Its been quite cold but only seen the light on for less than a second? Vesting the car checked this weekend under warrenty so wondering if its worth saying I have an issue or not? Seems to start OK for the most part except when it was really cold.....

Thanks in advance

T[/u][/quote] Terran



'The' Car For The Modern Day UK Roads ( ie all the pot holes )

'A Freelander that leaks oil is just marking its territory' - Wise words

Now a member of the FL2 'Silly Bill' Club

Less than a second so not long then. At - 7 this month the Glow Plug Light was on for about 3 seconds during the delay before cranking and firing up straight away.

its about 1.5seconds for low temps, and 3 seconds for -5°C or lower( its around that, I cant remember )

they don't stay on long these days anyhow. with direct injection and the very high pressures, the fuel is atomised so well that it doesn't need much of a help from glow plugs to get things going.

So it could be working normally then? I'm just so used to seeing the light come on briefly at the very least on my old car....


Apart from that one day recently the car seems to start OK so perhaps I'm over worrying?

T Terran



'The' Car For The Modern Day UK Roads ( ie all the pot holes )

'A Freelander that leaks oil is just marking its territory' - Wise words

Now a member of the FL2 'Silly Bill' Club

I don't see mine very much, but I am sure they are working correctly, before I had mine replaced was running very rough on cold start up now its much better.

Mine is a 57 plate and the pause is normally very short, my dads 11 plat on the other hand pauses for much longer. Both start the same and sound the same when running.

Jon Freelander 2, 2014 Dynamic SD4 Santorini Black

on mine, the pause is only as soon as I press the start button until it cranks.

I *think* you can pre-heat by not pressing the clutch and pressing start button. it'll do the glow plug routine, but not crank.

Assuming that the glow-plugs only opperate when the glow-plug symbol is illuminated on the dashboard, or rather the dashboard symbol only illuminates if the glow-plugs are functioning, I have made the following observations over the last several Norwegian winters.

The glow-plug symbol does not always glow, even starting in several minus temperatures (0 to -2 or maybe -3), although at these temperatures there is normally always a delay before cranking commenses and the engine starts. However when cold starting in temperatures colder than -4 to -5, the glow-plug symbol normally glows. It seems to be the temperature of the engine and not the outside temperature that decides if the glow-plug system is functioning.

If it is cold (colder than -4) and the car has been standing a long time (overnight for example) and there is no glow-plug symbol illuminated preceding the delay before cranking, but the engine does not start, then I would say it is a very good chance that the glow-plugs will need replacing. However there is apparently also a relay that can cause glow-plug non function if faulty. At the same time, mine was starting with dead glow-plugs in ca. -4 degrees but a no-go in -10 degrees.

Dont know what the expected length og life for Glow-plugs are, but mine worked perfectly the first 4 winters (from new) but died this winter (it's 5th).

Hope this is helpful information and not more to confuse  2007 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Manual with Premium Pack & Moonroof.
Stornoway Grey with Ebony Black Pleather, Clear Indicators, Body Side Mouldings etc.

Only saw my glow plug light flash briefly on a couple of start ups during the recent cold snap. Longest was when guage read -7 but even then it was probably less than a second before the engine cranked and it has started perfectly every time.
I'm not sure it enjoys being woken up from a cold sleep and then having lights, defrost, heated screens and heated seats all demanded at once! I had a slightly variable tickover for a minute or two.

Mine illuminates but only for a short time, i have noticed though since its warm up out side, mine smokes more on start up, anyone else experience the same?

AndyC wrote:

It seems to be the temperature of the engine and not the outside temperature that decides if the glow-plug system is functioning.

Yes Andy, it's the engine block water temperature that's measured for preheat, not the outside air temperature.