Morning,
I'm having fun and games with the '79 Series III we recently picked up. Specifically cold start problems. I'm not a total stranger to old fashioned diesel systems as we have a '57 IH B250 Tractor. But I thought I would check for any 'usual suspects' specific to the 2.5 diesel engine.
OK, the car starts when warm and although it smokes a bit - timing/piston rings I'm happy with power etc.
Cold starting however is a problem. Now from what I understand these engines have the Lucas cold starting system, hence the glow light on the dash and for this to work there needs to be zip throttle and clutch in after giving the glow plugs a good 20 seconds? Even when we do this the starter turns over very slowly. However, when jump started it will, eventually, start.
So I looked into the electrics and noticed the fan belt was suspiciously loose and this had obviously created charging issues. tightened it up and replaced battery with a known good one. I've stripped down and examined the starter motor - nice and clean with good bushes and bench tested fine - both starter solenoid and motor.
Contacted the former owner who told me that for the last 12 months the car has been a pig to cold start. Before then it was fine. So I looked at the paperwork and sure enough there is a receipt in there from a mechanic (non landy specialist) who has replaced the main earth. Kicking myself for not checking this earlier - looked new so assumed its been properly fitted I have checked it and instead of earthing to the engine block or chassis, the battery is earthing to the slam panel. My thoughts are now that this is a hopeless place to earth a diesel vehicle especially an older one and I need to earth the battery to the engine block. This would explain the lack of crank when starting unless a jump start is used.
Am I missing anything else? I'm going to shift the earth to the block and invest in a new battery - what would folk recommend battery wise?
thanks
I'm having fun and games with the '79 Series III we recently picked up. Specifically cold start problems. I'm not a total stranger to old fashioned diesel systems as we have a '57 IH B250 Tractor. But I thought I would check for any 'usual suspects' specific to the 2.5 diesel engine.
OK, the car starts when warm and although it smokes a bit - timing/piston rings I'm happy with power etc.
Cold starting however is a problem. Now from what I understand these engines have the Lucas cold starting system, hence the glow light on the dash and for this to work there needs to be zip throttle and clutch in after giving the glow plugs a good 20 seconds? Even when we do this the starter turns over very slowly. However, when jump started it will, eventually, start.
So I looked into the electrics and noticed the fan belt was suspiciously loose and this had obviously created charging issues. tightened it up and replaced battery with a known good one. I've stripped down and examined the starter motor - nice and clean with good bushes and bench tested fine - both starter solenoid and motor.
Contacted the former owner who told me that for the last 12 months the car has been a pig to cold start. Before then it was fine. So I looked at the paperwork and sure enough there is a receipt in there from a mechanic (non landy specialist) who has replaced the main earth. Kicking myself for not checking this earlier - looked new so assumed its been properly fitted I have checked it and instead of earthing to the engine block or chassis, the battery is earthing to the slam panel. My thoughts are now that this is a hopeless place to earth a diesel vehicle especially an older one and I need to earth the battery to the engine block. This would explain the lack of crank when starting unless a jump start is used.
Am I missing anything else? I'm going to shift the earth to the block and invest in a new battery - what would folk recommend battery wise?
thanks