OK, new to defenders and new to diesels(sorta). she will turn over but she won't start. have a 2.5(?) 4 cylinder diesel to tinker on.

1st-It doesn't seem that the glow plugs get really hot to touch but I am not sure how hot they are suppose to be. how do I know they are getting hot enough?

2nd, I cracked the union at injector is. Attempted to use the primer on the fuel pump to send fuel to the injectors to see if we were getting any fuel. not a lot came out but then I disconnected the union and tried hand priming again and did not get much out of it. Maybe I was not doing it enough or the right way. suggestions

3rd The fuel filter is not mounted to anything and I was wondering if someone could send a picture of where and what it is suppose to look like and where it is suppose to be.

4th there is a cable that goes to the foot peddle and then there is a cable going off to the left side of the engine compartment that seems to do nothing. what is it.

I will try to post a picture.

 

Is everyone as stumped as I am on this problem?

 

First helpful to pin down the exact motor. In land rovers there are so many 4 cylinders it is pointless to say "oh its a 4 cyl". Which one is important

You have the 2.5 TD aka boat anchor.

1) glow plugs aren't necessary to start, more like helpful. If you want to ensure that they work, pull each plug out and run power to it from say a battery. Easy to tell if they work. There will be a glow plug relay, you should hear an audible click as it cycles on with the key and another audible click as it turns off several seconds later. No click means no relay working

You likely have a fueling problem. Check that the stop solenoid and wiring is working. stop solenoid is on the injection pump and it will be the only wire. If there is a problem there it will be blocking fuel getting to the block. Otherwise it could be air in the lines. you can field bleed the system by pulling fuel solenoid stop wire, cracking the fuel filter housing bleed screw open, and cranking the motor over with the key a few seconds at a time, once fuel spurts out of the screw you can at least rule out air from fuel tank to that point in which case you start looking at injection pump, injectors, etc.

2) you likely did not have the hand crank lined up with the cam lobes. the pump will simply not hand cycle if it is not lined up. See the field/cheater bleed above.

3) just google 2.5 TD land rover fuel filter, see example

4) post photos and clearly indicate what cables you are talking about.

 

OK here are some pictures,
1st is the VIN # you can probable tell what engine is in it by that. I think it is a 2.5 turbo. You will probable know better then me. and I am suppose to fix this haha
2nd picture is, I don't know, you tell me....
3rd and 4th picture is the fuel pump and I am trying to prime the injectors
5th picture is the cable I was asking about earlier
6th picture is just the engine it self.

any guidance would be helpful.

I do know my way around gas engines and Mostly Jeeps. I did work on a small diesel in the Navy which was a Fairbanks Moorse 8 1/8 which had opposing piston, started by compressed air and had a blower which ran the generator to supply back up power to the Submarine I was on. but that diesel is not quit the same as this diesel. lol

thanks

 

Like I said, I know what motor you have already by looking at it, 2.5 TD, not to be confused with later Tdi motors. Code 19J

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_R...gine_Code_19J)

2nd photo is Injection Pump
3rd and 4th photos is the hand crank lever on the fuel "lift pump". Again it will not pump unless the cam lobes are lined up, you should feel resistance if it is actually pumping.

4th photo I don't know what that cable is unfortunately

Did you pull the wire leading to the injection pump stop solenoid (red wire with blue plug in your photo)? You can turn the car over with the starter motor and it will prime if you have the bleed screw open on the fuel filter assembly. However once you have fuel primed to fuel filter you will connect the wire again, and either try firing up the motor or turning the key to start position and hand turning the motor by the crank nut (30mm) CLOCKWISE to try and get a bit of fuel into the injectors so it can catch.

Have you gotten it to start?

As you get going you will find they are very simple to work on if not confusing at first. Good luck

 

Did you pull the wire leading to the injection pump stop solenoid (red wire with blue plug in your photo)? No

You can turn the car over with the starter motor and it will prime if you have the bleed screw open on the fuel filter assembly. where is that at?

However once you have fuel primed to fuel filter you will connect the wire again, and either try firing up the motor or turning the key to start position and hand turning the motor by the crank nut (30mm) CLOCKWISE to try and get a bit of fuel into the injectors so it can catch.

I was trying to get fuel to the injectors by using the prime handle on the pump. will that work or what is the right way to prime the injectors?

When I cracked the union at the injectors I did not get much fuel leaking out at the union.

 

So why did you call the 2.5 turbo a boat anchor?

 

If you pull the stop wire you can use the key, turn the key in ignition and "start" the car for a few seconds at a time. This will turn both the injection pump and lift pump.

Look at the fuel filter assembly. On the top there is a bolt usually a 10mm that you turn open until you see a hole appear in the bolt, this is for bleeding air out. Once you have fuel coming out of the hole everything between the tank and the fuel filter assembly is bled. Now to the injectors.

NO. the fuel lift pump is only for getting fuel to the fuel filter assembly area. The injection pump does the rest. Cranking the lever especially because I think you do not have the cam lobes lined up will do nothing for bleeding the injection system. The only way to realistically prime the injectors is to turn the INJECTION PUMP. You will do this either by dry cranking the motor a few moments at a time, or just starting the car, OR hand turning the crank bolt 30mm socket CLOCKWISE ONLY.

Again playing with the lift pump does nothing for the injection. Its only job is to help transport fuel from fuel source to engine area.

You do have a land rover workshop manual, right?

2.5TD is referred to as a boat anchor because it was never as reliable as either the earlier non turbo 2.5NA (a simple and robust design) or the later 200Tdi (which is also very robust, relatively common and loved motor). It has a tiny turbo, parts are much less common than either 2.5NA or Tdi, Land Rover basically decided to take a very very old design from the earlier 2.5 and literally slap a turbo onto it with some modifications, later designs were better thought out IE designed from ground up to be turbo. Wikipedia is very kind to this motor oddly in their descriptions.

 

Well good news, got the ole girl started today. Bill and I got the engine to turn over and bleed all the fuel lines until we finally got fuel to the injectors. Don't know if it helped but pulled the glow plugs and wire brushed them clean. rolled the engine over with the starter to blow fuel out the holes of the glow plugs. Put the glow plugs back in and she started up.


I was almost dumbfounded.



Now that I see her running and let her warm up a wee bit,



I got more questions for you guys.


How much blow by should be coming out the oil filler hole. I am thinking not as much as I am seeing. I can't put my hand over it and stop the air/oil flow out. I would remiss in saying it is substantial but I may be wrong.



So how much should there be? If I can get it restarted in the morning I will post a video of it running. Thanks

 

I got the ole girl running, drove into town for some fuel. and got home ok. Seems to be running better the more I drive it.

Thanks for all the help and suggerstions in getting this going.