On a cold morning my Ford Cargo 813 (G Reg) horse box will not start. It will turn over but will not fire. I assume that there is some form of electrical heater plug system for starting, but guess that this is not working?? Can anyone suggest how to fix this?? Help would be very much appreciated.

Steve, December 2007

Does anyone know where I can get a manual or diagram for the wiring of a 0183 cargo. I had a mechanic rewire the isolator switch but hasn't done it right and it's not working and the wagon wont start.

marjorie reason, October 2016

We have an 89 Ford Cargo horsebox 0813. We had problems with starting and we took the following steps. I fitted a dual battery system (2 batteries wired together in parallel? {http://www.zbattery.com/Connecting-Batteries-in-Series-or-Parallel}).

I also fitted an isolator so that little things like the clock on the tacho do not deteriorate the battery overnight.

Also, our particular engine does not have glow plugs but if you place your foot on the accelerator to the floor, it sends an increased burst of fuel in to aid starting.

Our box has been standing for a number of days without being started in all the cold weather we have currently been experiencing and turned over and started. It took a little cranking but was able to do it. That would never have happened with our single battery system.

I hope this helps.

Steve, February 2012

cargo 813 and 811 engine wont have any glow plugs as they are direct injection..But some have a push switch on the dash which will make a click in the engine bay,this is just a cold start on the fuel pump.

j, June 2008

Not all Cargos have a cold start system as there is a range of different engines - Ford 90 to 150hp, Cummins,Perkins, Deutz etc.
Glow-plugs are used in indirect injection diesels (which are harder to cold start than direct injection). As far as I know, the engines in Cargos are direct injection (certainly the Ford engines) and these use a manifold heater rather than a glow-plug. The difference being that a glow-plug consists of an electrical heating element only whereas, the manifold heater (thermostart unit) consists of the electrical heating element plus its own fuel supply from the injection pump. This heater, as the name suggests, is screwed into the inlet manifold (or manifolds if its a Vee engine!). These plugs look very much like a spark plug but there is a shroud with holes in it at the business end and this unit can need to be replaced.
You can also use a Cold Start fluid -usually a highly volatile (ie. easily vaporized) liquid or mixture of fluids such as ether etc - which comes in an aerosol can which you spray into the air intake or directly into the inlet manifold. These are very effective. Another method which could be used, if there is no alternative, is to put a very, very small (less than 5 ml or a teaspoon full) of petrol into the inlet manifold ( you have to disconnect the large diameter hose from the air filter housing to do this - put the hose back after you inject the petrol). The petrol has a much lower flash point than diesel and will vaporize and combust much more quickly than diesel. However be careful! - adding too much petrol could do serious damage!
The pre-filter/water separator should also be checked to make sure that the filter element in it is not clogged up with dirt from the tank. A clogged pre-filter can easily stop a running engine or prevent easy starting. This consists of a glass bowl with a white (if its clean!) plastic filter element inside. Its mounted on the right hand side of Ford 90 hp engines under the lift/primer pump behind the oil cooler.
Also make sure that the engine stop control in the cab is all the way forward -sometimes this does not spring back completely- it is easy to go through a lot of time-consuming work only to find that there was never any hope of it starting due to the stop control being partially out!!

JD, January 2008

Steve,

We have a Cargo 813 "D" Registered Horse Box and like ours I assume that yours is a diesel. Somewhere on the dashboard you should have a switch which turns on the "glow plugs".In cold weather we turn on the ignition and let the glow plugs warm up for about two minutes before firing the engine. Obviously if your battery or starter motor are not up to the mark they will need to be replaced. The other thing we have done is to have a mechanic fit an Isolation Switch which isolates the battery in case of leakages when the lorry is not in use and also acts as an anti-theft device.

Two days ago our lorry would not start in our mechanics yard on a very cold frosty morning and he produced a heavy duty portable "commercial" jump starter (i.e. Battery operated, no mains) and the lorry started immediately. At the weekend I am going to a local motor factor to buy one (probable cost £160) which is not cheap but will be well worth it as I will be able to carry it in the lorry, which will be a huge comfort in January, when loading up at a Dressage Show in the dark at 5 p.m. knowing that if the lorry battery is run down we will be able to get going. I am writing to Santa Claus tomorrow !!

Kind Regards,

Keith

Keith Sandars, December 2007