Progress Report: No-Start N/A D24

[heavyequipment]

"getting explosions from the intake" sounds like a possible timing belt problem, or burnt, bent, or maladjusted valves. I wouldn't crank it anymore before checking valve timing. Bent valves, broken cam, and damaged head can result.

[Jason]

Ya that really sounds like an out of time cam, or tight valves.

Jason

[EvoStevo]

So I finally heard back from the shop. Apparently, two of the glow plugs were bad AND the pump timing was off (I don't know how it was off, then on again when they checked it before). The mechanic says it was "off 180 degrees" and continued to say that it was at "6" when it should've been at "2" or something along those lines. The issue of the explosions from the intake manifold was not addressed, but he did say there was excessive blow-by and that the motor was generally "in not-so-good shape." I asked if he could check to see if the crank pulley bolt was torqued down but he was reluctant to do so (he said there was too much that needed to come off). I also asked about rear belt tension and he said it was good and that the belt wasn't missing any teeth. He says the car starts up fine with "no smoke," which I suppose is good because I used to get a lot of smoke before at start up.

I'm altogether not impressed that it took them this long to test the glow plugs (which I asked them to do on day 1). Should I insist that they check the crank bolt torque?

[Jason]

I think it was just the glow plugs. The same thing just happened to me, it was starting fine, then getting harder, then to the point of having to cycle them twice even when warm outside on the first startup of the day. How could the timing go "out 180 degrees" over night? That makes no sense.

I would have them torque the lower bolt if possible, or if not take it to someone who can.

Jason

[reed]

How old are the belts? You should have just had them replace the belts. Dont worry I will sell you a new head when the belt breaks.

[EvoStevo]

According to the previous owner, the timing belt was replaced roughly 10,000 miles ago. I took the cover off and looked at it and I'm not worried about it yet. I'm not sure how many miles the rear belt has on it, but I asked the mechanic if it looked like it needed to be replaced and he said "it looks ok."

[Jason]

Well either way, good to hear its running again. You should probably just replace all the glow plugs if they are on their way out just for the piece of mind.

Jason

[EvoStevo]

Wow, so I just picked it up today. I guess when the mechanic told me the engine was in "not-so-good condition" he meant that the compression is really low. I called to tell him I was coming to get it and I guess he went out and tried to start it but it just wouldn't. He ended up removing three glow plugs and squirting some oil on top of the pistons to get it started and just left it running until I got there. He warned me that if I let it sit over night, I might not be able to start it again (). So, besides tearing it down and replacing the rings, what else can I do to remedy this? I'm going to try that BG 109 additive to see if it does anything and I remembered that the engine did come with a block heater (though I haven't tested it yet), could these things possibly help? Also, I think someone mentioned that I could shoot oil into the intake to seal the rings better. Would that be just as effective as going in through the glow plug holes?

Also, the car seemed much peppier in first and second gear than I remember it. Could this be due to the timing getting fixed? I was thinking after almost three months driving my bimmer every day that it would be difficult readjusting to the slowness of my diesel.

I'm really bummed that this car isn't even close to what it was cracked up to be when I bought it. I don't think it's the previous owner's fault though, since he was just repeating to me what he was told by the guy he bought it from. So, the plan is to eventually score a D24T out of a junkyard and rebuild it in my major engine repair class this coming semester. Hopefully one will turn up soon.

[Jason]

There must be other glow plugs out or something. The timing would help it have more power, but I cant see the compression being that low to where it wouldn't start when it was running fine before. Didn't you say it pretty much died within a week or so as it started to get harder and harder to start?

Jason

[EvoStevo]

Originally Posted by Jason

There must be other glow plugs out or something. The timing would help it have more power, but I cant see the compression being that low to where it wouldn't start when it was running fine before. Didn't you say it pretty much died within a week or so as it started to get harder and harder to start?

Jason

All of the glow plugs were replaced. He gave me back the old ones. It gradually got harder and harder to start over the course of two months.