[Dhog4n]

Hi, I’m a newby here from Ireland, with a 2001 P38 2.5 diesel with 157,000 miles on it. I’ve found loads of useful info here and I’m hoping that someone might have an idea what’s going on with it before I give up on it. I’m not usually one to post up threads on anything, but I’m at a loss.

I fitted a new injector pump last week and it all seemed to go swimmingly, with a successful test drive around the local dual carraigeway. I parked it up and since then I have not been able to start it again.

It sounds like it wants to start initially when the key is turned, but then it reverts to just turning over like an engine that’s not getting fuel (If it was petrol I’d be checking for spark).

The Nanocom shows no issues with immobiliser codes or EDC codes. The immobilser was disabled via Nanocom by the previous owner so it shouldn’t be an issue anyway.

I’ve just gone over the injector pipes, refitting them in case of leaks at the pipe nuts and bleeding everything, but no luck. The only anomaly was that no. 4 bled slowly, while the rest of them spat fuel when turning over the engine with the injector pipe nuts loosened. I’d have thought that it would at least start on 5 cylinders though, and that would be enough to drive any remaining air out through the system.

The stop solenoid appears to be working - I can hear it activating when 12v is applied.

The reason for the new injector pump was poor power and hot starting issues, which seemed to be resolved on the test drive. I resealed the old pump but didn’t get anywhere with it, except to make it worse. The replacement pump is allegedly new rather than refurbished, and is sourced from Germany via eBay. It does look new as well - no wear marks, etc.

I had the injectors tested while I was waiting for the pump to arrive - again no issues found.

This car was supposed to replace my tatty but solidly reliable 32 year old 2.4 Hilux Surf once I got it sorted. I still have it a year after getting the P38 and it’s looking like I’ll have it a while longer. I’m no stranger to unreliable cars either, being the owner of an X1/9 as well, but I had pinned my hopes on the BMW engine not being too difficult to manage.

I won’t get around to trying again on it until next weekend, so any thoughts that anyone might have in the meantime would be very welcome. Thanks, Dave.

 

[Mark Piercy]

Just a thought, how old are the glow plugs and will it start with easy start or a small sqirt of brake cleaner.
If you have one failed flow plug, the engine is a damn pig to get going had you checked the modulation when it was running and at running temps?

 

[Datatek]

How much fuel in the tank? If it's less than half full, a failed in tank pump can cause starting problems. Also as Mark said, check the modulation with the engine hot when you get it started.

 

[Dhog4n]

The glow plugs are new last year and about 1,000 miles ago. That’s not to say there couldn’t be an issue there. There’s about a third of a tank of fuel in it. I have a hand primer bulb fitted before the fuel filter, so I can confirm that the injector pump itself is bled and full of diesel.

I set the injector pump timing to 0.90mm on the dial guage before the test drive and the modulation was 44%, which is as close as I think I’m going to get to the ideal.

I have a possible culprit - I pulled the camshaft cover after I put up the first post. I think one of the chains might have slipped a tooth as the cam locking tool is sitting at about 10mm clear from the passenger side of the cam box. Would that be enough to prevent it from starting if the lower chain skipped a tooth and put the injector pump out of time?

 

[Mark Piercy]

Jeez, that is a good question and certainly not a good thing... You hadn't turned the engine anticlockwise by any chance

 

[Grrrrrr]

The glow plugs are new last year and about 1,000 miles ago. That’s not to say there couldn’t be an issue there. There’s about a third of a tank of fuel in it. I have a hand primer bulb fitted before the fuel filter, so I can confirm that the injector pump itself is bled and full of diesel.

I set the injector pump timing to 0.90mm on the dial guage before the test drive and the modulation was 44%, which is as close as I think I’m going to get to the ideal.

I have a possible culprit - I pulled the camshaft cover after I put up the first post. I think one of the chains might have slipped a tooth as the cam locking tool is sitting at about 10mm clear from the passenger side of the cam box. Would that be enough to prevent it from starting if the lower chain skipped a tooth and put the injector pump out of time?

Sure it is in the TDC hole?

A skipped tooth would cause issues.

The cam is set with a 12 thou spacer when tightening the cam stretch bolt. 10 mm is way too much.

 

[Dhog4n]

Sure it is in the TDC hole?

A skipped tooth would cause issues.

The cam is set with a 12 thou spacer when tightening the cam stretch bolt. 10 mm is way too much.

I’m no mechanic but I’m happy that it’s in the TDC hole.

I thought it was supposed to be 4.61mm (.18”) clearance with more than 20,000km on the chains? It certainly shouldn’t be 10mm anyway. I’ll check it all again before digging into it at the weekend.

 

[RangeRoller dt]

It will run on just 3 cylinders but no4 is the main one it needs

 

[Grrrrrr]

I’m no mechanic but I’m happy that it’s in the TDC hole.

I thought it was supposed to be 4.61mm (.18”) clearance with more than 20,000km on the chains? It certainly shouldn’t be 10mm anyway. I’ll check it all again before digging into it at the weekend.

Value is in RAVE. I thought it was 12 thou of an inch but I might be mixing it up with something else.

 

[ovalandrover]

with the engine at TDC loosen the bolt on front of the cmshaft andpull sprocket off and then turn the camhaft untill it it is in the right position then refit the sprocket annd tighten the bolt you might hve to take the vacume pump off to get at the bolt

 

[dubbleRR]

Just a curveball ,Mabay the work is fine but the immobilizer has cut in ..Think it will turn over all day but wont start ..

 

[Grrrrrr]

with the engine at TDC loosen the bolt on front of the cmshaft andpull sprocket off and then turn the camhaft untill it it is in the right position then refit the sprocket annd tighten the bolt you might hve to take the vacume pump off to get at the bolt

RAVE says always use a new bolt as it is a stretch bolt.

Sone say you can reuse them a few times but I wouldn't risk it!

 

[Dhog4n]

I had another go at it today, with no luck.

The injector pump was still timed to the crankshaft correctly indicating that the lower chain had not skipped. So I followed the procedure to set the camshaft timing. It sounds a little keener than last time when I try to start it, so that’s something, although that’s just as likely to be my imagination.

I’m wondering now if it could be to do with the immobiliser as suggested above. It was disabled by the previous owner and the Nanocom shows it as disabled. Is there a way to test it, or to reset it?

I’ll see if I can post a video clip it turning over.

 

[Dhog4n]

I can’t upload a video clip, so I’ve attached a link below:

Attempting to start

 

[Grrrrrr]

I had another go at it today, with no luck.

The injector pump was still timed to the crankshaft correctly indicating that the lower chain had not skipped. So I followed the procedure to set the camshaft timing. It sounds a little keener than last time when I try to start it, so that’s something, although that’s just as likely to be my imagination.

I’m wondering now if it could be to do with the immobiliser as suggested above. It was disabled by the previous owner and the Nanocom shows it as disabled. Is there a way to test it, or to reset it?

I’ll see if I can post a video clip it turning over.

Where's the car, roughly?

 

[Datatek]

I had another go at it today, with no luck.

The injector pump was still timed to the crankshaft correctly indicating that the lower chain had not skipped. So I followed the procedure to set the camshaft timing. It sounds a little keener than last time when I try to start it, so that’s something, although that’s just as likely to be my imagination.

I’m wondering now if it could be to do with the immobiliser as suggested above. It was disabled by the previous owner and the Nanocom shows it as disabled. Is there a way to test it, or to reset it?

I’ll see if I can post a video clip it turning over.

With Nanocom, you read the immobiliser code in the EDC, then write that code to the BECM. Immobiliser turned off off is not what it seems, in the off state, it becomes an automatic function to mobilise the EDC

 

[Dhog4n]

Where's the car, roughly?

I’m in the south Dublin suburbs.

 

[Dhog4n]

With Nanocom, you read the immobiliser code in the EDC, then write that code to the BECM. Immobiliser turned off off is not what it seems, in the off state, it becomes an automatic function to mobilise the EDC

I did try that, but I’ll have to have another go. From looking at the threads on immobilser issues, it doesn’t sound straightforward to find and fix those issues that the Nanocom can’t deal with.

 

[Rubberknees]

Were the glow plugs good quality ones ie Beru, NGK or the like or the cheap ones off the bay. The ones from the far east are very poor for starting as I can vouch from past experience

 

[Dhog4n]

Were the glow plugs good quality ones ie Beru, NGK or the like or the cheap ones off the bay. The ones from the far east are very poor for starting as I can vouch from past experience

The glow plugs were cheap, from one of the usual UK suppliers directly from their website. I couldn’t tell you at this stage what brand they are.

I don’t really think it’s a glow plug problem. The signs I learned to look for from my experience of running the Hilux Surf with bad glow plugs are not there - there’s no cloud of white smoke from the exhaust and this issue came on suddenly after starting perfectly beforehand. Also, I was always able to start the Surf eventually, even on the coldest of days.