the Td5 go into de compresion mode

today my TD5 struggled to start
I primed up fuel system a few times
the starter motor felt like it was whizzing the engine over to fast ..I tried also to start the engine on spray but no go

I removed the rocker cover to inspect the timing chain area.... lined up the timing every thing is spot on
I tried to start no start
I tried spray no start

i left the engine for aproxx 1 hour needed to do other things
when i got back i thought i would try again turned engine over and she fired up

i can only think that the hydraulic lifters where held open
the engine did not want to start on its own nor would it start on spray
starting motor seemed to whiz the engine over faster than normal reason i checked timing

has any one had issues with the hydraulic lifters ?

They dont have hydraulic lifters, there are the backlash adjusters which just take up the rocker backlash, to avoid tappet rattle, but they dont actualy lift the valves.
Sound very strange that it spins over with no resistance, and even stranger that it would start and run normally.

Hi mate my Disco does this sometimes... Only when really cold though I never have found the problem in 4 years but she always starts

raywin said:

They dont have hydraulic lifters, there are the backlash adjusters which just take up the rocker backlash, to avoid tappet rattle, but they dont actualy lift the valves.
Sound very strange that it spins over with no resistance, and even stranger that it would start and run normally.

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back lash adjuster is a hydraulic lifter .just some use different terminology
found this on the net

A hydraulic valve lifter, also known as a hydraulic tappet or a hydraulic lash adjuster, is a device for maintaining zero valve clearance in an internal combustion engine. Conventional solid valve lifters require regular adjusting to maintain a small clearance between the valve and its rocker or cam follower.

yes it seems strange the reason I checked my timing (at first i thought the timing had slipped or snapped the chain
it sounded like my starter motor had a direct 24 volts and engine whizzed over...the engine did not start on spray into the air intake either

let it settle and it fired up on its own
..also used the car a few hours ago back to day care and back never missed a beat

the reason I ask about the lifters my engine timing was good but seem to have no compression then all of a sudden it came to life

Discodevon said:

Hi mate my Disco does this sometimes... Only when really cold though I never have found the problem in 4 years but she always starts

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thanks for the reply
mine is not a glow plug issue
in Australia it was already 37 degrees by 9 AM

Injector seals? Dodgey relay or diesel?

Discodevon said:

Injector seals? Dodgey relay or diesel?

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fair enough
but why would it not start on spray down the air intake ..also starter motor whizzing over faster than normal

Ozzy have you looked more into this yet mate?

Discodevon said:

Ozzy have you looked more into this yet mate?

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since my episode the other day engine starts every time first time
but I do get an occasional miss when revving a cold engine .when the miss is there ...raw fuel coming out the exhaust stings your eyes
some morning it will do this some other mornings it wont

my white smoke could possibly be an injector on start up but this goes away if I rev the engine a few times

at the moment I have my heart set on the lifters .I have a feeling I have a few week ones ..resulting in either a valve not opening or a valve not full closing
depending where engine comes to rest over night

the reason I say this is because I deal with the same symptom I encounter on a weekly basis at work ..
I work and rebuild engines for road trains ..we have common problem of the VEB engine brake this VEB lifter un winds by them selfs resulting in loss of compression

I undersatand the TD5 does not have an engine brake but it does have lifters and these lifters work on oil pressure similer to a engine brake design

unfortunately I don't have any dianostic tool for the td5
I have disconnected one injector at a time to see when this smoke clears up this test didn't work ..as once the engine got good oil pressure its seems to work fine

another reason I have my heart set on the lifters is ..when the engine would not start a few days ago the engine would not start on spray ..also it sounded like my starter moter had no load while cranking the engine was whizzing over 3 times faster than normal and it felt like it was in decompression mode

What you say about the hydraulic lifters has logic in it, i remember that i've experienced this kind of behaviour randomly and only few times long time ago then when i decided to get the engine overhauled a bit cos the head was removed anyway due to broken glow plug stuck in it i asked my mechanic to replace the non return valve from the lifter circuit with a new one and the symptom never occured again so if you'll ever remove the head IMO it would be a good move to replace that valve(it's around 10 quid), i mean nr. 14 here http://www.allbrit.de/UNI.cfm?PAGE=816369&SPRACHE=EN , it's possible that the exhaust valves to not close well if it's lack of oil in the lifters then the compression drops through them and that's why it doesnt start and spin so easy, the gist of it is in the underlined part


also the oil filter head has a friggin thermostat in it which is not available as spare so as i'm obsessed with thermostats i replaced the filter head with new as well

sierrafery said:

What you say about the hydraulic lifters has logic in it, i remember that i've experienced this kind of behaviour randomly and only few times long time ago then when i decided to get the engine overhauled a bit cos the head was removed anyway due to broken glow plug stuck in it i asked my mechanic to replace the non return valve from the lifter circuit with a new one and the symptom never occured again so if you'll ever remove the head IMO it would be a good move to replace that valve(it's around 10 quid), i mean nr. 14 here http://www.allbrit.de/UNI.cfm?PAGE=816369&SPRACHE=EN , it's possible that the exhaust valves to not close well if it's lack of oil in the lifters then the compression drops through them and that's why it doesnt start and spin so easy, the gist of it is in the underlined part
View attachment 114753

also the oil filter head has a friggin thermostat in it which is not available as spare so as i'm obsessed with thermostats i replaced the filter head with new as well

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thanks for the reply
the none return valve must be in the head between the timing gear and timing chest ?
I knew there was a thermostat in the oil filter housing I thought this was only for the cooler and spinner though I maybe wrong

I dont know where it is cos i'm no mechanic, i just know it's there as i studied how the engine works in theory and the job was carried out by my friend who is specialised mechanic

sierrafery said:

I dont know where it is cos i'm no mechanic, i just know it's there as i studied how the engine works in theory and the job was carried away by my friend who is specialised mechanic

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i will look into it just need to wait for my old man to finish with the spare car as he is changing out a head on his jackaroo once I get my other car back I can then take my disco off the road