Land rover 90 2.5d na stopped and won't re-start

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csb167

Member
Posts
13
Location
Hampshire
All,

Just bought my first Land rover. 1984 90 station wagon with 2.5d NA engine. All going well until weekend.

First sign of problem was at junction after a long run when it was not ticking over as smoothly - felt like it had a bit more vibration but could not be sure.

Seemed ok, so continued another 20 miles at 50-60mph on dual carriageway. Maybe a bit down on power (not sure) and getting very low on fuel. Stalled when coming to junction as engine speed came down.

Would not re-start at first so added 5L diesel from jerry can and it fired but not running right and would not tick over. Limped home for 1 mile and stalled again when got there. Sounded very rough.

Would re-start at first just about, but needed a lot of throttle to rev engine.

Left for a day and now won't start at all.

Air in fuel seems to be major issue (reading forums) therefore did the following.

Added more fuel, Bled fuel filter, Injection pump and injectors at unions.
Recharged battery (which is only 1 week old anyway) and no joy, even tried easy start with no success.
There is lots of black smoke from exhaust when trying to start so I think fuel is getting through - or maybe easy start?.

No oil in header tank or water in oil (when checking dipstick and breather cap) although I have not drained oil yet.

I am now at a bit of a loss. At first glance head gasket is ok and fuel is getting through. It was running fine until it stopped.

Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas much appreciated.

Next step is to check compression. Can you recommend a compression tester.

Thanks for any help on this. Don't want my first land rover experience to be a bad one.

Regards
CSB167
 
Sounds like the symptoms of a fuel blockage somewhere. Did you put a new fuel filter on? It's quite likely that having run very low on fuel you've dredged up all the muck from the bottom of the tank and sucked it into the system.
 
Hopefully just a dirty pickup/filter.
If that does't sort it, it may be the timing belt has jumped. If it has, there will possibly be bent valve pushrods. To check, take the rocker cover off and turn the engine over by hand - look for any obvious bend, and a corresponding large tappet gap.
You can visually check the belt condition by looking up through the inspection hole in the bottom of the timing case. You'll need a good bright torch. Look for any signs of fraying etc.
 
Assuming that you've now resolved the blockage issue, when starting DO NOT touch the accelerator. Doing so cancels the cold start mechanism. Once it fires, hit the accelerator. Also, you need to use the glows when starting from cold from several seconds up to say about 15 depending on the plugs and engine. My old NA would start on the first couple of turns with glows, but if they were out of action, it would take me about 4 lots of turning over for 30 seconds to get it going - that's how much of a difference they make!

If you suspect a fuel delivery problem, the next thing I would check is the lift pump.
 
csb167 said:
All,

Just bought my first Land rover. 1984 90 station wagon with 2.5d NA engine. All going well until weekend.

First sign of problem was at junction after a long run when it was not ticking over as smoothly - felt like it had a bit more vibration but could not be sure.

Seemed ok, so continued another 20 miles at 50-60mph on dual carriageway. Maybe a bit down on power (not sure) and getting very low on fuel. Stalled when coming to junction as engine speed came down.

Would not re-start at first so added 5L diesel from jerry can and it fired but not running right and would not tick over. Limped home for 1 mile and stalled again when got there. Sounded very rough.

Would re-start at first just about, but needed a lot of throttle to rev engine.

Left for a day and now won't start at all.

Air in fuel seems to be major issue (reading forums) therefore did the following.

Added more fuel, Bled fuel filter, Injection pump and injectors at unions.
Recharged battery (which is only 1 week old anyway) and no joy, even tried easy start with no success.
There is lots of black smoke from exhaust when trying to start so I think fuel is getting through - or maybe easy start?.

No oil in header tank or water in oil (when checking dipstick and breather cap) although I have not drained oil yet.

I am now at a bit of a loss. At first glance head gasket is ok and fuel is getting through. It was running fine until it stopped.

Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas much appreciated.

Next step is to check compression. Can you recommend a compression tester.

Thanks for any help on this. Don't want my first land rover experience to be a bad one.

Regards
CSB167
Click to expand...

Fuel filter, fill the tank, a can of fuel is not enough in a big tank, you may be still sucking in stirred up ****e. Some injection pupms have a little brass strainer in the fuel inlet union.
Bleed filter and IP thoroughly, take your time to let air rise in the system.


Spook is right, no throttle pedal on startup, I would let it idle for a minute before touching the pedal at all.
 
Thanks for all your help on this.

Will replace fuel filter and oil to start.

Not getting consistent feel on lift pump when priming. Lever position at which I get resistance is never the same and gradually reduces - is this normal?.

Also just noticed crack in exhaust between first pipe and intermediate pipe which is leaking. Don't think this is cause of my problems but if you know otherwise please let me know.

Are head gasket or head cracking problems common out of interest?.

Lots of questions but it is all new to me.

Cheers
Chris
 
csb167 said:
Thanks for all your help on this.

Will replace fuel filter and oil to start.

Not getting consistent feel on lift pump when priming. Lever position at which I get resistance is never the same and gradually reduces - is this normal?.

Also just noticed crack in exhaust between first pipe and intermediate pipe which is leaking. Don't think this is cause of my problems but if you know otherwise please let me know.

Are head gasket or head cracking problems common out of interest?.


Cheers
Chris
Click to expand...

Sounds fairly normal for a lift pump, it wont pump if the cam is on lift, you will need to turn the engine a bit on the starter. If there is fuel running out of the filter bleed when you pump the primer the lift pump is usually ok.

Head gasket and head cracking are fairly common, but I very much doubt if they will cause starting issues.
 
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