No start today, car hasn't ran in about a month

[kendogg]

OK, so I g outside to finally try and do some diagnostics on the car, and what do you know, it won't start.

For a little history - I bought he car at a wrecker auction, put new glow plugs and filters in it, and I finally got it running. Drove it around a bit, and parked it, so, I could finish my other car. When I first got it running, it still started real rough, and ran rough until it was cold, with alot of white smoke, which went away as it warmed up.

On to today. Quite simple - no start. Cranks, but won't fire. It almost sounds like it fires on 1 or 2 cylinders, then nothing. Where do I start?

I'm almost considering selling this thing for what I've got into it, which I'm sure I can get, and just buy one that is in better shape.

[vwbuge]

Some people may not be familiar with your previous posts. We need more history.

What model/year?
Mileage?

[Mojool]

glow plugs/relay good?
check the compression?
make sure the fuel is good and it's getting up to the IP?
check the injectors?
make sure no vacuum leaks?

that's all i can think of right now.

what's your locale? what type of car?

[kendogg]

Originally Posted by Mojool

glow plugs/relay good?
check the compression?
make sure the fuel is good and it's getting up to the IP?
check the injectors?
make sure no vacuum leaks?

that's all i can think of right now.

what's your locale? what type of car?

Sorry about that.

1983 300D turbo.

glow plugs are brand new, relay works perfectly.

I don't have the equipment to do a diesel compression test, what is needed for a diesel?

fuel is getting to the injectors, if you crack the lines, fuel comes from every cylinder.

How do I heck the injectors?

And I couldn't tell you if I have vacuum leaks, thats somethign I was going to start checking today once I got it running.

[Mojool]

you can try something similar to this to check the compression.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-DIESEL-COMPRESSION-TESTER-ADAPTER-GAUGE-VW-MERCEDES_W0QQitemZ330088876141QQihZ014QQcategoryZ20766QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

not sure how to check the injectors without taking them somewhere. but you could run some diesel purge thru the system and that could clean out any deposits you may have.

dieselgiant.com is really good with parts/how-to's

you could also use this to check the vacuum stuff:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=39522


(i'm not affiliated with any of these companies)

[Motorhead]

Check the valve clearances. I have found that the turbo engines seem to tighten up the intake valves. They will be hard to start.

[Mojool]

Yes, that's true, I forgot about that. It's easy to adjust the valves, too.
When the cam has no clearance then the valves are partially open. Since compression is diminished then it's a much harder start, and subsequently harder run.

[toomany MBZ]

The tester on ebay is the one I use. [U.S. General-made in China] Be sure to release pressure before you pull from adapter. There is a little o ring in the brass looking end that can be blown out. I did mine on a warm engine, let it cool down and did a cold test. You can also check for cylnider leakdown by watching the gauge, see if it drops, keeping in mind the valves might be open where you stopped, test a couple of times. While you have injectors out, one of those adapters allows use in GP holes if you want to do that, they can be tested at a shop that services semi's. Bosch authorized if you can swing it. I removed the rack as a whole, yet had to loosen up a line or two to reinstall. The Mighty-Vac is very handy. However, low vac somewhere should not keep it from starting. Good luck.

[kendogg]

Got it running finally. After alot of cranking, and the battery charger on the battery, it finally started. Didn't want to, but it did.

Now. LOTS of white smoke on startup, EXTREMELY rough idle. I'm going to start tomorrow with a valve adjustment, but for right now, I'm just going to let it sit and run for a bit.

I don't have a manual/diag info here, but where ca I find some of the vacuum diag procedures? I would like to start with checking vacuum, and I'm also going to do a cylinder cancel test in a few minutes, to see if I have any certain cylinder acting up.

[kendogg]

UPDATE:

Cylinder cancel test:

Cylinders # 1 & 2 - crack fuel line at injector, engine drops RPM like normal

Cylinders # 3 & 4 - crack lines at injectors, little to no change

Cylinder #5 - crack line at injector, slight loss of RPM, but not as noticeable as cylinders # 1 & 2.

So, basically, I need to start by seeing why cylinders # 3 and 4 are having issues, but where should I start?

[PatricdeBoer]

You oughta run some diesel purge through it before anything else. It might have really dirty injectors.

[kendogg]

UPDATE #2:

Now that it's had ~15 minutes to warm up, cylinders 1,2, and 5 all act exactly the same, perfectly normal. Cylinders 3 & 4 now drop RPM, but not as much as the other 3.

[kendogg]

Originally Posted by PatricdeBoer

You oughta run some diesel purge through it before anything else. It might have really dirty injectors.

Can I get it anywhere locally, you think? About all I've got local is advance and autozone; if I can get it local, I'll do it right now.

[firemediceric]

It may not be as good as Diesel Purge, but I've heard good things about Sea Foam which can be bought at Advanced Discount Auto. Maybe that will do the trick for you?

[kendogg]

Originally Posted by firemediceric

It may not be as good as Diesel Purge, but I've heard good things about Sea Foam which can be bought at Advanced Discount Auto. Maybe that will do the trick for you?

I've used SeaFoam in gassers as a top engine cleaner, but I don't know how well it would work as a diesel injector cleaner.