another 240d starting problem

[83-240D]

blondie, the car that started me into this madness has a problem.

first since deember, new glow plugs, wednesday a new autozone class 49 battery and friday a new primary filter and a new zero start lower hose in line heater.

the problem.....i try to start it and it takes several glows and hard cranking to get it going. lots of exhaust smoke comes from under the hood making me think that the exhaust gasket might have gone bye bye. the hard starting being a result of loss of compression.(?) i have done a visual under the car when it wasn't running and all the compoonents seem solid.

he hasn't been using the greasecar system lately so only dino has gone thru the engine

thoughts?

[Brian Carlton]

You know the drill.

Whenever you have starting problems, you must start with the glow plugs. It doesn't matter if you changed them last month. Stranger things have happened..........

[Diesel Giant]

Have you done a valve adjustment lately? I had an 84 that was very cold natured and did a valve adjustment. Poof would start in any weather.

[83-240D]

yeah the valves were done before i got the car, ummmmmmm, less than 10k ago, i know. okay brian. first the plugs.

but what about all the exhaust smoke?

[Diesel Giant]

Do them again, they might have not been done correctly. This happens when the car is plugged in?

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by Diesel Giant

I had an 84 that was very cold natured and did a valve adjustment. Poof would start in any weather.

I'm very curious to know how far out the valve were. I presume that they were too tight, as usual. Was there any possibility that the valves were so tight that they were not fully closing.........even when stone cold?

Roy and I had this discussion in the past. I can't see how an early intake valve would have any effect on the start.

However, an early exhaust valve might dump compression a bit too soon and the heat would be lost. I would think the exhaust valves would need to be very early for this to significantly affect the starting capability. But, I'm really looking for good data regarding this.

[Diesel Giant]

The car had 240k on it and I had no paperwork as to when they were done. The valves were the tightest I had ever seen on a 617 engine and it ran rough. I feared that I had a burned valve or something. I should have measured what the actual clearance was, but it was not much.

I was so mad at myself for not doing it sooner. The car idled so smooth, it was like a gasser. I miss that car.

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by Diesel Giant

The car had 240k on it and I had no paperwork as to when they were done. The valves were the tightest I had ever seen on a 617 engine and it ran rough. I feared that I had a burned valve or something. I should have measured what the actual clearance was, but it was not much.

I was so mad at myself for not doing it sooner. The car idled so smooth, it was like a gasser. I miss that car.

So, would you say that it's possible that the valves were so tight that they might be open when cold?

If this is true, then, I fully agree with the fact that the adjustment cured the problem.

I'm seeking to find someone who actually cured the problem by setting valves that were tight but not below zero.........say .004" for an exaust valve.......as an example.

[Diesel Giant]

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

So, would you say that it's possible that the valves were so tight that they might be open when cold?

If this is true, then, I fully agree with the fact that the adjustment cured the problem.

I'm seeking to find someone who actually cured the problem by setting valves that were tight but not below zero.........say .004" for an exaust valve.......as an example.

Yes I believe that is the case. When they warm up, they and the seat expands slightly and close the gap. Still ran rough as a cobb when it was warm(before the valve adjustment).