transplant woes

[voevod]

I've been running about in my 110 for 4 months with it's donor engine,t/box out of a disco1 and have to say,it's a vast improvement on the old engine and it's 1.44 t/box(which I know inside out now).I have run into a few problems,which I'm hoping are minor...

I have an earthing issue which drains my battery after around 3 hours driving,lights go dim,won't restart if I switch ignition off etc..I earth the battery to the t/box and another earth strap from the steering pump housing to the chassis..should I return the battery-t/box earth to the chassis(to one of the gearbox x-member bolts?)for a better earth?There was no strap on the starter at all..should I fit one?to one of the rocker cover bolts?

for the specific purpose of changing the timing belt,I left off the viscous unit/fan after putting in the new engine,but have been told that I don't need it anyway..is this true?

when i swapped over the engine I decided to retain the turbo and inlet manifold from the defender(it just fits better)but notice that there is an alarming amount of black smoke pretty constantly belching out of the exhaust,everything torqued up properly,new gaskets etc..but it didnt smoke on the disco at all

any help greatly appreciated

[western]

earth cables on my 200tdi are

battery negative to main gearbox/transferbox joint

PAS pump/Alternator bracket to chassis part of engine mount

check the PAS bracket bolt is intact & not broken, mine broke a while ago & all the cable ends are clean & tightly fitted.

no need to earth the rocker cover to block, you can fit a cable to the starter attachment bolt to baterry Neg terminal or to the chassis.

check the bunle of earth wires on the bulkhead by the brake servo.

shouldn't have any problem with the viscous fan removed quite a few do that.

the manifold is either distorted or not fully bolted square to the block or the downpipe isn't fully fitted far enough onto the turbo exhaust outlet.

[Fuzz]

Presumably you've checked that your alternator is actually charging the battery, as form first impressions from what you describe this is where I'd be looking first.

I wouldn't return the earth cable to the chassis from the transfer box, I'd add another. (one going to chassis directly, one going to transfer box.

[Bowie69]

Is the battery flat after this problem occurs? If so, you may have a duff alternator rather than a bad earth, the alternator indicator light does not always illuminate when there's no charge going to the battery.

[voevod]

I used the alt from the disco as I damaged the defender one turning the housing round to accomodate the bracket and cut off the multiplug from the wires and put on ring connectors.The only wiring that initially worried me turned out to be the radio supressor.Thanks to another thread,I now know how to check the alt.I'll check the earth wiring behind the brake servo in the morning also.

There was smoke from the manifold when I first turned the engine over,so I replaced the gasket..problem solved.However,the exhaust to t/box bracket(apparently no longer available)broke for the third time,so I did away with the front box,which was damaged anyway and welded in another piece of exhaust pipe,so now I only have a rear box.Is it possible that this could cause the 007 style smokescreen?

thanks for the advice,much appreciated

[western]

I used the alt from the disco as I damaged the defender one turning the housing round to accomodate the bracket and cut off the multiplug from the wires and put on ring connectors.The only wiring that initially worried me turned out to be the radio supressor.Thanks to another thread,I now know how to check the alt.I'll check the earth wiring behind the brake servo in the morning also.

There was smoke from the manifold when I first turned the engine over,so I replaced the gasket..problem solved.However,the exhaust to t/box bracket(apparently no longer available)broke for the third time,so I did away with the front box,which was damaged anyway and welded in another piece of exhaust pipe,so now I only have a rear box.Is it possible that this could cause the 007 style smokescreen?

thanks for the advice,much appreciated

the exhaust to transfer box bracket is available, I've got a new one at home, I've replaced my 110's centre silencer with a straight thriugh pipe, no excess smoke from engine, so it won't be that on yours.

[Mo Murphy]

Are you using a tdi turbo ? If you are using a td turbo then the fuelling won't be right which will be why you're chucking lots of unburnt fuel out of the exhaust in the form of black smoke.

HTH

Mo

[steve b]

If its the turbo off a 2.5TD it will be boosting to a lower pressure and have no intercooler?

..I think the turbo is smaller than a Tdi too , so not a good match.

If its from a 200Tdi then check you have no leaks in the boost side of the intake , and no restictions in the airfilter side.

Is the boost pipe connected to the FIP diaphragm , and is the breather under the diaphragm clear?

hth

Steveb

[voevod]

now you're blindin me with science!the turbo's out of me old 200tdi engine...pretty much identical to the one I've kept from the disco,just a different fitting.I'll check the FIP and diaphragm when I find out what they are!

thanks again

[JimAttrill]

Especially with the weather you have in the UK at the moment you don't need the viscous fan. But be warned - I removed mine in the winter last year and was caught out by a day of warm (not hot) weather. For the same reason electric fans are not a good idea here as in really warm weather they can't cope. Also electric fans are not very reliable with all those wires to chafe through or break, motors to burn out etc.

[richard1978]

if it is a genuine earth problem, and you own a multi meter, fit the black lead to the negative of the battery, make sure you do this as an earth fault is a tw@t to trace if your meter's negative lead is not properly earthed!

with the positive lead at either sides of all of your earth straps, one at a time, get someone to crank the engine over and, if the meter reads a voltage on it, you know it is an earth fault. keep checking the rest of the earth straps too, as when you find no voltage on the earth straps, these will be good. the meter should not read more than on any other strap, so you will know what reading is correct if you start at your known goood earth points. obviously it is d.c volts, but just for clarity i have mentioned it.

put your meter accross the battery when running and look for at least 13.5 volts, anything less then your alternator is most likely gubbed or not spinning or not spinning fast enough --- serpentine belt slip/tensioner. however, it may well be an old battery or not fully charged in the first instance, but i dont believe so reading your post.

richard

[richard1978]

sorry, i forgot to add the rest of your woes,

the black smoke, most likely sounds like you have not connected your boost pipe tube from the turbo to the fuel injection pump. having said that, it may well be blocked or more likely damaged. was the turbo ok in your last engine?? it may also be a blocked air filter. it may also be oil in your exhaust which needs burning off or blowing out by a good welly on the loud pedal.

there are several other maybe's for thick smoke.

1/ boost pip disconnenced/damaged.

2/ fuel injection pump on new engine has been tweeked and fueling is rich --- you never said if smoke was at idle, on boost or all the time. this makes a difference, so please let us know.

3/ oils seals in turbo

4/ air restriction on inlet side, from air filter up to turbo inlet pipe, even in the inlet manifold but not likely this far up.

5/ your boost side of turbo hoses are leaking and the fuel is to rich as there is not enough air for the fuel.

in order, i would do 1,4,5,2 then 3. 3 can be solved by replacing turbo with the one from the disco.

it sounds fairly big this list, but will not take more than an hour for all except relacing the turbo.

happy new year by the way

[voevod]

cheers,I'll try all that in the morning...now that I'm finally sober!

[voevod]

I'm sorry,when you say boost pipe,do you mean the black pipe that you cut a t-piece into if you're fitting a turbo guage?I have a feeling that this pipe may have a split in it now that I come to think of it,where it meets the front of the turbo.

The smoke is really thick and black on boost,not really so noticeable at idle.

I'll check all pipes end to end in the morning.

I have noticed that there is some oil in the pipe leading into the top intercooler port,as it hadn't been tightened up properly...I wouldn't have noticed but for the fact that I changed them for blue ones!I don't know how significant that may be though.

...and finally,happy new year to you too

[steve b]

The oil in the top intercooler is normal - its from the engine breather pipe- so long as its not excessive.

The pipe in question is the small black plastic one that goes from the top of the Inj. pump to the turbo.

Any splits in it will create loads of black smoke on acceleration

cheers

Steveb