Cold Start Spray - Does It Harm Engines

[zendog]

Have a C5 HDi which just wont start first thing after a cold night. Have had the glow plugs changed and relay checked with no improvement. My local independent have diagnosed a failing fuel pump which seems to make sense. Only problem is I haven't got the £600+ to get it fixed for a couple of months, so in the meantime I have to use cold start spray first thing in the morning to get it going. Every mechanic I have spoken to have suggested this is not good stuff to use on a regular basis, is this right and why?

 

If so will a couple of months use once a day do permanent damage to the engine?

 

Thanks

 

Zendog

[techbod]

a couple of months wont be that bad but all your doing is spraying neat fuel in there and its a diesel so no it isn't that good to use it long term ( ask the ice cream man ) they use it all the time rather than fix the problem

[Randombloke]

Have a C5 HDi which just wont start first thing after a cold night. Have had the glow plugs changed and relay checked with no improvement. My local independent have diagnosed a failing fuel pump which seems to make sense. Only problem is I haven't got the £600+ to get it fixed for a couple of months, so in the meantime I have to use cold start spray first thing in the morning to get it going. Every mechanic I have spoken to have suggested this is not good stuff to use on a regular basis, is this right and why?

 

It's not a good idea to use cold start spray because in addition to being volatile it's also a solvent, dribbling down the cylinder walls, washing the thin layer of oil away, and sometimes getting past the rings and into the sump, diluting the oil.

 

I would suggest turning the key a few times, but not starting the engine, so that if the temperature is low enough to trigger the glow plugs you can give the engine several doses of glow and it will start more easily, but this will not help if the plugs are not triggered by the cold.

 

Maybe leaving the engine for some 15 to 20 seconds might allow the pressure to build up from the pump.......