[Vwdiesel] Grumpy starting (was How old is everyone?)

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/7/2009 4:27:35 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
joe at haasenpfeffer.com writes:

> I've also found if I let it sit in the driveway for a week or so then go 
> do
> drive it, it's way grumpier than usual.  Huge clouds of blue smoke and I
> have to put a little throttle to it till it warms up.  

  Could be leaking valve stem seals, a bad injector or two or a bad 
glow plug this time of year.
  I spent a while starting 4 diesels today.  My wife saw 3F when 
she got up this morning.  By 11:00 it was up to about 17F.  The 
pu started right up but I'd plugged it in for an hour.  Easier on it and 
warmer on me!
  The Passat had to crank a bit and coughed for a while.  I'm sure 
it needs injectors.  Put a charger on the batt for the night tonight!
  My Jetta, on loan to a friend and his Dad's F250 wouldn't start by 
noon so I jumped and started them.  The Jetta wasn't bad other than 
the Bendix keeps wanting to kick out.  The Ford was loaded up from 
trying to start and sounds to have 1 to 3 bad glow plugs and as long 
as it took to clear out, might have a bad injector as well.  Hopefully it 
sunk in when I showed him the Ford's GP's keep going after the 
light goes out so give it a bunch more time and start it the first time.  
A little after cranking (to keep it turning until it's firing well, is 
still 
easier on the starter than cranking a bunch of different times.
    Loren