won't start

[Dasherhead]

OK - dumb newbie question...79 Dasher with 1.6 NA (not original). Purchased a year ago and towed home.  Previous owner had run bio without changing lines. All fuel lines were melted and timing belt had been shredded.  I pulled the motor, replaced two bent valves and valve stem seals.  I just replaced all the fuel lines.  Put everything back in.  Cam locked at TDC.  Bottom half at TDC.  Injection pump pin locked in.  I then turned the crank by hand several turns - no interference.  I hand pumped fuel through the new lines all the way to injector 3.  Turned the key and I have two issues. First - starter will crank well for about 10 seconds and then slows.  Negative battery cable begins to heat up.  This cable goes to engine bolt at top of bell housing to motor.  It is also grounded by a bolt to the battery tray.  Second issue - the motor doesn't act like it is about to start or "spark"  (I know - wrong word).  I have a Bentley and I've read everything I can numerous times.  I still have the hood, bumper and lights off of the car so I can paint it - if it runs.  Please help!

[clbanman]

If the cable is heating up, I would suspect excessive resistance.   I had a similar situation once and when I cut the cable sheathing off I found it had been cracked and allowed corrosion to start in the cable.  Checking with a multimeter showed low resistance but it couldn't carry the necessary current.   If the starter will only spin at the proper speed for about 10 seconds either the cable is causing the problem or you have a weak battery.   Get these issues taken care of first or it will never start.  If you have access to another known good battery and good quality booster cables, try adding them to the circuit to see if you get proper crank times and speed.

[rabbitman]

What he said.

Is it smoking at all? If so what color?

[Dasherhead]

Ok - I replaced the ground cable, cleaned the grounds, pushed it outside and hooked it up to jumper cables.  Cranked fine - no overheating cables - that problem is solved. Thanks!  Still won't start though.  What do I do next?  I'm guessing fuel because I replaced all fuel lines.  Pump should be OK - it was running when PO shredded timing belt.  Appreciate any wisdom you can offer - I've put a lot of time into this thing.  I'm by myself so I can't answer the smoking question - although I don't think it's getting fuel at all.

[rabbitman]

Remove the fuel return hose from the injector pump and blow WITH YOUR MOUTH into the hose, that'll prime the IP.

From there loosen the injector pipes and crank till you get fuel but don't fry your starter, tighten 'em and see if she starts.

One other thing that might help would be to turn the fuel screw in a turn, if it does start it might run away so be ready with key. After it starts turn the fuel back down to were it was. Hope this helps

[airhead]

Im not an expert and dont know if the N/a diesels have a fuel return to the tank. If it does though, why dont you try disconnecting this, putting it in a bottle or whatever, then spin the engine over and see if any diesel comes through. That will tell you at least if you're getting fuel to the pump. Otherwise, take off an injector pipe and see if diesel sprays out at high pressure when you spin the engine. In my experience, starting a diesel engine which hasn't been started in a long time can take a lot of cranking. How long did you keep it turning over? Oh, and are your glowplugs all in working order? A multimeter set to measure resistance is the quickest way to check this, or you can be more meticulous and pull them out and test them.

[airhead]

Sorry, simultaneous posting there. 

[rabbitman]

All of these older engines have a return, not sure about the newer ones .

[Dasherhead]

OK - Here's where I'm at.  The return line (the clear one) I disconnected at the pump and blew toward the fuel filter.  Very hard to blow into that.  I did hear some gurgling back at the fuel tank.  Next, I loosened the injector line to number 1 and cranked for a feww minutes - no fuel at all.  I have a Bentley and it says use a test light and make sure there is power to the pump and the glow plug bus.  There is.  Doesn't appear to be getting fuel.  Thoughts?

[rabbitman]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong since I don't know about dashers.

The return line doesn't go through the filter on it's way back to the tank.

[Dasherhead]

Thanks everyone for showing me the way...it's running now.  In the viton fuel line kit I bought they call the clear line a return line.  Return to me means back to the tank!  Once rabbitman showed me the way I just filled the pump and it started.  Thanks again.