On my 15 TDi Scout premium with push button start, is there a way to get the glow plugs to warm up the engine prior to cranking?

 

Older diesels I've driven, you turn the key to "on" and then when the glow plug light goes off, then crank.

 

Getting into winter here now (well what passes for winter in Australia), my car is parked outside, and was recently left to sit for a month while I went to the other hemisphere. The battery was starting to be sluggish before then, but also I don't go to the office everyday, so the car gets driven a little less.

 

Also, is there a way to see the battery voltage?

Glowplugs definitely don’t heat up the engine block, they heat the air in the cylinder, which is only useful when the engine is rotating else you would be heating air for no reason. They would have to be running for a very long time to heat the entire engine block.

 

old diesel glowplugs took a bit of time to get up to temperature, newer plugs are almost instantly hot now and reach much higher temperatures.

 

It sounds more like you simply have a low battery than a preheat issue. 

the solution for an extremely cold climate is either a dedicated block heater which are normally mains powered or a parking/webasto heater which is a small fuel fired engine that heats your cars coolant system up before you get to the car  

2 hours ago, wagonist said:

Also, is there a way to see the battery voltage?

Multimeter on battery terminals is the best way.

 

"Battery starting to be sluggish" on a 2015? Is this the original factory battery, if it is then it's due to be replaced IMHO.

3 hours ago, ApertureS said:

Glowplugs definitely don’t heat up the engine block, they heat the air in the cylinder, which is only useful when the engine is rotating else you would be heating air for no reason. They would have to be running for a very long time to heat the entire engine block.

 

old diesel glowplugs took a bit of time to get up to temperature, newer plugs are almost instantly hot now and reach much higher temperatures.

 

It sounds more like you simply have a low battery than a preheat issue. 

the solution for an extremely cold climate is either a dedicated block heater which are normally mains powered or a parking/webasto heater which is a small fuel fired engine that heats your cars coolant system up before you get to the car  

I didn't ask about heating the block. I understand the way glowplugs are supposed to work. kind of like a diesel version of a sparkplug to help the ignition of the fuel when the engine isn't spinning at full capacity.

The last diesel I owned was a 97 Toyota wagon which still had mechanical injection.

"cold" climate here is it gets down to maybe 5 degrees at night, so no way extreme enough for a block heater.

 

I'd like to stick the battery on a charger and see if that helps rejuvenate it prior to replacing. Do you know if there are any issues with me simply removing the battery from the car to do that and then reinstalling it?

I'm not used to new cars... My previous newest car is a 99 Corolla as I've had company cars for like the last 15 years.

1 hour ago, PetrolDave said:

Multimeter on battery terminals is the best way.

 

"Battery starting to be sluggish" on a 2015? Is this the original factory battery, if it is then it's due to be replaced IMHO.

Maybe, but I'd like to rule out other things before I fork out a couple of hundred $ on one, including trying to recharge it.

7 minutes ago, wagonist said:

Maybe, but I'd like to rule out other things before I fork out a couple of hundred $ on one, including trying to recharge it.

Make sure to leave the car settled for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight so cold.

 

Then test the voltage at the battery terminals as mentioned by @PetrolDave

Have a read of this for Stop/Start engines, if you need to change battery you need to be aware of this.

 

54 minutes ago, varooom said:

Have a read of this for Stop/Start engines, if you need to change battery you need to be aware of this.

 

Thanks. Aware of this and one of the reasons I'd rather avoid changing the battery for now.

8 minutes ago, wagonist said:

Thanks. Aware of this and one of the reasons I'd rather avoid changing the battery for now.

If the existing is say AGM and 68Ah rated, and new is AGM and 70Ah, I wouldn't worry if you cannot perform the adaption process.

 

The car will take it's own measurements and learn within a few journeys.

6 hours ago, wagonist said:

I didn't ask about heating the block. I understand the way glowplugs are supposed to work. kind of like a diesel version of a sparkplug to help the ignition of the fuel when the engine isn't spinning at full capacity.

The last diesel I owned was a 97 Toyota wagon which still had mechanical injection.

"cold" climate here is it gets down to maybe 5 degrees at night, so no way extreme enough for a block heater.

 

I'd like to stick the battery on a charger and see if that helps rejuvenate it prior to replacing. Do you know if there are any issues with me simply removing the battery from the car to do that and then reinstalling it?

I'm not used to new cars... My previous newest car is a 99 Corolla as I've had company cars for like the last 15 years.

I’m not sure what you mean by heating the engine then?

the block is the engine?

 

It’s a common misconception, but glowplugs are nothing like a spark plug sorry, a spark plug ignites the air fuel mixture. A glow plug is simply for heating the air in the cylinder to assist with a more efficient burn at colder temperatures. A diesel ignites under the sheer pressures produced by combustion and would do so without a glow plug no problem. Whereas a petrol wouldn’t work at all without a spark plug.

 

Most glowplugs aren’t actually required on modern diesels to assist with cold starts until below 7 degrees as pressures have increased and fuel is cleaner, most of the time they are now used for emissions control and dpf regeneration now.

 

Regarding the battery now - a multimeter is a very basic way of telling you the voltage of a battery but won’t tell you the overall condition, go somewhere like Halfords for it to be done for free with a battery tester. It will tell you the cca rating and a state of health.

Disconnecting it will throw a lot of fault codes into the car - you need to turn the steering lock to lock slowly a few times with the engine running to clear the faults. Then cycle the ignition and you will be back to normal.