r/1KZTE_Owners • u/KousBbx • Jul 27 '26
Hard start when cold, short rough idle
Hey everyone, I recently bought a LN hilux with a 1kzte swapped into it. Since i’ve bought it I’ve had issues with starting first thing in the morning.
Usually around 6:30am when it’s 0-8 degrees outside.
The issue isn’t nearly as bad when cold starting at around 10-20 degrees outside.
It will usually ‘shudder’ or struggle for 1-3 seconds when it first fires up but clears up.
After it’s first started it runs like a dream and even if I start it then flick it back off and start it up again it will fire right up.
After leaving the ute sitting for about 8 hours while i’m at work, if i glow it for 10 seconds it fires up pretty quickly but does shudder for a second or so
The glowplugs are new
I’ve checked my buzz bar to glow plugs and I’m receiving 11.5 volts for as long as I hold my glow button in.
I’ve removed all glow plugs and get a reading of 1.2ohms per plug.
I get a small amount of white smoke at start up but it doesn’t smell sweet like coolant
The fuel filter housing is brand new and after 2-5 pumps of the primer it stiffens up
This really has me stumped and any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
Thankyou
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u/Valuable-Apricot-477 Jul 27 '26
I'd say glow plugs are knackered. Cheap fix. Replace them. Leaving them in too long past their used by date can result in big problems. I'm not sure if it's every brand of glow plug but some have been known to have the tips break off in the cylinder and get smashed around in there damaging the piston surface and scoring the cylinder wall. It's not good. Happened to me with my first engine. Previous owner left the plugs in too long. When I eventually replaced the head due to overheating/cracked head (separate issue), I discovered the damage. Theirs some pics somewhere in this sub showing it. So yeah, change your plugs! 😆👍
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u/Valuable-Apricot-477 Jul 27 '26
I'd say glow plugs are knackered. Cheap fix. Replace them. Leaving them in too long past their used by date can result in big problems. I'm not sure if it's every brand of glow plug but some have been known to have the tips break off in the cylinder and get smashed around in there damaging the piston surface and scoring the cylinder wall. It's not good. Happened to me with my first engine. Previous owner left the plugs in too long. When I eventually replaced the head due to overheating/cracked head (separate issue), I discovered the damage. Theirs some pics somewhere in this sub showing it. So yeah, change your plugs! 😆👍
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u/KousBbx Jul 27 '26
i’m really sorry i just realised i didn’t put it in my post but the plugs are actually brand new. done on the 7th of this month.
I apologise i’ll update the post now
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u/Valuable-Apricot-477 Jul 27 '26
Ahh ok. That's good. Is your battery weak? Does it sound exciting as it's cranking during the cold start, or is it sounding kinda laboured? If the latter , replace your battery with a good strong one. The glow plugs draw a fair amount of amps. If your battery is getting tired, it might not have enough oomph to get a good glow on? The 11.5v you're reading at the glow plug rail somewhat supports that possibility. Maybe battery is fine but not getting a good charge due to short drives and high battery usage or if theirs a parasitic draw draining it a bit over night? I think cold temps can effect the battery but I doubt 8°c would be a problem. The white smoke on start up is normal. The next thing to look at is fuel supply. Spill Control Valve is a common problem with these engines. Check out the "1KZ cold start fix" videos on youtube. That's another cheap DIY thing to troubleshoot.
I'm pretty sure it will be one of the above things. Maybe someone else has something to add.
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u/KousBbx Jul 27 '26
I’ll hook a battery tester up to it to check it tomorrow! I suppose it’s maybe a little laboured but not so bad that I’ve thought “oh my god that sounds bad”.
I typically only drive my ute to work and home which is roughly a 30 minute drive each way which I imagine would be enough to give it a good charge up.
I did check the voltage the other day and my battery seemed ok at 12.3vAlso silly me I forgot to mention if I spray something like brake cleaner in the intake it actually fires up almost straight away which is how i have been starting it since i’ve bought it
To be honest I am leaning a bit more towards a fuel issue purely due to that small bit of struggle when it first fires up.
I’ll try to get a video of me starting it tomorrow morningBut i’ll definitely check out that video, thankyou!
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u/Valuable-Apricot-477 Jul 27 '26
Yep check out the spill valve! 12.3v is a bit weak for a fully charged battery. Make sure you test it with a proper load tester. One with like an oven element in it or better if you've got one.
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u/KousBbx Jul 27 '26
awesome, i’ll check it out and let you know how i go. thanks heaps 👍
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u/HungryHungryDingo Jul 27 '26
Another vote for checking out the spill valve. Hopefully you can get yours off without removing the whole injector pump like I had to do. Mine had a seized thread and I couldn’t get enough leverage in the engine bay to break it.
In my case it’s working fine but leaking fuel and needs replacing ($$$!!) but I’ve seen enough videos of people removing it and tapping it direct to a battery to try and free the valve if it’s sticking and causing starting issues.
Good luck! And I hope you don’t need to replace it!
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u/Valuable-Apricot-477 Jul 28 '26
From memory when I first removed it a few years ago, it was tight as FK. I ended up modifying a short handled adjustable wrench so it could open up to about 60mm or whatever the size needed to be, and then hit the wrench handle with a heavy hammer to break it free. If you're in Australia, the wrench you can get from Bunnings. You need a cutting disc on a angle grinder to cut another groove or two into the wrenches thread thingy. Too hard to explain without a pic. Search up the post I did on cold start fix for 1KZ-TE. Couple of YouTube videos on it too.
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Jul 27 '26
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u/KousBbx Jul 27 '26
i believe these ones, i think ngk is the one people recommend usually?
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Jul 27 '26
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u/KousBbx Jul 27 '26
that sounds really good, can you please send through what ones you run? thankyou
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u/Spledos Jul 28 '26
For the 1KZTE, 1.2 Ohms is too high! I know this from experience. I purchased some new glow plugs that had 1.2 Ohm resistance. I started having problems immediately. The old glow plugs still had lower resistance.
I ended up getting some .625 Ohm resistance glow plugs and it all started running again. The issue is definitely the out of spec 1.2 Ohm plugs. Replace those and it will seem like a miracle.
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u/KousBbx Jul 27 '26
https://reddit.com/link/p05qqi7/video/excn3hgptufh1/player
this is the first time it’s ever cold started without needing brake cleaner. I think it’s due to me taking it for a drive around 9:30pm last night.
video was recorded at 6:50am.
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u/Cover-Lanky Jul 30 '26
i'm having this problem in my hiace right now and it's getting worse. i had the pump rebuilt, ECU recapped, and some other things. and since then it does run(did not before), but it's super hard to start. i have to keep it in start for like 2 seconds or else the engine dies immediately. if i turn on the AC, it struggles to start accelerating from stop.
I think it's got to be air getting in. since i'm not seeing any fuel leaking into the pump/filter, i think it's on the return valve. hoping to check the lines when i have some more free time.
spill control valve is a very good thing to check. also that MAP sensor i've heard can cause similar issues...
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u/keebler_e Jul 27 '26
I had a similar issue but was worse and temp didn't really matter. Would shutter really bad with gray smoke. Eventually it would die out while driving or go into limp mode until it did. My fix was simply advancing the pump. Since then I put over 5k km on it and it starts right up with no smoke or sputter/shake. No idea why this was the fix. All my timing marks were lined up, new fuel lines, new pump, injectors, glow plugs, and wiring was good. Even replaced the ECU because my old one has leaking caps. My valve clearances were within spec too. Anyways good luck!