Number of chugs to turn the engine over

cobaltblack

New member
Hi, I'm a new 2009 dodge sprinter owner. I bought it used with 45k miles off someones lease.

My question is related to how many cranks is normal to start the engine. On a cold start it takes about
15 chugs; on a warm it takes about 5. Is this cold start normal? It has me a bit worried the cold start is taking too many cranks, and I might not start in some near term cold start.

thanks!
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
In ideal conditions from an overnight cold crank start, turn ignition on, wait for glow plug light to extinguish normally three seconds.Start should be no more than three to four revolutions at most before engine fires.

Battery voltage may be low, have the battery checked for condition as the starter engages voltage drops to 10,6v if it goes below 10.0v to 9.6v then, the battery or the earth cables are faulty with corrosion.

vans are fussy they like high voltage for a rapid start at temps from zero to 40c.
Welcome to the forum have fun , can't think of a better place to come, and be entertained.
Cheers Richard
 

T.J.T

Member
turns over once, starts on the second "chug" cold, hot, warm, sunny, rainy, in a box with a fox...

Ive even put the key in at times and moved it too the "warm the glow plug" position and pushed it slightly too far and it fires up without me holding the key over.
 

franknj

New member
Not sure if you are new to deisels. But they require a lot of power to start since there are no spark plugs. I have a 2008 with the original battery and 55K. I don't drive too much. If you are taking it for a lot of short trips, that could be the reason. You need to drive the van at least 20 miles once per week or put a battery charger/maintainer on it once a week. Don't idle the van for a long time to charge, it can lead to carbon deposits and problems$$$$$. My van starts very fast, usually on the first rotation. As soon as it gets to the 2nd rotation, I know to put the charger on it.
 

jdcaples

Not Suitable w/220v Gen
I recorded normal start up sounds during my adventure with a failed alternator pulley coupler-decoupler.

There's a PDF attached to the first and only posting in this thread:

https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showthread.php?p=85255

Embedded in the PDF is an MP3. Adobe Acrobat Reader X (10) for Windows plays the MP3 just fine.

My 2007 Sprinter doesn't take any more effort than what you hear in the recording to start cold.

How cold?

I don't think it typically gets much colder than about 26 degrees Fahrenheit ( about -3 celcius ) in Seattle.... maybe once in a while, but we seem to get a lot of 34F/1-2C days here; snow and ice linger more than a week or so here.

-Jon
 

cobaltblack

New member
So the issue is resolved by me waiting for the glow plug light to turn off and then doing the ignition. I didnt realize how important that two second wait was and didn't know that indicator even existed.

When I received the van it came with no manual. I have an electronic owners manual that i needto read through. Perhaps I would have then known the importance of waiting for the glow plug light to extinguish before starting the engine.

Thanks guys. Engine is starting light a champ now!
 

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