Bongo Fury

It's a whilke since I've been on here but as my Freda is ill, I thought I'd pop in!

A few of the exhaust manifold studs had snapped and over the past month or two, the gasket has been blowing to bits and the Freda has been getting more and more sluggish until it was impossible to move away from the kerb! I assumed it could be the manifold gasket as if there was not enough pressure to spin the turbo, then that could account for the loss of power. The Freda also billowed out black smoke.
I've just got around to fitting the new gasket and new studs but the Freda is just the same. But quieter!

The Freda starts first time and on tickover, sounds fine without smoking. The turbo is spinning fine.
Whilst ticking over the engine gave a couple of clatters and the engine stopped. Now it won't start.
The timing belt looks OK and the tappets look fine.
The fuel filter is new and there is plenty of fuel at the injectors.

Any ideas??
Thanks in advance.

i was going to say glow plugs or possible that the winterpack button may be switched on?, but that wont cause the engine not to start, so i will say glow plugs, but cant think what the clatter may be

If it was the glow plugs, then it wouldn't start from cold (when the car was starting!) and they wouldn't cause the engine to stop.
Thanks for the reply though!

no expert by any means but a few clatters sounds bad

was the egr blanked? has been known to be blanked and the blank disintergrate into the engine

does it turn over any noise with that?
is the timing belt stilll intact?

is the exhust blocked?

EGR all present and correct and working as it should.
The engine does turn over and tries to fire but it doesn't 'catch'.
Timing belt in tact and correctly tensioned (although I havn't actually checked the timing yet).
Exhaust is a stainless system in good condition.

When the engine was running, I slacked off each injector pipe nut one at a time and as soon as the pressure was released, it caused a misfire. That proves that the injectors and pump were working at tickover.
After checking the timing, I'll be pulling the injectors out and if they are OK, I'll be taking the injector pump off. If that needs an overhaul, the Freda will be scrapped.

As Wayne said - does it have an exhaust winter valve? is it stuck?

No winter valve fitted. Just the EGR. I did consider the EGR when the Freda first started being sluggish so I blanked it off. It made no difference so I reinstalled it.

You haven't recently reversed into a grassy bank have you????

No reversing to grassy banks!!

Whatever it is, it's been getting gradually worse over the past three/four months. At Christmas, it struggled to pull my trailer up a hill it usually flies up. Then it's got worserer and worserer until recently, it wouldn't pull itself along the road. Now it won't start at all!!

Have you been running on veg oil? Some types solidify.

Long shot here but have you had the inlet manifold off during your deliberations? Could be coked up by the EGR to the extent that it could be partially blocking the intake of air. Alternatively consider a compression test.

Have you checked the small filter in the pump banjo?

Hi Tom, not heard from you for awhile and I've been away. Is your van sorted and running ok now?

Yes thanks, I've almost stopped driving with my fingers crossed, and I actually take my eyes off the temperature gauge. I check the water every day, and it's staying steady on the full mark. As I've said before the problems I had starting it up after I replaced the head was all to do with the fuel, and the main culprit was the small filter in the pump banjo, I had to clean it lots of times before it ran well, I had put a new main filter in, so it seemed strange that the muck was between that and the pump. I've driven about 200 miles, on the motorway, sometimes fast and sometimes in heavy traffic, and the temperature remains constant. The fans have only come on once during that time, so everything seems hunky dory. Cheers Tom.

Yes thanks, I've almost stopped driving with my fingers crossed

That's good news, glad it came right in the end.