URGENT HELP! ferry goes tommorow! engine problem

Land rover 90 D-reg with discovery 200tdi engine retro fitted.

on the way to the ferry tonight, for our first proper holiday in years, the engine cut out on a slip road we had just been doing 65/70 but were doing 40/50 when it happened. It stalled and we pulled over and it wouldn't start again. i swear i heard a flapping noise so i immediately thought cambelt. mr RAC came out an it wouldn't start. he checked under the pulley cover and the belt was turnin. so the cambelt hadn't snapped as i suspected. but he was puzzled. using easy start straight into the air intake it would run for 5/10 seconds and it sounded awful, it clattered. i think most people describe it as a bag of nails. it sounds like when the tappets need adjusting on my other car. just A LOT louder. i think it may have skipped a tooth or two on the cam belt (which has an unknown history) does this sound likely? to me that would be why it would run, just and the clatter is the valves bumping the pistons.

i need to fix it tommorow as we could only change the ferry for tommorow night. If the cam belt has skipped what other damage is lkely to have been done? push rods? anything else?

To say i am gutted is an understatement!

Thanks for all your help in advance.

What a sod!

Take the rocker cover off and have a good look at the rocker shaft. If you examine each of the rocker arms you will see that where they meet the push rods, (opposite side of the arm to the valve springs) there should be a little ball on a thread with a locknut. This ball sits in the cup on top of the push rod. Have any of the little balls broken off, or when the engine turns over, do any of the balls not seat properly into the pushrod cups?

Check that your valve clearances are correct. If you don't have any feeler gauges, the very end of a pen knife will do for the time being. Also check that all of the bolts are tight under the rocker cover, including the locknuts on the rocker arm balls.

Is there any smoke from the exhaust when attempting to start it?

-Pos

Bad luck that.
Drewster had his cambelt snap at 70 mph and all he did was bend pushrods (he was lucky).
It is possible that skipping a tooth has allowed the valves to come into contact with the pistons, but then easy start will make an engine knock if you squirt too much in the air intake.
If you are unable to see for yourself then find someone to have a look and see if the engine is all 'timed up' as it should be.
Other than that, I'm at a loss at the moment quite what to suggest.

what ferry company are you using and what port ?

Also, take the fuel filter off and check that it hasn't perished. I drove from Leeds to Weymouth last Summer (on my way to Guernsey with Condor) and the bugger ate the contents of its own fuel filter!

-Pos

i'm wondering whether the belt may be a red herring but at the moment it is all i can think. i didn't know that easy start can make it sound like its knocking. mmm. mr rac was stumped, so i haven't got a clue! i may be making a bigger problem than it really is.

checking the shaft makes alot of sense and i can solve alot very quickly. it smokes on start up normally. but don't know if it did after it broke i was a bit stessed at the time! now it feels like it is flooding when you try to start it. do glow plugs fail? i've never owned a diesel so don't know how to test them. i have spare one. can i make use of that?

I think i will check the timing straight after.

we checked fuel was getting there and it was, but i have a new filter so i will swap them over anyways to be sure.

Disco71. Plymouth and Britany ferries.

I have a horrible feeling it may be a try to fix everything kinda job. the more i think about it the less i think its the belt and maybe the glow plugs being weak?

luckily the ferry port is nly 25 miles away so the RAC bought me home

k i work for condor in poole so no use to you !

Disco71 said:

k i work for condor in poole so no use to you !

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Im travelling to Guernsey from Poole on Sunday! Afternoon crossing, fast cat Once took 6 hours to get back to Dover on the Clipper!!!

ahhhh finally i've got a sunday off that day ! feel pity for the blokes with the black ties on the car deck parking you with category 3 seamen badges ! tell em yer disco is over 2m high if they try to park you upstairs ! your welcome to pop in on your way down !

this is most likely fuel delivery, stop looking at your glow plugs, it was running when it broke down they are only used when starting engine.

Thats bad luck mate.
You said it stalled and the hot engine would not restart so the glow plugs are irrelevant as the they are only really needed from cold and probably not at all this time of year. They dont operate all the time like a spark plug as once the engine is running they are not needed.
You may have dropped a valve but I would have expected it to fire on the other cylinders so long as it was turning over and not jammed solid.
Dont know too much about the Tdi but dont they have "hot spots" inside the cylinder that can come loose and drop onto the top of the piston?
Sorry I cant be more help.

It is NORMAL for a diesel to clatter badly and sound like a bag of nails when it is running on carb cleaner. I would check the fuel solonoid wire is both connected and switching live before thinking about stripping bits off the engine.

Run a temporary jump lead from the battery positive to the fuel solenoid terminal and see if it starts. If so you're good to go and you can sort out the problem with the supply to the solenoid later.
Just remember that to stop the engine you'll have to either stall it or remove the jump lead. Dont leave it connected with the engine off or you'll drain your battery.

thanks alot guys!! you realy are a great help. like i said first diesel engine and only had it a couple of months so don't understand it yet. i am going to check fueling, filter, solenoid (i think mr rac cecked this, is it below the injector area? he tested the connection was sparking) etc, then the timing belt and under the rocker. cheers again you have all been ace. steve

steve bain said:

thanks alot guys!! you realy are a great help. like i said first diesel engine and only had it a couple of months so don't understand it yet. i am going to check fueling, filter, solenoid (i think mr rac cecked this, is it below the injector area? he tested the connection was sparking) etc, then the timing belt and under the rocker. cheers again you have all been ace. steve

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It shouldn't spark. If it does it is going to earth. Disconnect the original wire and run a temporary feed from the battery to the solenoid and see if it sparks then. If it does the solenoid is fecked and is going to earth. If it doesn't then the original feed wire is probably chaffed and going to earth.

i bypassed the solenoid and no joy. if i touch the wire onto the terminal i get a spark there is definately 12v getting to it with the ignition on. i took the fuel pipe off the injector and there doesn't seem to be that much fuel imo.

did it break down shortly after filling up? you might have dodgy fuel.

steve bain said:

i bypassed the solenoid and no joy. if i touch the wire onto the terminal i get a spark there is definately 12v getting to it with the ignition on. i took the fuel pipe off the injector and there doesn't seem to be that much fuel imo.

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That suggest to me that it's the actual solenoid that is going to earth.

Did you prime the fuel sysytem up again? Diesels run on a vaccuum. There is a small lever on the injector pump. You need to pump this up and down until it goes stiff before attempting to start it.

i think we may be getting somewhere! i removed the top banjo on the fuel filter and pumped the little lever on the mechanical fuel pump. nothing. so i removed the inlet into the filter. nothing. checked fuel level by looking into tank and there is fuel, so could it be that the fuel pipe is blocked.

at this point i should mention i replaced the fuel tank about a month ago but with no problems. the fuel currntly in there is about 2 days old and we have already used half a tank.

i'm going to try priming it as you say with it all connected up. next i think i am going to make sure the pick up pipe isn't blocked.

cheers for the advice. it is massively appreciated!!