[neoto]

Last week, we were skiing in Italian Dolomites. In the morning on the day when we were leaving, the temperature sunk to -20°C (pic below). After the breakfast I met the neighbours, who asked if I have tried to start my car and that both the almost brand new Opel Insignia and VW Golf failed to start the engine. I got a little worried as the glow plugs symbol needed around 10 seconds or more to turn off, but then the engine started right away.
Anyway, that morning none of the diesel cars (VW Passat, VW Golf, Opel Insignia, Mercedes except my diesel Hyundai have started by themselves. Insignia even had to be towed away into a warm garage before it could be started...
Hail Hyundai!

[Dazzler]

That's brilliant neoto (love it) 

[asathorny]

Fantastic news...  hope you had a little laugh at the others, when they weren't looking of course 

[Doggie 1]

Fantastic. Gotta love that 

[meehalych]

Seems to be a car oil issue, no?
By the way, some Russian i30 owners claim that the cars (petrol) produced from 2010 fail to start when the temperature falls below -20*C
Mine was assembled in 2009

[neoto]

We don't know exactly what caused the other diesels to fail to start. At -20°C it is pretty close to the point when our winter diesel fuel starts to "wax up". Maybe I filled my Hyundai with better fuel, maybe it is the result of additional electric engine block heaters that Hyundai installs into the diesels. We'll never know The result is the most important - we could drive away immediately   

[Asterix]

Part of the problem is the electronics.
If there is less than 10,5 V available on the battery, the electronics won't work, and then it doesn't matter if the starter motor turns or not.

Remember 15-20 years back..   If there was just enough power on the battery to turn the starter motor, then the engine would start.

[accim]

Great news neoto. Thanks for this post of yours.. I have a friend who has Opel Insignia (which is of course at least 10x better car then all Hyundai models together) and now I can mention this "incident" (at least it was an incident for some), just to tease him a bit. 

BTW: What was the last gas station you were at and where do you usually fill up your diesel? (Petrol, OMV..?)

[neoto]

BTW: What was the last gas station you were at and where do you usually fill up your diesel? (Petrol, OMV..?)

I filled at Mercator (ex. 24/7) gas station in Tržič.

[Ultralights]

and here i was worrying at the australian ski fields when it was -2 outside!

[Phil №❶]

Ultralights

Did you notice a longer delay for the glowplug light by any chance.

[Ultralights]

cant be sure, i didnt notice a difference.

[Asterix]

For some time now we have had temperatures between -10 to -20 C. When starting the car in the morning the glowplug light would be on for 4- 5 sec. Now the temperature has reached 3 C  and the light is only on for 2 sec.

[Lorian]

For some time now we have had temperatures between -10 to -20 C. When starting the car in the morning the glowplug light would be on for 4- 5 sec. Now the temperature has reached 3 C  and the light is only on for 2 sec.

The specs for the glowplus control relay (at least for the U2 1.6 engine) say:

16sec   - 20°C
10sec   - 10°C
4sec   10°C
2sec   50°C

This is of course engine coolant temperature, not ambient.

There is mention in the diagnostic routine of the glow plugs still having current for up to 6 seconds after the engine has started.

Loads of information on how to diagnose Glowplug and Relay issues on GSW nowadays.

[Dazzler]

  Lorian