Vehicle & Technical > Defender
poor starting 90 - getting there
Matt_H:
how would i tell the coolant was leaking into one of the bores without major pulling apart of bits?
Matthew
Matt_H:
well been having a bit more of a look over. the glowplugs seem to do nothing when connected directly to the battery. but i also tried starting in the middle of the day and it was ropey, throttle didnt do anything for a good 15 seconds.
When I took the glow plugs out the back three were covered in oil, front one was dry. Is this a clue?
Matthew
hobbit:
The oily ones wont be working, otherwise the oil would be burned off
drmike:
Isn't this engine a TDI? In which case I thought that glow plugs were pretty much optional for starting. Mine aren't connected and it seems fine starting even on cold days. Certainly wiring them only resulted in a flat battery.
I know you've tried tons of things but I thought that really it came down to two things when starting:
Compression
Fuel supply
Well three if we include a starter motor that works.
However, am I right that you've compression tested and it sounds like you've been through the fuel side as well. I can't rercall have you checked the cut off solenoid?
Also have you changed all the plumbing taking fuel from tank to pump? Is it feasible to lash up a take up into a jerry can so you KNOW that the take up is OK and the line to the pump is OK?
Is it possible to bypass the fuel filter in this case? I ask as I have no idea!
Mike
Matt_H:
yes it' a tdi engine, some seem better at cold starting than others, although after testing the glow plugs, none of them seem to work at all!
Why would there be oil on three of them though? - I didn't think oul should be around that area as the piston rings should clear the oil away.. Anyway I've just done 120 miles, stopped and filled with petrol 1 mile away then drove home. stopped when i got in then restarted and left idling for about a minute. stopeed and checked one of the sus glow plugs - there was still oil on part of the shaft and the tip.
The watery oil seems like it may be a red herring as I washed out the tubes few weeks ago - I'm thinking I may have just left enough to make the oil go murkey in the breather system. I replaced the pipe with another at Ians (the 120 mile trip) and checked that on my return, at the engine side there was a good coating of oil which was black at the other none except the tiniest amount of something which was either my imagination or water vapour.
The expansion tank for the rad was at around 3/4 as opposed to 1/2 when cold so that seems to be ok (I did chuck in rad weld yesterday)
I haven't checked the diesel pipes although nothing apepars to be leaking, and as far as I can tell I should only be worried about the pipe from the pump to the filter and from the filter to the high pressure pump/distro.
My only other thing I haven't really looked at on that side is the solenoid and return circuit in case the soleniod isn't sealing totally I'm guessing that diesel could run back to the tank and air get back up into the injector pipes. What I don't know though is where the solenoid sits in the circuit, I'm guessing between the filter and the actual pump thing in the pump/fuel distro which could cause lack of fuel - I have however tried pumping the lift pump before starting and this doesn't seem to make any difference at all (both with solenoid open and closed)
So the solenoid will be next on the list (it obviously works at cutting enough diesel off to stall the engine when we switch off the ignition), but where is this oily stuff coming from on the glow plugs (it doesn't smell of diesel)? I've not done a compression test - anyone got a tester nearby I could borrow please? This is when I wish I hadn't sold the disco 200 tdi engine!
Thanks everyone
Matthew
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version