J

James8907

New Member
Hi guys,

I recently purchased my series 3 diesel and absolutely love it. The only problem is every so often, usually after the first mile or driving or so there is a rattle from the engine bay then a huge cloud of smoke from the exhaust. After this it seems to run fine again as if it has pushed some stuff through and out. Only ever seems to happen at top speed. Air filter, value clearances, injectors, fuel filter and distributor filter all checked or replaced. Has any one got any idea what I should be checking next? Could this be caused by air in the system? Sick of not been confident to drive it for fear of it "coughing" all over the poor Nissan micra behind!

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
A new addition is that it will start first time, then cuts out after a few seconds without any throttle and then wont restart. If left for half an half an hour or so it will start again. any ideas? Could the two problems be related? I'm guessing this issue is been caused by air in the system but I have bled the system several times and this doesn't seem to have a bearing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Hi,i think this is either the injector pump on its way out, or blocked tank filter, when bleeding is there plenty of fuel moving around, check the fuel lines for any signs of leaks if it leaks then it will pull air in
 
Peter,

Many thanks for the reply. Doesn't appear to be any leaks anywhere and bleeds well from the top of the filter as well as the pump. Is there anything I can do to check the injector pump or is it just a case of replacing it? I've been looking for a while but never seen one for sale! Throughout all of the material I've read on series land rover I've seen several timeS that the injector pump and tank filter seem to be fairly sound and rarely go wrong. Just my luck!
 
you could try taking the injectors out and connecting them to the pipes again, turn the engine over and they should spray a fine mist of atomised diesel if they do then pump or injectors not the problem, BEWARE of the spray as it is under great pressure and can penetrare your skin.
 
Cheers Peter I'll give that a go at the weekend.
In some ways I hope it is that because I don't know what else I can try!
 
Tom,

What were the symptoms/fixes to your issue?

Johnny - whats up with yours? Lol there always seems to be a problem of some sort!!!
 
Mine would poor out smoke run dead low on power an generally cut out so I drained it and filled up with diesel and some diesel red ex never used veg oil again too much mess and hassle it was a blue black smoke and only ever do it with veg oil mixed with diesel
 
Regarding what peter said above I cracked the injectors last weekend and they were all fine apart from 1 which I have since replaced so this would indicate that the injector pump is working fine and I can eliminate this from my possible causes list? Does anyone know if air in the system could cause this sudden rattling and smoke at top speed then it runs normally again for a bit?

Thank you in advance.

James
 
How an you hear the rattle over the engine? It must be like a 'bricks in a cement mixer' type of rattle :p
 
I'm new at all this, so i'm prolly talking bollocks. ;)

  • What colour smoke is it?
  • When you say top speed, what's that and how can you tell?
  • The injection pump probably has been played with in the past. You sure it is set up ok?
  • At idle is there any smoke? what colour?
  • When you normally go up a hill, is it crapping out a bunch of black smoke?
  • You said top speed, is the max screw set properly and you aren't hammering it to crap?

FYI, stick it in 3rd and it should top out at 48mph (4200 rev/min), as long as the gearing and all that is the same :D
 
I think it's grey/black.
By top speed I mean about 45/48 in 4th. (could probably go slightly more but don't like to over stress it)
Haven't checked the timing on the pump yet.
Plenty unburnt diesel on start up but idles fine with no smoke.
No black smoke when going up hills.
48mph in 3rd! I wish!
Recently it will usually start then cut out after about 5 seconds unless you give it plenty of throttle then won't restart again for a while. Don't know if this could be related but seems odd as its always started fine until the last couple of weeks.
 
Hopefully someone with better knowledge than my crap will speak up ;)

So, the grey/black being unburnt diesel happening at top speed would make me think that the timing is off or air is restricted. I would check the filter hose isn't collapsing at full speed. Take the hose off the engine side and see if that makes a difference at top speed. Else look at your pump and see how far someone has turned it to the stops..

For the starting bit. My 2.25 diesel takes a crapload of glowplug time to start from cold.. 20-30 secs in the summer, 60 in winter. And it will cut out if I don't give it a few revs after startup. These things just seem to need a lot of heat when cold. It is fine, when warm. I'm presuming you aren't turning the engine over for 30 secs to start it.

Mines bodged, I mean modifed so I don't use the ballast resistor and the plugs are wired in parallel (which should give better heat :p). So, if yours is wired up properly, you get the glowplug light. Is it all working as it should be? Cold engine would mean unburnt fuel and would probably die without some revs.

Maybe useful.
 
had exactly the same on mine. are you talking smoke grenade levels of thick smoke? can you see any engine oil coming from the round black breather on the top of the rocker cover? does the engine oil level drop slightly when it happens? does it happen after about 10ish miles and then its fine untill you next use it?
 
Yeah incredibly similar although mine can go at usually about 1 or 2 miles then seems fine again. Please tell me you resolved it? :)
 
Trax,

Glow plug light is working and up until a couple of weeks ago 20 seconds was plenty to start her up even from very cold. I think of the plugs were goosed then it wouldn't start first time then cut out after 5 seconds or so. Going to take the lift pump out and check everything is at it should be.
 
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