flashing glow plug light

[pauter]

hi there ....a newbie here ....ive got a transit 2003 2.0 td 75ps ....engine wont start ,temp gauge goes straight across to the red cold or hot,found a grey plug in engine bay which is on the right hand side of engine ,i disconnected it ,now engine starts but cooling fan is running constantly and glowplug light is flashing and is underpowered ...any adivce would be greatfull ...

[KH_Towbars]

glow plug light is flashing cos van is in limp mode cos you unplugged something, you need to know what you have unplugged. you need to be more specific as in where abouts the plug goes to on the engine as that is most likely your fault, will be a sensor or something, im only guessing but i would say its the coolant temprature sensor

[pauter]

thanks for the quick reply .....i hadnt touched the van until the fault happened ...just would not start , temp gauge going straight into red ,so i unpluged a connector which is one half grey one half black , two thin wires either side ,,,it sits where engine meets gearbox on right hand side ,in same area as egr valve but not connected to it ...then the van started but with glowplug light flashing ,cooling fan on constantly

[jay]

crank sensor or cylinder head temp sensor is in that area...is this plug on top of the head and is clipped on a bracket???

[pauter]

yes the plug is held by a metal clip ....i forgot to also mention that when it is unpluged the temp gauge seems to behave normaly ...thanks

[pauter]

just been outside to have a real good look as it was dark yesterday when i first looked ......the plug sits on top of the cylnder head ,the wiring goes into a sensor on the cylnder head behind a drive wheel with a rubber belt on it ....looks like a right bugger to get out !!!!!

[GBBiker]

Sounds like the cylinder head temperature sensor. It's most likely knackered if connecting it back up prevents the engine starting. IIRC, it's just a bolt in jobbie

[jay]

yep thats the cylinder head temp sensor..if the head gets to hot it limits the engine power until it gets to hot then it will stop the engine...if your gauge goes to hot then thats whats happening...its not that bad of a job to replace.

[pauter]

just an update ......replaced the temperature sensor today and it has fixed the problem .....thanks a lot guys for the advice

[KH_Towbars]

No probs mate, thats what its all about