S

SeriesAndy

New Member
I managed to find cheap Discovery 300tdi engine and gearbox, which is sat on my trailer in the garage. I've 'hotwired' the fuel solenoid and changed the oil, but the damn thing will not start.
There's fresh diesel in a jar and I've pumped it all the way through to the union on the front side of the injection pump. When I crank it, it fires and tries to run, but dies within a second or so.
Having spent the whole day cranking it over and trying all sorts, I haven't seen any fuel come back on the return line.
Injection pump fault?? - But when I crack the nuts on the injector pipes fuel seeps out.
Has anyone got any ideas what I need to check? Do I just need to keep cranking until it bleeds itself or have I just spent half a weeks wages on a duff engine and a gearbox that probably won't fit in my series anyway?
 
I'm not sure i'm on the right route here.. but is the lift pump working correctly? If not (and they have a habit of failing) the fuel won't be flowing after fire up.

Did have a problem with one myself. The other problem i had was a chocked fuel filter which meant pressure wasn't good and wouldn't keep running properly after fire up.
 
That sounds reasonable. How can I test lift pump? All I have done up until now is hand crank it and checked there's fuel up to the injector pump union.

I guess I could take the injector pump union off and put it in another jar and check it fills that jar when the engine is turning.
 
doubt it's the lift pump. When lift pumps fail, the injection pump usually creates enough suction to keep the engine running. It won't rev though.
 
Try a shot of easy start. I had this last week after i changed the injector pipes, it just couldnt crank quick enough to push all the air out.
 
I don't think it's idle speed too low, as I was pulling throttle cable as it cranked. If anything, it seemed to crank slower as I pulled the cable ?!?

I was thinking it was cranking fast enough as there's a big battery and a "charge and start" on it, but I guess some easy start wouldn't hurt it.
 
Jobs a good 'un, thanks Tuskenraider - easy start did the job!

Next problem, it won't rev up. I may still be bleeding the air out of it, or that it's coked up because it's not ran for a year. It could even be because I've got all the pipes hanging in the air with nothing on the end of them (except the fuel one). I won't run it for long until I get some cooling on it.

Is there something I should be looking at that would stop it revving up when I pull the accelerator cable?
 
I had a replacement 300Tdi fitted in my Defender recently and that refused to rev up at all when it was cold (was also pretty smoky). The problem turned out to be that the injection timing was horribly retarded. Following the procedure you'd use to adjust it after replacing the timing belt sorted it out instantly. Mind you, this might not be the problem with your engine if it hasn't been fiddled with.

Chris
 
Cheers Chris, It's sorting itself out now, probably getting up to 1500-2000rpm. I think it's just got some air in it. It's not been run for a few years and I haven't got it to temperature because there's no cooling.

I think it's a good engine now, so my plan is to renew fuel hoses and clips to stop any air getting in, plumb it into a radiator and let it run to warm. Maybe run some diesel cleaner through it. If that doesn't get it sorted then I am going to look at timing - I'm going to have to do the timing belt anyway before it goes in the Landy.
 
Sounds almost exactly like mine.I bought a disco1 for a defender transplant, it had sat a few months but the owner said it ran fine. I got it home and tried starting it, eventually it turned over for a while and started but wouldn't rev up and would die. Fuel was dead empty so put a tenner in bled it all and it seemed better but after a short run it would lose power and just rev at idle speed. Ive read on here so many times about lift pumps being at fault so I thought for £25 it's worth a shot, got one, fitted it, instantly sorted. Now revs up perfect and pulls well. Can't wait to get it in me 90. (I bought a Delphi lift pump as recommended my so many on here)
 
Thanks Lawso, I will keep that in mind.
I really don't understand lift pump failures - some people say they fail and it makes no difference, some people say they fail and there's no power.

I'm sure my problems are air and soot, so going to have to blast them out with some running.
 
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