Cold weather stars in the D4

[SteveL]

This winter, I noticed that if I just turn the ignition on without touching the brakes, that the little rams horns come on for about a second and then go out.
I interpreted that to mean that the glow plugs have done their job and that I'm good to go on a normal ignition start.
It certainly starts faster although it's probably less than a second.
Am I doing something totally unnecessary and kidding myself or have I stumbled on a useful tip?
A check through this resource doesn't really touch on this particular matter and I couldn't find it covered in the manual.
Regards
Steve L.

[sniegy]

If you start your vehicle on a very cold morning in the D4 you get a warning saying cold start.

It pauses, warms the glow plugs & then fires when it thinks it is ready.

Cheers

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

[PKD4]

I found this out in Canberra last week - I have had a bit battery trouble recently (and have a new one), so I panicked a little when it did not start straight away. Then when I retried it gave me a 'cold start in progress warning', and the alternator warning light came on and nothing happened. After locking and reopening it started straight away.

BUT, for once the manual was useful. A bit of reading revealed that on a cold morning push the start button, keep your foot on the brake, the dash lights up some icon - (battery?) and wait - the manual suggests it can take up to 12 secs - this worked fine for the cold start thereafter.

Pat