Quote:
Originally Posted by Sethsquatch
The short answer is yes, the mechanic timed it with the dial gauge.
The long answer is muddied. My pinzgauer was originally an automatic transmission, and has been converted to manual. With that done, he was wondering if there was an issue with timing marks, because of the bellhousing. (maybe this makes sense to you?)
Also, once it did start, it ran pretty darn good, which makes me think it just needs some adjusting of fuel flow rather than timing. This isn't my area of expertise which is why I'm here though. The guy from UK who rebuilds pinzgauers is confident that it's just an adjustment issue not a timing issue.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sethsquatch
So I don't know that.. Is it not just timed to TDC?
...basically all new components from the head gasket up so that's why we're unsure of the issue.
|
This might be an interesting challenge to sort out.
Since many factors changed all at once (auto>standard conversion, new fuel pump, engine internal work), you are faced with a detective's game determining which one is the cause for the trouble. In this situation the way to go is to start systematically ruling out possibilities. May be tedious and slow, but it'll get you to the solution eventually.
First, echoing one of the earlier questions, can you describe again what the symptoms are? You say hard to start -- is that every time you try to start it, it takes a long period of cranking, or just the first time after it was reassembled, or just the first start of the day, or...? Both cold and when restarting a warm engine, or only when cold, or only when warm?
Able to take a video showing a starting attempt, both when cold and fully warm, so we can see/hear?
And you're saying it runs pretty well once it finally does start, but, you also said earlier that it smoked badly after it started. Tell us a little more about what the engine's performance is like when it does start running.
- Smoke?
- If so, When? At idle, or just under heavy load? Smoke when cold but then stops smoking when it warms up, or is it smoking all the time regardless of temp, or only for a few seconds after start then none at all? What color smoke if present, white or blue or gray or black?
- Power? Does it feel like it did before? Better? Worse? Different in some way?
- Other observations? Temperatures? Sound? Smoothness?
A little more background on the work that was done:
- Injection pump replacement and engine cylinder head work: sounds like the engine was running fine before this was done, what was the reason for the repairs? Just proactive maintenance/restoration? Or was there a problem being fixed and if so, what?
- Trans conversion auto to manual: what parts were used? Was it a complete set of Pinzgauer specific transmission/drivetrain/flywheel/clutch parts? Was it a correct D24T flywheel with the TDC mark for timing? Or did the mechanic have to "get creative" in some way that could have meant there's no TDC mark for the crankshaft to use, or he had to make one of his own that might not be accurate? Or parts used from a different vehicle (like a Volvo) for the swap that might be mismatched in some way and throw a timing attempt off the track?
- What's the complete list of engine parts that were replaced? Photo of a work order?
- How were parts sourced? Any chance that some of the specific Pinzgauer parts for its 24-volt electrical system could have been accidentally subbed with Volvo/LT parts for a 12-volt system? If your new injection pump has 12v solenoids in it, then [they will fail]. Likewise if the glow plugs were replaced with parts designed for a 12v system, [they will quickly overheat and fail].
As a general rule, difficulty starting is usually one of the following things:
- Glow plug issues (some not working, or a circuit problem, or wrong style/poor quality glow plugs)
- Injection and/or cam timing wrong
- Loss of fuel system prime (air getting into fuel pump and/or fuel leaking out and/or severe fuel supply restriction)
- Too slow starter cranking speed (battery/starter/connection issues)
- Base engine compression problem (ring/valve leakage or too thick headgasket)
Each of these potential causes presents symptoms in a slightly different way, though. They all make the engine hard to start but each has its own signature tell-tales from what is observed and when (hot/cold etc). The added details on what you are seeing the engine do will help us narrow it down.
*Edit, I was not thinking clearly when I originally wrote above that 12v components in a 24v vehicle would not get hot enough or not work correctly. The opposite case is true: 12v parts (both glow plugs and solenoids) supplied with 24v will overheat and burn out, and/or the glow plugs would probably pop the glow circuit fuse from excessive current draw. 24v lugs in a 12v vehicle is the scenario where they would not generate enough heat to aid starting and a 24v solenoid supplied with only 12v would probably work only partially or not at all. I'm correcting this for posterity.
But, if it smokes when running and/or has trouble starting when warm as well as cold, the glow plug system is probably unrelated to the issue anyway.