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diesel hilux troubles


sydangler

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Gday all,

I've been having car troubles lately and wondering if anyone on here could have some suggestions or theories on what's wrong.

Its a 1995 2.8L diesel Hilux its work up 315,000km. First problem was the starter blew up and had to be replaced. Then it wouldn't start which we put down to a weak battery so replaced it with a good truck battery but still struggled. So replace the glow plugs. Still struggles to cold start.

It does have a leaking injector. I've flushed the air out of the system and tried but no luck.

I can get it started but I need to use a second car to jump start me.

I've checked the altinator and its working fine.

Between me and some mates we have racked up hundreds of hours finding and fixing problems in our cars but this time we are all stumped.

I'm lucky enough to have a mechanic who will work on it and let me pay it off over time but I'm ranking up to big a bill lately that I don't want to ask him to look at it till I at least in the problem. So I'm not adding hours of labourer finding the problem to the list.

If it helps it easily starts by its self once its been driven or later in the day when the weather has warmed up.

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Guest Aussie007

Gday all,

I've been having car troubles lately and wondering if anyone on here could have some suggestions or theories on what's wrong.

Its a 1995 2.8L diesel Hilux its work up 315,000km. First problem was the starter blew up and had to be replaced. Then it wouldn't start which we put down to a weak battery so replaced it with a good truck battery but still struggled. So replace the glow plugs. Still struggles to cold start.

It does have a leaking injector. I've flushed the air out of the system and tried but no luck.

I can get it started but I need to use a second car to jump start me.

I've checked the altinator and its working fine.

Between me and some mates we have racked up hundreds of hours finding and fixing problems in our cars but this time we are all stumped.

I'm lucky enough to have a mechanic who will work on it and let me pay it off over time but I'm ranking up to big a bill lately that I don't want to ask him to look at it till I at least in the problem. So I'm not adding hours of labourer finding the problem to the list.

If it helps it easily starts by its self once its been driven or later in the day when the weather has warmed up.

have u checked the valve clearance?
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When you mention that once the motor has been runing or that as the ambiant temp increases the motor becomes easier to start does suggest that the issue is glow plug related. You sayyou replaced the glow plugs which also suggests the issue is with the associated components in the glow plug system.

With these diesel engines, if there is fuel in the cylinder and tempreture to ignite the compressed fuel air mix then there is no reason why it will not run.

I recall a similar issue with a 2.8 hilux we had when i use to sell cars. Use google to find out how to diagnoise if your glow plug system is functioning correctly. You will be amazed at what sort of detailed info such as this that is available on the net. I found info on how to dianose faulty abs components, idle air contyoll, cruise controll and a heap of others over the years.

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Check that there is a power supply to your glow plugs. Take a multimeter, set it to DC volts on the 20 volt scale and measure between the wire which connects to the glow plug, and earth. If you get nothing, have a look at relays and fuses. The problem is more than likely electrical. If you do get a voltage(12v) the issue is more than likely something else. Test your glow plugs.

Does your car blow large amounts of black smoke? Poorly atomising injectors will also cause difficulties in starting.

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Guest Aussie007

Valve clearance???

I'm really getting very little work done today researching this issue. Now thinking the glow plug relay maybe.

Cheers for the replied hopefully I can be back on the road very soon.

i dont know much about diesels only replaced a head on one once as a project often with a 4 stroke petrol engine if its hard to start u check the compression,fuel,spark in your case it would be compression,fuel,glow plugs can u remove the glow plug one at a time hold the plug with pliers and turn the ignition on to see if each glow plug is heating up?

closed valves on a 4 stroke engine can cause hard starting im not sure what type of cam/rockers u have or even if there adjustable by screw has this problem just happen all of a sudden or over time gotten worse?

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the leaking injector is leaking externally above the mount. im not to sure if its causing the hard start issue (maybe causing its own issues and is on my list to fix) as once the weather has warmed up the car will start first go.

it cranks with plenty of speed, new battery and new starter. just wont fire. theres white smoke from the exhaust while its cranking which ive read is from unburnt diesel?

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The issue is relating to your glow plugs. If you font have a multi meter, buy one as it will come in handy in the future and can be had from as little as $5 for a cheap and nasty unit. Do as the post above mentioned to check for power to the glow plugs whilst the key is turned to glow. If no power there work back down the line untill you find power which will highlight the fault be it a broken wire, faulty realay etc

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Thanks for all the tips guys. Ill be checking it tonight. Just went to move my car and decided to see how long the relay takes to click. Dash light goes off after 10 seconds but the relay doesn't click till about 30 seconds I've only been waiting 15-20 seconds.

Hopefully that all it is. Funny how it can be the simplest things.

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i dont know much about diesels only replaced a head on one once as a project often with a 4 stroke petrol engine if its hard to start u check the compression,fuel,spark in your case it would be compression,fuel,glow plugs can u remove the glow plug one at a time hold the plug with pliers and turn the ignition on to see if each glow plug is heating up?

closed valves on a 4 stroke engine can cause hard starting im not sure what type of cam/rockers u have or even if there adjustable by screw has this problem just happen all of a sudden or over time gotten worse?

Unfortunately you cannot hold the glow plug with pliers as it will need to be earthed for the plug to work. What you can do to test your glow plugs is... (use extreme caution) remove all glow plugs. Get a set of jumper leads. connect one end of the leads to your battery terminals. using the other end of the black cable, carefully grasp the glow plug around the hexagonal section of the body. then with the red lead touch the small threaded post at the end of the glow plug. do this for no longer than say 3-4 seconds. the glow plug should become extremely hot in this time. If not then it is buggered.

Considering you changed your glow plugs recently, i would be checking the power supply first.

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Guest Aussie007

Unfortunately you cannot hold the glow plug with pliers as it will need to be earthed for the plug to work. What you can do to test your glow plugs is... (use extreme caution) remove all glow plugs. Get a set of jumper leads. connect one end of the leads to your battery terminals. using the other end of the black cable, carefully grasp the glow plug around the hexagonal section of the body. then with the red lead touch the small threaded post at the end of the glow plug. do this for no longer than say 3-4 seconds. the glow plug should become extremely hot in this time. If not then it is buggered.

Considering you changed your glow plugs recently, i would be checking the power supply first.

:thumbup:

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Sometimes it can be the diesel too. The fuel composition is different for cold climates in winter compared to warm climates. You actually get winter and summer diesel in colder areas, the winter stuff is a thinner composition. If you buy diesel in Sydney then go to Oberon say in winter then starting is going to be much harder after a cold night. Whereas if you are on empty and fill up with local fuel then you won't have a problem...

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Sometimes it can be the diesel too. The fuel composition is different for cold climates in winter compared to warm climates. You actually get winter and summer diesel in colder areas, the winter stuff is a thinner composition. If you buy diesel in Sydney then go to Oberon say in winter then starting is going to be much harder after a cold night. Whereas if you are on empty and fill up with local fuel then you won't have a problem...

Never heard of frozen diesel in Sydney. The stuff they sell in winter periods in Alpine areas have 20 - 40% heating oil added to the regular diesel to prevent it from freezing. Some people just add 5 kero to their fuel or use a commercial diesel anti freeze such as ice breaker.

No point having the OP running in circles considering problems of which the engine is not presenting symptoms of.

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Yer living in manly I doubt its the fuel I fill up locally and haven't been leaving Sydney. Replaced the relay switch with one my mate had as a spare. Ill know in the morning.

Most annoying thing about this problem is I can't find out if I've fixed the problem till the morning and then I dont have time to check anything just have to us the girlfriends car to jump it.

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Hoped into the car this morning feeling a hopeful and what do you know she sprung to life. Took abit but sh got there. Looks like I was I was onto it looking at the glow plug relay.

I would still like to thank everyone for their help and input. Now I can start looking into fixing the leaking injector.

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did you replace your battery with a brand new battery or a good one out of another car?

sounds like you have a 12v issue..... replace the battery witha brand newie... a good one, not a cheapo..... then check all your fuses and relays for the glow plug system.

make sure you let the glow plugs warm up BEFORE starting....even if the lamp goes off on the dash, leave it for antother 10 or so seconds....

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yer mate the battery is a brand new 4wd/truck battery good quality (i dont cheap out on anything to do with fishing or my car lol). yer ive learnt to wait till you hear the glow plug relay switch to click before trying to start. since i installed new glow plugs and glow plug relay the car has been starting every morning.

now i need to start working on its other issues such as the leaking injector which looks to be getting worse. i know that is going to get expencive. does anyone know if theres some kind of sikaflex type glue or a tape that would with stand the heat and exposure to deisel? even if it only lasts for a week or two i just need something to slow the leak till i can get some more cash together.

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yer mate the battery is a brand new 4wd/truck battery good quality (i dont cheap out on anything to do with fishing or my car lol). yer ive learnt to wait till you hear the glow plug relay switch to click before trying to start. since i installed new glow plugs and glow plug relay the car has been starting every morning.

now i need to start working on its other issues such as the leaking injector which looks to be getting worse. i know that is going to get expencive. does anyone know if theres some kind of sikaflex type glue or a tape that would with stand the heat and exposure to deisel? even if it only lasts for a week or two i just need something to slow the leak till i can get some more cash together.

negative on the glue or tape....can you post a pic of where its leaking from?

Edited by mako2000
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  • 3 weeks later...

did you try just nipping the flange on the line up a bit. A leaking injector will make it harder to start when cold as it will loose presure overnight and when you try starting it in the morning you need to build pressure back up before it will fire.

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  • 1 month later...

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