Hello all!,
So I've got a 2001 td5 hi-cap defender with no previous history of hard starts, manual, a recently wired in piggyback fuel controller. The chassis has been bobtailed, therefore the standard fuel tank is mounted in a higher position than normal, i.e. sitting on the chassis directly behind the cab, the lines are standard and look a bit of a dog's dinner right now.
Now, before I jump to your answers of 'why' let me state the 'how'. I've had the piggyback installed for a few weeks now and the td5 hasn't skipped a beat until now. I was driving merrily along and coming into traffic I managed to stall it (It was the new master and slave cylinder's fault, I swear). Then it refused to start again.
So I got out to check and I realise that the fuel pump sounds quite noisy, so I go through the bleed process, and it still doesn't start (cranking but no catch). I get a tow home and when I arrive I remove the battery to give it a nice charge. After it's done I try to start it again, it has always started almost immediately, but this time a lengthy crank period, 2-5 secs, it catches and I reverse it properly into my drive. I leave it idling or a few minutes and then shut it down.
When I returned later in the day it cranks but no start again all lights come on in the dash like normal, but no dice :S.
long story short, since then I've
1) Broke the bank and bought a new battery
2) Checked the glow plug relay, main relay and all fuses
3) Tried a second ECU
4) Beat the living daylights out of my pump
5) Doped the intake with a drop of gas
6) Fiddled with all relays and swapped postions of the same type
7) Checked all fuses
none of those worked, however, now I've been messing with the relays the starter does this strange flutter-start mixed with a clackity-clack sound and doesn't want to start and/or I turn the key to 'start' and nothing happens (including no orange lights on the dash), which leaves me now wondering:
Have I knackered my starter?
Does it sound relay related?
what can I do next?
Any suggestions/theories are welcome and I can provide photos if needed.
Sorry If I've rambled a bit I've had a long day fighting with this