[Bigwill]

Am I right in saying that the new Common Rail technology that Mitsu has deployed, offers a much smoother engine start-up than what I have had with my 2004 Gen 3 DID for the last 88,000km since new.
I find that the first two seconds after the engine takes with start-up, my DID’s engine runs extremely rough. It causes quite serious rocking of the motor on its mountings and can be quite irritating if you are used to petrol engines. This becomes worse as the engine temperature increases. It is as if not all cylinders are firing-up at the same time. The salesman who sold me the car ensured me that this is normal. I have become used to it now, but recently drove a Common Rail 3.2 in a Triton. And boy was this motor smooth. Especially after start-up.
Can someone please confirm to me that this is a feature of Common Rail and that there is nothing wrong with my car.
Regards - Willie

[4ePikanini]

that rocking is typical of a blocked or dirty EGR system. If you search around on the subject you will find that you can safely block it off.

Following that I would recommend running your next 6 full tanks of diesel mixed with 400ml each time (about 200:1 ratio). It has a decarbonising burn that may clear the carbon deposits left on the exhaust valves and pistons. Some even claim injector cleaning (possible as it burns the carbon away on the tips).

My 3.2 Di-D still starts rough every now and again but she is getting smoother and smoother with every startup (I firmly believe it is my 2-stroke oil mix)

[RoelfleRoux]

I had 3 DiD's in a row (2000, 2003 and 2006). NOT rough, never.

Most commonly used quote when you have a warranty complaint...: "this is normal"

My bud bought a 190k km 2003 recently and it was rough at start-up. Few days later the battery failed. New battery fitted, end of rough at start-up.

[4ePajero]

Rough idle on the Di-d means that all the cylinders are not firing the same.
Problem with one or more of the following:

• glow plug
• compression
• injector

[4ePikanini]

here is a video of my 2001 gen3 di-d starting up from cold.

It has 274000km on the clock and everything is original apart from the oil pressure sensor and the brake accumulator.

LKAZb26xhXA

[Bigwill]

Thanks everyone for your input so far. I certainly now have something to look at.
Just to further clarify:
I am quite happy with my car's cold starting ability but it is not as smooth as the Comon Rail in the Triton (and is obviously nothing close to my six cylinder petrol BMW).
What I am worried about is the very rough and kicking back startup I sometimes get when the engine is hot.
This happens if you stop for a break on a long trip and then try and get the engine going again after say 5 mins or so. It will take about twice as long as normal to run smoothly again. (Once started up she runs perfectly, hot or cold.). I have a feeling that glowing carbon buildup on the pistons is causing a kind of pre-ignition that tends to work against the normal direction of rotation. Thus the kick-back feeling.
The strange thing is it did this since brand new. Nevertheless I am going to try the two stroke oil thing. EGR valve clogging surely only happens after some mileage.
So does most of the ideas forwarded so far. To me a glowplug also should show up worse during cold than when the engine is hot.
I would be greatly obliged if you could take note of this additional info and consider the problem in the context of a hot start-up. Thanks a million so far chaps.

[4ePajero]

IMHO I think you have a dodgy injector (maybe it leaks, which causes over-fuelling?).

Is there a lot of smoke when you start up?
Colour?

[Bigwill]

4ePajero writes:

I think you have a dodgy injector (maybe it leaks, which causes over-fuelling?).

Now that you mention that 4e, I must agree that is very likely. I will need some time to check up on the smoking. If it does smoke I would expect it to be black smoke.

[superairborne]

My 2006 Gen3 3.2DiD is quite smooth from the word "go". It's got 90 000km on the clock. I've had many diesels, and as far as vibration goes the Paj is one of the better ones. I have to admit though, the Paj is one of the more noiser ones. I had a Ford Courier 2.5Td and a Ranger 2.5Td before and they were so quiet that most peole did not believe me when a I told them it was a diesel. They were even quieter than my wife's Audi A4 2.0 Tdi (when standing outside the vehicle). The Audi has more sound dampening when inside the cabin. However, it seems like the Ford engines have compromised on vibration in order to be quieter.

[Bigwill]

4ePajero writes:I think you have a dodgy injector (maybe it leaks, which causes over-fuelling?).

Now that you mention that 4e, I must agree that is very likely. I will need some time to check up on the smoking. If it does smoke I would expect it to be black smoke.
4ePajero writes:

I think you have a dodgy injector (maybe it leaks, which causes over-fuelling?).

Now that you mention that 4e, I must agree that is very likely. I will need some time to check up on the smoking. If it does smoke I would expect it to be black smoke.

..............and now I can confirm that there is indeed quite a puff of black smoke when this happens. I just don't onderstand why a cold start after an overnight does not cause the same problem, but a 10 minute hot break does. I am thinking of taking it to the chap in Midrand. (is it Freek?)