jrjackso Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I was convinced i had an air leak somewhere in my fuel system, as my 1986 2.5 NA is difficult to start when it's been sitting for a while. If it's been run it will fire right back up, but if you let it sit for 20 minutes or more it takes a fair amount of cranking before it will fire up. Anyway, I had replaced the fuel line from the filter to the injection pump with clear hose. I also replaced the last injector leak off pipe that goes back to the top of the fuel filter housing with clear pipe. I was hoping to see if the fuel was draining from the lines and if so, if i could tell which direction air was coming from. Anyway, two things. It appears the line from the filter to the injector pump remains completely full of fuel when it sits for a while. Also, i noticed no, or very little fuel in the leak off pipe going back to the fuel filter housing. Should the leak off pipe be full of fuel, or should I at least be able to see some fuel traveling thru the leak off pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landowner Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Leak off pipes return unused fuel to the tank so yes they should have fuel in them. Starting probs may be not following cold start proceedure. I used to just lean in cab and preheat then she fired first turn, if I sat in seat I was tempted to touch throttle and then she took longer to start. Sound like you could have a leak or split in fuel return pipe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrjackso Posted December 4, 2014 Author Share Posted December 4, 2014 Don't think it's cold start procedure: don't touch throttle or hand throttle, give it about 10 sec on the glow plugs (verified they work) then turn over. Unless cold start mechanism in the injector pump is not working properly. If it has started at all I can turn it off immediately and just tap the starter and it will fire right back up whether it has warmed up yet or not. And the longer it sits the longer it takes to start. Usually after about 15 min it takes the full amount of cranking time (10 sec solid cranking). I was expecting to see full fuel in the leak off pipe returning back to fuel filter housing. I may replace all four leak off pipe sections tonight with clear pipe and see what I see. But even after sitting 15 hours the clear pipe from fuel filter to injector pump is still full of fuel, no bubbles. So if it's an air leak I think it is on the injector side of injector pump. ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Member Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 You probably have an air leak somewhere. It should start immediately when everything is correct. You will need more that 10 seconds of glow if it is actually cold. I would say 20 seconds at 0 C, 30 seconds at -10 C.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Luke_ Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 On my old 19j engine I used to give a slow count to 10 so more so 15 seconds on a autumn day. In winter i just held it on for a good while. Never had any issues, not the easiest engines to start in the winter though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Member Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 ... not the easiest engines to start in the winter though. I cold started mine at -40 C with no problems. Fired right up after a minute or two of glow. These engines like a lot of glow. If there are not air leaks and it does not fire on first crank, it has not been glowed enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Luke_ Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Yeah I meant in comparison to the tdi engines. Should have said that really! ? I also had no issues starting in temps down to -10 after 40-90 secs of glows. It's one of those Land Rover foibles that you become used to after owning the vehicle. Part of the personality I guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Member Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 They both start just as easily, IME. The IDI engines work better with more glow. They use different types of glow systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrjackso Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 Just wanted to close this thread out for others for future reference. Turns out it was my injector pump timing. Here were my symptoms. If let sit for 15+ min it would be really difficult to start. After ~10 sec of glow plugs usually would take 10-15 sec of cranking before it would finally catch and with a big puff of white smoke try to run. Usually if i didn't give it some fuel IMMEDIATELY it would not continue to run. Once started it would idle very smooth though. Smoked (white) quite a bit when cold though. If it had been started at all (even cold and immediately turned back off) then it would fire right back up when i hit the ignition. I was convinced it was an air leak, and the time was pretty much fuel draining back towards the tank. But I pretty much proved to myself that was not the case by replacing hosing with clear hose to watch and other tests. So i moved on to injectors and pump. Reading around in the forums i figured out how to adjust the injector pump timing and figured if it was out it was probably a little retarded given the symptoms. So i loosen everything up and started advancing (counter clock wise when facing vehicle from the front) about a 1mm at a time. Tighten everything back up and try again. Immediately the hard to start symptoms got better. Kept advancing till it ran a little rough and started getting darker smoke then backed back off. It was in the upper 40F temperature range most of today. Several times i let it sit for a couple hours. 10 sec count on the glow plugs and it starts almost immediately, if not on the first crank then on the second. What a difference. It still smokes some, but much less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.