1998 Diesel - smoky cold starts - glowplugs??

Hi Had the 98 diesel V40 for 6months now and starting has been fine for ages, but now that its cold and damp, its really smokey and takes a minute of coaxing to properly fire on all cylinders. After a minutes drive along the road its fine again. When restarting throughout the rest of the day its fine (even when I have left it for 4-5hrs), but from very cold first thing in the morning its crap. Is this more a glowplug problem or injectors - I would have suspected glowplugs as once warmer its fine - would dirty injectors behave the same whether warm or cold? Any ideas?

Hi i would go for glowplugs first as they are simpler and cheaper to change especially if you get them from a parts factor eg GSF Car parts. But check they are getting power as could also be the fuse or relay. Just put a meter on the lead to glowplugs. Also check you have the correct battery. My 1.9D was ok in the warm but crap when really cold. Changed glow plugs which helped as none worked but still nearly flattened battery when cold. Checked battery and found i had an 075 type for a 1.4 petrol skoda. Fitted the correct battery and its now fine.

what mileage,guess decoke time

:speechless-smiley-3 Duly noted! Will put some more diesel in on the way home... Thanks mate

one tip the garages told me years ago was to drive to the test station (apox 15-20min), and drive the car hard, say 60mph in 3rd gear. this will clean out the exhaust system, and warm the car up for the test.

Hmm,.. another "Dodge / Bodge" I used to do on a smokey Diesel prior to M.O.T. was to put a new Air Filter in .... Other times I might leave it out completely ....... :Banane45: