Not starting

[Trekker12]

I’ve been having overheating issues for a little while and methodically went through the cooling system and replaced the thermostat, radiator and water pump and have checked and flushed all the hoses I’m able to find. The last test I carried out was a ‘splot’ test as described in the overheating fact sheet by removing the glow plugs and cranking the engine with a piece of card to check for water in the cylinders. The four splots were dry carbon powder so hopefully the head is ok.

I can’t however test anything else because the van now simply won’t start. The first few runs it was sluggish and wouldn’t rev and now I have nothing. It cranks but won’t fire. I have 11.5 volts on the glow rail and everything else is back where I found it but I can’t understand what I’ve done. I can’t even get it to a garage until I can make it start.

Any thoughts on what I need to look for in a methodical order? I’ve had the van since August and I’m a reasonable home mechanic but my experience is old British petrol engines so I’ve run out of ideas?

It’s a 2.5l diesel version, 1996

Failing that does anyone know a mobile mechanic in the Ipswich/south Suffolk area who might come to my aid?

[g8dhe]

Have you followed thru this process as it sounds as if you might not have fuel reaching the cylinders perhaps viewtopic.php?p=720372#p720372

[Trekker12]

I’ll try that, thanks

[Trekker12]

Well I’ve managed to prime the injectors and can see a little fuel trickling out when the engine turns so I have fuel there but now it’s really reluctant to turn. I have 12 volts at both starter and leisure battery but it only turns a revolution really slowly and then stops.

The whole thing has been a gradual deterioration from an overheating problem I don’t know if I’ve solved to even more issues. I bought the van from a friend and I know he didn’t have any major problems with it although he didn’t drive it far but I thought I’d bought a pretty good vehicle. I’m now really beginning to struggle.

The stereo is draining the leisure battery faster than the solar panel can charge it
The central locking has mysteriously stopped working and the sliding door closer doesn’t work either, are these two items linked?

[g8dhe]

What voltage is the battery whilst turning over? It will drop a lot especially if the battery is not in a good condition.

[Hazzobongo]

"The stereo is draining the leisure battery faster than the solar panel can charge it"

As a test I plugged in a coolbox with my van sat turned off, it was on for at least a couple of hours and the voltage sat at 11.1V with only the solar panel charging then recharged as normal once disconnected, are you sure your two batteries are good?

[Trekker12]

I’ve just cranked it and the starter battery dropped to 8v. Interesting it was better cranking it now but didn’t seem inclined to start. Thinking that battery is pretty much dead.

The solar panel is still covered in Saharan dust which may not be helping its efficiency.

How do I test how healthy my leisure battery is?

[g8dhe]

Without buying an expensive meter, then the old "drop test" method is still quite informative. Start by clipping a meter onto the battery to be tested and noting the resting voltage a fully charged battery should be 12.6-12.8 volts with NO load on it, then put a load on the battery of around 10 Amps or so headlights or as much power draw as you can muster on a leisure battery, if the voltage drops by more than 2 volts then its a good sign that the battery is only just acceptable anything more than 2 volts drop is a bad sign, 4 volts drop and the battery needs replacing.

[TheLongRoad]

Have you tried jump starting it with another vehicle? Keep the engine running on the ‘good’ vehicle and keep cranking. Hopefully it eventually starts up.

[Hazzobongo]

I'd say both batteries are well on their way out, the cranking might sound great but if its slow then its not going to fire the motor and low batteries tend to create other issues, your sliding door closer and possibly the fuel pump not supplying the pressure to the injectors are probably two of those issues.

As for the head and the overheating test you did it could still be goosed as my old toyota had no symptoms the head was cracked, no cross contamination of fluids/oils etc and just lost a drop of coolant from the radiator after a drive, the system was similar to the bongo with a rear heater etc so I spent months looking for leaks and only realised it was the head after giving it the beans, parking up and on return it was hydrolocked so not all cracked heads will spit fluid out of injector holes especially with a cold engine as the 'crack' won't be open till the heat expands it unless theres a bloomin great big crack and the one on mine was pretty much invisible to the naked eye.

[Trekker12]

I've fitted a new starter battery, I splashed out and bought a Bosch one and it's a definite improvement. It started on first turn of the key but is still lumpy. I haven't yet had a proper chance to investigate further. I am of the view it may well need a leisure battery too but one thing at a time. The blinds, stereo and a few other items are on the leisure battery so I wouldn't be surprised if the door closer is also on this circuit.

As for the head, it's a distinct possibility it's cracked but I'm removing all other possibilities before I take it off.

I should have more time this weekend for a full investigation.

This may sound like a stupid question but how to I get my head checked? Do I find an engine company and what do I ask them to do?

[Ian]

You can test it yourself. Here's an extract from the "Overheating" factsheet in the members area.

The best way to prove the theory is by taking the vehicle on a 30-minute run and parking it up for the night. When the engine has cooled enough to work on, remove the glowplug rail and all four glowplugs from the cylinders. In the morning, return to the vehicle and place a strip of card some 9” by 20” (20 x 40cm) across the top of the glowplug holes and turn the engine over. the glowplug holes act as vents and anything in the cylinder will be forced up through them rather than down the valves. With any luck you will have three black carbon styles ‘splots’ and a larger watery splot where water has collected in the cylinder overnight. (Note, it is possible to have failure in more than one cylinder.)

[Hazzobongo]

I've fitted a new starter battery, I splashed out and bought a Bosch one and it's a definite improvement. It started on first turn of the key but is still lumpy. I haven't yet had a proper chance to investigate further. I am of the view it may well need a leisure battery too but one thing at a time. The blinds, stereo and a few other items are on the leisure battery so I wouldn't be surprised if the door closer is also on this circuit.

As for the head, it's a distinct possibility it's cracked but I'm removing all other possibilities before I take it off.

I should have more time this weekend for a full investigation.

This may sound like a stupid question but how to I get my head checked? Do I find an engine company and what do I ask them to do?

A garage can do a compression test on the cylinders, they should all be about the same unless one or more pots are cracked, my own test involved going flat out as my truck wouldn't die or show any other symptom than a very slight drop in coolant in the neck of the radiator, when I went back to start the truck enough fluid had leaked into the cylinder to hydrolock the motor altogether, I wouldn't do the same with the bongo as imo the van doesn't appear too stable over 70mph as the steering is so light.