P38 starting problems

Thanks. Will post results in a few hrs

Find Relay 12 in the under bonnet fusebox.

On the top will be a diagram similar to the below (the numbers may be different on the relay)



Find the two pins that match the ones for the switch part of the relay (No.s 3 & 5 on the image attached) identify the slots in the fuse box that correspond and using a decent thick piece of wire (a short length of mains 13A cable should be fine) connect (bridge) across these two pins!

wammers said:

Live feed from battery to terminal 5 on relay 12 socket. 5 is the one contrary to the other three.

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Or do that....

Just gonna get on with that now. Defo a faulty map too as I drove a mile or so with it connected then back with it disconnected and it was exactly the same.

I got 110ml of diesel in the 10 seconds but it took 3 seconds to start flowing, possible air in the line? I disconnected the feed pipe from the filter housing and broke the plastic connector in the end of the pipe aswell.

Would that say pump is not causing the starting issues?

shaunm41 said:

Would that say pump is not causing the starting issues?

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Minimum flow rate is 180ml in 10 seconds.

But there was 3 seconds before owt came out. I presume I'd got some air in the line when I disconnected it. Will try it again tomorrow. It's got a full tank of fuel in so will take some driving about to empty it to be able to fit a new pump.

shaunm41 said:

But there was 3 seconds before owt came out. I presume I'd got some air in the line when I disconnected it. Will try it again tomorrow. It's got a full tank of fuel in so will take some driving about to empty it to be able to fit a new pump.

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Pump can be done with a tank full, just gotta be careful....do it by cutting the floor to access the fuel pump, search on here - some one did a cut template that can be used to get it spot on!

Where can I get one of these from? It's the elbow that connects the fuel line to top of filter. No where has it and LR want me to buy the whole line at £57 + vat. Rather expensive mistake. And nothing I can do till Tuesday now with it been Easter weekend.

AFAIK it is only available as a complete legth...

You can't unless you get the whole pipe. It is possible to insert a metal tube in it and connect to line with a length of rubber fuel pipe and a couple of clips.

Repaired the fuel line as per your instruction. Luckily I had all the bits, a roll of copper brake pipe of a perfect diameter that it had to be hammered into the broken connector so very tight fit, cut off leaving a good inch or so to slot inside rubber fuel injection hose, that needed to be in boiling water to get enough stretch to fit over copper pipe. Then heated with a heat gun on the other end to fit on the metal ribbed connector in the fuel line. Lucky that was there, about 8 inch from the filter so I'm assuming a repair has been done before and a joint put in as it didnt look standard.

If I was to get someone with diagnostics equipment would it be possible to find out the starting problem?

Just had a multi metre on the glows and when ignition on there's only 2.75v going to glow number 6... That don't change wether glow light is on on the dash or not

shaunm41 said:

Just had a multi metre on the glows and when ignition on there's only 2.75v going to glow number 6... That don't change wether glow light is on on the dash or not

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Hmmmmm - Issue!

Wammers/Datatek are the gurus, but I would be checking the glow plug relay and associated wiring is sound!

I'm kinda thinking this could be causing the starting issues. Any diesel will struggle to fire with no glows wouldn't it? And it starts fine with easy start, after some cranking which I'm assuming will be the easy start working its way through to the cylinders... Could I take a direct 12v feed from battery to glows and see if it starts better.?

shaunm41 said:

I'm kinda thinking this could be causing the starting issues. Any diesel will struggle to fire with no glows wouldn't it? And it starts fine with easy start, after some cranking which I'm assuming will be the easy start working its way through to the cylinders... Could I take a direct 12v feed from battery to glows and see if it starts better.?

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Exactly right the M51 Diesel engine will struggle if 2 or more glows are not functioning...

Being very careful as the amp draw of the glows is quite high, you could direct power the glows (Wammers/Datatek will advise best course) and heat them for 6-10 seconds or so and immediatly try and start from there!

Great thanks. Hopefully they will be along soon to offer advice.

Ignore that about the glows. Just had a better check. Must have had a bad ground on multi meter. Power to glow 6 is fine anyway. Will check rest. But. I've just removed the hot start fix box and the connections were shocking. Re did all then with crimps and it started better. Not perfect but certainly quicker that usual. Hopefully this new battery I've ordered might help now when it arrives