberia the light shouldn't have been lighting up for 10 seconds, it's pretty cold here but I've not seen mine on for much more than a second. Sounds like you've had a fault coming for a while. There is a control box but it's run by the engine ecu, you can start here but it could be the engine ecu, the coolant temperature sensor or even the dreaded BSI.

I think it's time I went back to flogging my beast...

if its an HDi, it could be something much more serious with the fuel system. the HDI's don't normally need much pre-heating, i'd expect it to start or at least attempt to start even if the pre-heating system wasn't working very well. If you have a multi-meter i'd check that the glow plugs feed is working.

If you have RAC/AA home start i'd call them out as they should be able to tell you exactly whats wrong with it.

Just don't try to use jump leads, It will kill your ECU, Expensive.

HDi's dont need any pre-heating, its more there to serve as post-heating to lower NoX, co2 and particulate emissions
did it suddenly not start or gradually have poor starting over time untill now it wont start?
you need to get the fault codes read before we can go any further, i would bet the lift pump is knackerd though

cheers for all the replies, i think its time for it to rest in pieces though, its a 280000 mile wreck from fleabay, the insides a disgrace aswell.
itll be in the for sale section as parts.

So it never worked in the first place, gah!