P38 cold start issues

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But no overheating? Wouldn’t expect both sensors to go on the fritz simultaneously I’d check wiring/loom. If you have later model (or early with AC) they both earth through the loom around the front, that is where I would start looking
No overheating that I currently know of... did have a leaking thermo housing which I have replaced together with a new thermostat and new waterpump whilst at it. Filled and bleed coolant system, ran it for 5 - 10 mins and checked level was still good and proceeded to take for a good 10 minute test drive. Couldn't get a proper temp reading off the nanocom ( ECT -16 deg ?? ) and temp gauge on dash hardly moved. Heat was blowing hot as expected. No sign of over heating when finished drive, water level remained at its level ( still there now ).
It is a 1996 early? DSE with A/C no EGR or rear of head electric fan temp sensor.
What is the best way to wiring if not the actual sensors ( have the single wire brown sensor at front of head and the green ( ECT ) sensor midway... TIA, Paul
 
No overheating that I currently know of... did have a leaking thermo housing which I have replaced together with a new thermostat and new waterpump whilst at it. Filled and bleed coolant system, ran it for 5 - 10 mins and checked level was still good and proceeded to take for a good 10 minute test drive. Couldn't get a proper temp reading off the nanocom ( ECT -16 deg ?? ) and temp gauge on dash hardly moved. Heat was blowing hot as expected. No sign of over heating when finished drive, water level remained at its level ( still there now ).
It is a 1996 early? DSE with A/C no EGR or rear of head electric fan temp sensor.
What is the best way to wiring if not the actual sensors ( have the single wire brown sensor at front of head and the green ( ECT ) sensor midway... TIA, Paul

Do you have a hot-start kit fitted? Guessing you might with it being the early engine. Or maybe someone bodged their own?
 
Can see here the loom between engine and fan cowl
67C36A8B-DDB0-4991-8D36-F8DC56A97B19.jpeg

will run from sensors to where the hotstart is (usually) spliced In, definitely worth checking as grrr says ^^^. If it has a relay you can test it with another in your fusebox but there’s few designs. This is a tigapiglet version on mine
CAAFC2C2-44C3-48D1-B422-D2678EE260DE.jpeg

It fools your ecu into thinking it’s cold which should seem familiar to you ;)
 
Do you have a hot-start kit fitted? Guessing you might with it being the early engine. Or maybe someone bodged their own?
Aww only had it 2 days so far... haha, don't even know what it is ( Hot Start kit ) or if it has one.
Will check for extra wires once I get the inlet manifold off to see under it more cleary and report back
Thank heaps for the help so far guys
 
Can see here the loom between engine and fan cowl
View attachment 262106
will run from sensors to where the hotstart is (usually) spliced In, definitely worth checking as grrr says ^^^. If it has a relay you can test it with another in your fusebox but there’s few designs. This is a tigapiglet version on mineView attachment 262107
It fools your ecu into thinking it’s cold which should seem familiar to you ;)
What does this hotstart mod for exactly... just for if you have hot start issues ( or do they all behave this way? ) Definitately know from the heavy exhaust smoke that it is overfuelling on WOT

Excuse my ignorance.. is there not two green temp sensors in you photo? the one on the left ( on mine is browny coloured ) and the right is the Green ECT one.
 
What does this hotstart mod for exactly... just for if you have hot start issues ( or do they all behave this way? ) Definitately know from the heavy exhaust smoke that it is overfuelling on WOT

Excuse my ignorance.. is there not two green temp sensors in you photo? the one on the left ( on mine is browny coloured ) and the right is the Green ECT one.

Old diesel so it will always smoke WOT. Mind you, if it thinks it is cold a the time that will make it smoke too. Or if someone added a Powerbox.

The timing chains stretch and the startup parameters were a bit optimistic in the ECU maps so with age it has difficulty starting when hot. A bodgit tricks the ECU into thinking it is cold and therefore uses the cold start map instead.

The fact yours stalled while going along and won't restart makes me think cam sensor although I guess if it us a seriously high miler the chains might have snapped. I would have thought you'd have heard the clatter though.

Fix the things that are definitely broken first though, like that temp issue.
 
No overheating that I currently know of... did have a leaking thermo housing which I have replaced together with a new thermostat and new waterpump whilst at it. Filled and bleed coolant system, ran it for 5 - 10 mins and checked level was still good and proceeded to take for a good 10 minute test drive. Couldn't get a proper temp reading off the nanocom ( ECT -16 deg ?? ) and temp gauge on dash hardly moved. Heat was blowing hot as expected. No sign of over heating when finished drive, water level remained at its level ( still there now ).
It is a 1996 early? DSE with A/C no EGR or rear of head electric fan temp sensor.
What is the best way to wiring if not the actual sensors ( have the single wire brown sensor at front of head and the green ( ECT ) sensor midway... TIA, Paul
Air in the system can cause the sensor to not read the temperature. Bleeding the air out of the M51 can be a pain, I always raise the front of the cars and with the engine idling, rapidly squeeze and release the hoses.. Did you fit the stat with the hole at the top?
 
What does this hotstart mod for exactly... just for if you have hot start issues ( or do they all behave this way? ) Definitately know from the heavy exhaust smoke that it is overfuelling on WOT

Excuse my ignorance.. is there not two green temp sensors in you photo? the one on the left ( on mine is browny coloured ) and the right is the Green ECT one.
Hot start is a bodge to overcome chain stretch which throws the modulation out. It's easy to correct the modulation so I would never fit the hot start mod.
One sensor should be brown, the other green.
 
It’s just the photo mate. The connector on the front sensor is green, the sensor is actually blue (brown on yours).
Yours are where they should be ;)

Hotstart mod is only required on early versions like ours. Won’t supply start up fuel when hot which will cause issues when chains wear in, later ones were adapted to over come this so won’t need one.
 
It’s just the photo mate. The connector on the front sensor is green, the sensor is actually blue (brown on yours).
Yours are where they should be ;)

Hotstart mod is only required on early versions like ours. Won’t supply start up fuel when hot which will cause issues when chains wear in, later ones were adapted to over come this so won’t need one.
Later ones are better, but if the modulation is far enough out they are still hard to start when hot. I could nearly flatten the battery on my late 99 project car trying to do a hot start, the modulation was over 80%. Getting the modulation spot on at 50% with the engine temperature at 95C transformed it, now it starts with barely a turn hot or cold.
 
Later ones are better, but if the modulation is far enough out they are still hard to start when hot. I could nearly flatten the battery on my late 99 project car trying to do a hot start, the modulation was over 80%. Getting the modulation spot on at 50% with the engine temperature at 95C transformed it, now it starts with barely a turn hot or cold.
What is this modulation trickery that you speak of? and can you please describe how you changed it to 50% from over 80%
Thanks guys.. learning heaps cheers
 
What is this modulation trickery that you speak of? and can you please describe how you changed it to 50% from over 80%
Thanks guys.. learning heaps cheers

It is the difference the ECU sees between the point of injection based on what the crank sensor measures and the point of injection as measured by the needle in the #4 injector. Essentially it uses a solenoid in the top of the FIP to fine tune the timing of the injection of the fuel. You set it using a dial (or clock) guage but if you have diagnostics you can tap the FIP slightly towards the engine until it reads 50%.
 
Funnily enough my pic ^^ for the loom is one with the DTI gauge for modulation in there with almost correct setting

NOTE* to anyone reading this thinking about fitting their own hotstart. Make sure you know 110% what you are doing before you go chopping into your EDC. In reality I doubt there are any left that would need one. They would know by now :D

Modulation retards as the chains/tensioners/sprockets wear. On early models, with no lift pump on cranking, the stretch in the chains is enough to need considerable cranking to start when hot. Enough to easily kill an OE battery and it’s not healthy for your engine/starter/electrical systems/blood pressure/pocket. Plus when the cranking starts draining the battery all sorts of other gremlins appear, some of which could require a £500 diagnostics to sort
This is where the hot start comes in.

It fools the ecu into thinking the engine is cold even when it’s hot then switches off shortly after. That coupled with the fact it works the glows every time you turn the ignition (as standard on early models the glows only come on when the engine is dead cold) you can cycle them a few times to increase the burn and start with little difficulty. Some here even run with glows on constant (no timer) for the bit extra
# @Flossie needs power

Some say this is a bodge and they are right - it is
but it’s a bodge thats cheap and proven to work reliably long term, rather than the bodge it left the factory with or the bodge they did to later models. Only a matter of choice and relevance to model you have. JLR originally fitted mine for the original owner!

Hot start fitted to a genuine 2000 is a big bodge big big. They do turn up! :oops:

Set static timing is another bodge compared to new timing kit the proper answer but it won’t stay like that permanently whereas the hotstart will continue to do its thing so it’s there the day you will need it.
not everyone is comfortable setting it themselves, kit is few quid, getting correct one, not something I’d entrust to an garage unless they really really knew their P38s or were one of the guys off here.

Leave it too long (around 200,000 mile mark maybe, all depends) eventually you will jump a cog. Then you are either rebuilding head up or it will be mangled beyond repair is pot luck. I have seen quite a few gotten away with jumping a cog like @Musicmaker but also ones destroyed
 
Funnily enough my pic ^^ for the loom is one with the DTI gauge for modulation in there with almost correct setting

NOTE* to anyone reading this thinking about fitting their own hotstart. Make sure you know 110% what you are doing before you go chopping into your EDC. In reality I doubt there are any left that would need one. They would know by now :D

Modulation retards as the chains/tensioners/sprockets wear. On early models, with no lift pump on cranking, the stretch in the chains is enough to need considerable cranking to start when hot. Enough to easily kill an OE battery and it’s not healthy for your engine/starter/electrical systems/blood pressure/pocket. Plus when the cranking starts draining the battery all sorts of other gremlins appear, some of which could require a £500 diagnostics to sort
This is where the hot start comes in.

It fools the ecu into thinking the engine is cold even when it’s hot then switches off shortly after. That coupled with the fact it works the glows every time you turn the ignition (as standard on early models the glows only come on when the engine is dead cold) you can cycle them a few times to increase the burn and start with little difficulty. Some here even run with glows on constant (no timer) for the bit extra
# @Flossie needs power

Some say this is a bodge and they are right - it is
but it’s a bodge thats cheap and proven to work reliably long term, rather than the bodge it left the factory with or the bodge they did to later models. Only a matter of choice and relevance to model you have. JLR originally fitted mine for the original owner!

Hot start fitted to a genuine 2000 is a big bodge big big. They do turn up! :oops:

Set static timing is another bodge compared to new timing kit the proper answer but it won’t stay like that permanently whereas the hotstart will continue to do its thing so it’s there the day you will need it.
not everyone is comfortable setting it themselves, kit is few quid, getting correct one, not something I’d entrust to an garage unless they really really knew their P38s or were one of the guys off here.

Leave it too long (around 200,000 mile mark maybe, all depends) eventually you will jump a cog. Then you are either rebuilding head up or it will be mangled beyond repair is pot luck. I have seen quite a few gotten away with jumping a cog like @Musicmaker but also ones destroyed
Nice one, thank you ( and Grrrrr ) Got my 38 up and running today thankfully. The temp gauge is now reading, up to mid way on the instrument cluster gauge too. However my nanocom is only showing -16 point something degrees prior to starting the engine, and only 1.6 degrees at operating temp on the (now working) instrument gauge. Hmmm ?? This is after I replaced the second temp sensor ( the green one ) However... after reading several posts and threads my understanding was the first temp sensor ( brown single wire one ) is the gauge temp sensor and the second ( green dual wire ) is the ECT sensor. Should not the resulting temp readings off the nanocom now be up the 85-92 degree range now?

Thanks Guys, learning more every day
 
So this has only happened since you changed the sensors?
Yes brown gauge sender at front, green EDC temp sensor is middle, blank at the back.

There is a weird temperature reading on later models but we have IAT. You do have original becm/ecus?
 
Nice one, thank you ( and Grrrrr ) Got my 38 up and running today thankfully. The temp gauge is now reading, up to mid way on the instrument cluster gauge too. However my nanocom is only showing -16 point something degrees prior to starting the engine, and only 1.6 degrees at operating temp on the (now working) instrument gauge. Hmmm ?? This is after I replaced the second temp sensor ( the green one ) However... after reading several posts and threads my understanding was the first temp sensor ( brown single wire one ) is the gauge temp sensor and the second ( green dual wire ) is the ECT sensor. Should not the resulting temp readings off the nanocom now be up the 85-92 degree range now?

Thanks Guys, learning more every day
I can give you an accurate way of setting the FIP timing without using a DTI, but it does need a Nanocom or other suitable diagnostics to verify the setting.
 
So this has only happened since you changed the sensors?
Yes brown gauge sender at front, green EDC temp sensor is middle, blank at the back.

There is a weird temperature reading on later models but we have IAT. You do have original becm/ecus?

That weird temp is something like -40C. It uses the MAF for the volume of air rather than using the temperature and pressure.
 
Nice one, thank you ( and Grrrrr ) Got my 38 up and running today thankfully. The temp gauge is now reading, up to mid way on the instrument cluster gauge too. However my nanocom is only showing -16 point something degrees prior to starting the engine, and only 1.6 degrees at operating temp on the (now working) instrument gauge. Hmmm ?? This is after I replaced the second temp sensor ( the green one ) However... after reading several posts and threads my understanding was the first temp sensor ( brown single wire one ) is the gauge temp sensor and the second ( green dual wire ) is the ECT sensor. Should not the resulting temp readings off the nanocom now be up the 85-92 degree range now?

Thanks Guys, learning more every day
Been thinking about your post Jack, wonder if it has had an engine transplant, using an older engine? Does it have a plastic or metal inlet manifold @pchats
 
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