Hi everyone,my first post on this,or any,forum.I have a 1997 300tdi,green white and rust. A few weeks ago she stalled,started again but smoky and no power.Waited long enough for the AA to arrive and she decided she was fine. This has happened again several times more recently. Also she intermittently won' t switch off with the key,needs stalling. I would love to be mechanically able,but the last thing I tried was fitting an air filter,turned out it was too small and therefore didn't fit properly and it smashed the bracket through vibration,and all the while(six months) it wasn't filtering the air which was bypassing it. I'm telling you this so you can see I need help ... So far the injection pump solenoid has been changed,as has the fuel filter, and the wiring behind the ignition has been looked at in case of arcing between terminals. I had nothing to do with this work myself.... Friends have told me I need to replace the fuel injection pump but I wouldn't want to do that before exploring other possibilities because of the money involved. Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Thanks Rodeo Joe. One thing I didn't mention was that the bar which moves up and down in the solenoid,which I think is hexagonal in profile,had slight wear to the edges and there was some brassy swarf knocking about as if the bar had been rattling against the inner wall of the casing. Ha, sounds like i know what I'm talking about doesn't it.
Someone from Lord of the Rings?
Seriously though it costs a small fortune to get a pump reconditioned properly. I got another complete engine for less than that would have cost.
I spent weeks changing bits and pieces, all false economy for a vehicle with a quite finite lifespan due to them falling to bits with rust eventually.
I would get another engine and either swap the pumps- not particularly complicated but an intense exercise- or swap out the engines (doable but hard work without a ramp or pit)
I would get another engine and either swap the pumps- not particularly complicated but an intense exercise- or swap out the engines (doable but hard work without a ramp or pit)
I was just saying that for the cost of a properly recon pump you could get another engine , as far as I know it costs a lot mre than £360 to do a pump properly, it would probably cost that for the labour, I could be wrong but I was quoted a lot more than that 6 years ago.
Goc3k
Well-Known Member
Do you know any of the history behind the vehicle? Does it sound like it has a misfire? How many miles are on the pump? What colour is the smoke, black? Plenty of other stuff it could be - pull the plugs and have a look to see what they tell you, chances are if this problem has suddenly occurred as you suggest rather than slowly worsened you just have a buggered injector, or something more trivial rather than a worn out FIP
Goc3k
Well-Known Member
Hi Goc3k the landy has been mine for 12 years,she used to two hire equipment before I rescued her. She doesn't misfire generally,no. Engine has done 140k so pump probably has as well. Smoke is more blue than black. And I've just remembered the smell,smells different somehow. Thank you for suggesting it may be trivial,I like trivial a lot.
Goc3k
Well-Known Member
140k is no great distance on a 300 that has seen good servicing and regular use.
You might need to pay a garage to do some digging if you can't do the work yourself, pulling the plugs and doing a hot & cold compression test will tell you a lot of basic info and can rule out a number of problems, before moving on to checking or replacing other things.
Any misfiring is of course a bad sign
What are the characteristics of the poor running, is it a linear gutless or jerky for example? Or fine sub 1500rpm pootling and completely flat higher up the rev range? Does it start up well, is the smoke constant or worse the faster you go, etc? If you warm it up then undo the oil filler cap is there excessive blow-by?
Edit: Would also suspect it would be worth looking at the state of the turbo impeller blades if you ran without an air filter for 6 months, as well.
You might need to pay a garage to do some digging if you can't do the work yourself, pulling the plugs and doing a hot & cold compression test will tell you a lot of basic info and can rule out a number of problems, before moving on to checking or replacing other things.
Any misfiring is of course a bad sign
What are the characteristics of the poor running, is it a linear gutless or jerky for example? Or fine sub 1500rpm pootling and completely flat higher up the rev range? Does it start up well, is the smoke constant or worse the faster you go, etc? If you warm it up then undo the oil filler cap is there excessive blow-by?
Edit: Would also suspect it would be worth looking at the state of the turbo impeller blades if you ran without an air filter for 6 months, as well.
Hi sorry should have been clearer as in no she does not misfire. Also my breakdowns have been as follows...no sign of trouble until very sudden loss of power followed 5 secs (of trying to rev to keep it alive) later she stalls. She will fire up immediately but then stall though I am still revving. A few times i will start her and she will not turn off with the key. Then suddenly she decided to start and she will continue as if nothing was wrong.And that can be a relief when you've broken down at the tesco turning with holiday traffic behind you and your german shepherd is shagging your rear bulkhead like there's no tomorrow (true),can I say shagging? Alright making love to. So anyway there's no poor running at all,just this intermittent breaking down and once she achieves a tick over she is good as gold.
