1980 Diesel Series 3 Land Rover non-start

One morning I found that it would not start – bled the filter/side nipples on the dist pump/cracked open the injector pipes – no start.

Checked the glow-plugs reversing them in the engine bay. They work OK.

Compression test cold all between 350 and 370.

Removed dist pump from vehicle to check it – mounted it in a bench with gravity feed and a drill to turn the spindle with injectors attached – all injectors fired as they should.

Checked that the injectors fired with pump in situ – OK.

It still doesn’t fire yet I have set it up on 13 BTC with no 1 port open to cylinder no 1 as per manual but what I have noticed is that the no 1 valves are not in the right position ie closed on compression.

When I set the valves up as they should be the flywheel marks are out of synch as is the no 1 port of the dist pump. I check this by inserting a thin wire, and when it goes in further I know that the dist pump is ready for firing.

So it seems to me that the chain has slipped but I am just an amateur and may be wrong. Moving the dist pump within the slot of the foot of the pump does nothing.

To counter the possibility of fuel starvation I have replaced the fuel filter and the fuel inlet filter on the pump.

I’ve tried Easy Start many times but that doesn’t do anything other than create a mini firing which lasts a second .

So the pump and injectors work, there can therefore be no air in the system but it will not fire.

So my reluctant take is that it is a slipped/ jumped chain although this seems unlikely since it is a double one, but if there is another possible cause I’d be most grateful if you would let me know your thoughts.

I don’t particularly want to go to the trouble of replacing the chain but I want to investigate the problem properly.

I am most grateful for all the help given by people I have met on-line. They know a lot more than me but we seem to have come to a bit of an end.

Any ideas please.

Not been run in a long time ? Was it going before ? Seems odd you removed the pump just to check it worked when a that was needed was to disconnect injector pipes.

Cav pumps can be an utter **** to bleed at times.
I do not know how to set pump on the old motors, well I did my old 2 litre but that was years ago.
I do know valve and inj pump timing is critical on the old engines.
If no1 is on true tdc the valves on that cylinder should be on the rock ie one valve has just closed and the other is just about to open, confirmed by both rockers being slack.

Maybe reset valve clearances by using the old rule of 9 trick, ignore timing marks and see what happens?

I have always set mine with number one exhaust valve fully open. See the manual re a bracket and dial gauge to get this right. Now the EP mark on the flywheel comes into play. I sold my series three diesel 8 years ago so can't remember much more. Good luck.

Did you get it started after playing with CAV pump plungers , when was it last running ok

Thanks for this. I admit I went over the top with taking the pump out but I just wanted to be sure that everything was OK even though I didn't need to. I told you I was an amateur! It had been working fine the week before when I put on a new tailpipe. My wife thinks its the new tailpipe that's causing the problem but I can't see why. I have just followed the manual instructions for setting everything up but as you can see, it doesn't work.

steve2286w said:

Did you get it started after playing with CAV pump plungers , when was it last running ok

Click to expand...

Steve You probably remember a previous post about a seized pump which I managed to free. This was a spare pump which I thought I may have to use to if the original one failed. I could substitute it and if everything worked then I would know that the original pump was at fault. So to answer your question - it was the original pump that I had in. Incidentally I set the other one up on a bench with a drill turning the spindle and injectors attached with a gravity feed and it worked well thanks to members of this forum helping me to un-seize it. Thanks for your comment.

Ok gotcha
So unlikely anything drastic has happened, but maybe pump off and not put back on by the book
Just to check the valve timing first
I would check the gaps , then see how the valves start to open and close compared to the book figures
Perhaps with a homemade cardboard protractor stuck to crank pulley or with the 6 angles marked on as on pic
This should if successful negate the need for front cover off, jumping a tooth seems unlikely
when happy these are close then double check the pump timing

steve2286w said:

Ok gotcha
So unlikely anything drastic has happened, but maybe pump off and not put back on by the book
Just to check the valve timing first
I would check the gaps , then see how the valves start to open and close compared to the book figures
Perhaps with a homemade cardboard protractor stuck to crank pulley or with the 6 angles marked on as on pic
This should if successful negate the need for front cover off, jumping a tooth seems unlikely
when happy these are close then double check the pump timing

Click to expand...

I've checked the valve clearances but will do as you say, checking the actual opening and closing compared with the book but not today...I am knackered.

Valve opening and closing sequence seems to be OK, although if it wasn't I suppose the only reason would be a bent camshaft if the clearances are all right. I tried to be clever with a pencil on the rocker and a piece of cardboard on the side to measure the movement and all that happened was the pencil fell out of the elastic band and my wife had to hold it. When we retrieved the card it looked as if a drunk ant had tried to cross. I have a dial gauge but couldn't set it up properly, so I am pretty useless.
Now the flywheel is at 13 BTC, A mark on dist pump with no 1 port open for firing and no 1 valves on compression as per manual. I forgot to tell you that I broke the end of one of the injector pipes earlier when the slot was at its extreme and am now waiting for a replacement.
Please keep your thoughts coming. Someone mentioned a pin coming loose in the dist/quill shaft but I don't understand what they mean.