glow plug control unit 2004 E53 3.0D Auto

[Smeeagain]

Anyone had this issue?

Car has been running lumpy on startup and it came up on the scanner. No individual glowplug errors - 3 of them were replaced about a month ago. The guy at ECP said they had the control units sitting on the shelf (£84) as it was a common problem ......?

See

[X5Sport]

I'm surprised it needs glow plugs in this weather.  I thought they only ran below about 10°C, but happy to be corrected.  Current fault, or stored historic code?

Any sign of injectors being the issue logged?

[TimX5]

[quote="Smeeagain"]
Anyone had this issue?

Car has been running lumpy on startup and it came up on the scanner. No individual glowplug errors - 3 of them were replaced about a month ago. The guy at ECP said they had the control units sitting on the shelf (£84) as it was a common problem ......?

See
[/quote]

5 of my glow plugs haven't worked for 2 year's but starts perfect every time,  just a bit smoke in cold weather.

[fenj66]

[quote="TimX5"]
[quote="Smeeagain"]
Anyone had this issue?

Car has been running lumpy on startup and it came up on the scanner. No individual glowplug errors - 3 of them were replaced about a month ago. The guy at ECP said they had the control units sitting on the shelf (£84) as it was a common problem ......?

See
[/quote]

5 of my glow plugs haven't worked for 2 year's but starts perfect every time,  just a bit smoke in cold weather.
[/quote]

mine also, summer and winter starts just fine first turn of key.  dirty injectors maybe?

[Smeeagain]

ok, so to the various points. i don't know if it was a historic fault but will get it checked. I agree that it wouldn't need glow plugs at this time if year, but the fault code was glow plug control and not injectors.

How would I know if it was the injectors needing cleaned and is it a big job to replace them or do they just get cleaned?

I've tried various tank additives to clean them without making any difference.

Problem goes away when it gets up to temperature

Smee

[robsey29]

This sounds like a injector or 2 showing itself on a cold start had this on various bmw diesels i have owned, basically you will need to do a leak off test to see if any of them have gone or you can check the tolerances of the injectors with inpa i think within spec they are -5 to +6 anything over or under the above is a problem. They dont always throw a code depending how bad it is normally.

[fenj66]

Just because a fault code is displayed, doesn't mean it's the actual cause of the symptoms on show.

[Smeeagain]

Indeed. But if you go back to my original post, the question was simply "has anyone had this issue", and no-one has actually answered that question

See

[Smeeagain]

[quote="robsey29"]
This sounds like a injector or 2 showing itself on a cold start had this on various bmw diesels i have owned, basically you will need to do a leak off test to see if any of them have gone or you can check the tolerances of the injectors with inpa i think within spec they are -5 to +6 anything over or under the above is a problem. They dont always throw a code depending how bad it is normally.
[/quote]

Thanks - so they can't be cleaned manually? Cost and size of job to replace? is it a problem just to keep running or does it need attention now?
Smee

[robsey29]

[quote="Smeeagain"]
[quote="robsey29"]
This sounds like a injector or 2 showing itself on a cold start had this on various bmw diesels i have owned, basically you will need to do a leak off test to see if any of them have gone or you can check the tolerances of the injectors with inpa i think within spec they are -5 to +6 anything over or under the above is a problem. They dont always throw a code depending how bad it is normally.
[/quote]

Thanks - so they can't be cleaned manually? Cost and size of job to replace? is it a problem just to keep running or does it need attention now?
Smee

Very unlikely to be able to be cleaned manually they will need refurbishing with new nozzles etc. You could try some forte injector cleaner and take it for a good hard run.

They are pretty easy to replace the key is to get the engine warm before removing them and sometimes you will need a injector puller if they are really siezed. Rough idea on cost to refurb each injector is about £100 and i would say it should be no more then a couple of hours labour to remove and refit a couple of them.

Its not the end of the world to keep running it like this it will probably being drinking diesel a bit more then it should. you will need to do a leak off test to confirm if this is your problem first of course or check the tolerances with inpa.   
[/quote]

[deepblonde]

[quote="Smeeagain"]
Anyone had this issue?

Car has been running lumpy on startup and it came up on the scanner. No individual glowplug errors - 3 of them were replaced about a month ago. The guy at ECP said they had the control units sitting on the shelf (£84) as it was a common problem ......?

See
[/quote]

I've got this problem too,
I'm going to replace the Glow Plug control unit ,
But where to buy?
And thinking of replacing all my glow plugs,
all these things are hard to find ,
gotta beg eBay sellers to ship Down Under...

[Moments]

I've had 3 bad glowplugs on an E39 525tds. They were correctly reported as faulty at 169,000 miles, and in winter it got bad and hard to get the car to start. However, once the car ran for a very brief time (seconds) there was no lumpiness. The glow plugs are there to start the engine, not to keep it running.

My current X5 has lost plug 6, according to the ODB scan. However, I will not go for replacement plugs until one or two more go. They can last >125,000 miles if there aren't many stop/start or unlock cycles. (Note that the glow plugs power cycle on unlock on the later cars so you can start quickly).

I'd go for injectors as prime suspects: I suggest checking out the independents - search for diesel and petrol injection specialists who can advise and potentially lead you to a better fix than you might get from the main dealers.