MKIII 1.9AAZ winter morning starting issues.. HELP!

[Torchd]

My car wouldn't start in the morning. The temperature at night is around 4 deg. celsius and around 10 deg. in the morning.

I had a bad starter before and I thought that was the reason because the pinion kept on slipping but now I changed it and it still does the same thing. Already checked the glow plugs which are fine and the fuel lines which have no air.

At first crank it starts with a bang and then dies..after that it takes lots of attempts only to start with a very rough idle and white smoke as if one or two cylinders are nor firing right. After 2-3 minutes of rough idle the engines shaking stops, engine note changes, smoke disappears and it all goes back to normal and remains like that through out the day, it starts all over again the next morning.

Has any one of you had this problem? What can be wrong? I deleted the egr 3 years ago and I don't think I have the crank nose problem. Because the car otherwise is fine and the crank pulley is dead straight. I changed my alternator pulley to clutched one to save the crank about two years ago and an year before that replaced the motor from a 15000 kms driven vehicle.

Can it be the injectors? Maybe one or two stick and after running for a while it stops sticking? Or maybe the valves? Please help!

[dieselweasel]

Some thoughts:

-Are glow plugs getting power?
-Does pulling the cold start lever change anything?  I would confirm crank/cam/pump timing and check with dial indicator if possible

[burn_your_money]

Do a voltage drop test.

Also, test to see how many volts you have going to the exciter on the solenoid on the starter. If you aren't getting enough volts the starter will disengage.

How did you test the glow plugs?

[Torchd]

Dieselweasel...

Yeah they are getting the power because like I said it starts on the first go no matter how cold it is and runs for like 3-4 seconds and then dies...  I do not have a cold start lever.

Burn_your_money...
The starter was faulty before and it has been replace now it does now disengage. I took the glow plugs out and tested them directly. And then tested them on the original circuit as well. Glow plugs work fine since like I already said it does start on the first go. If glow plugs were at fault it wouldn't start at all.

[ORCoaster]

Sounds like air in the IP or timing is off to me.  White smoke and poor firing would have me looking at the timing and the fuel system for an air leak.

Mine runs real rough if bubbles get into the fuel lines.  Haven't had that problem since I removed the two copper washers at the fuel filter and smoothed and heated them to a nice blue color.  Put them back on and reset the squeeze on the copper.  For now it is good. 

[wdkingery]

my 1986 f250 (from which the mod was born  )  would do the exact same thing until i replaced all of the return lines.
it would also do it again once hot.. stop to load it with firewood, 1 hour later go to start it .. nothing. from where the lines would empty into the tank i reckon.
anyway, i'd replace the return lines; that's normally easy (other then in Virginia, hopefully you aren't here. we aren't diesel friendly) and fixed my problem

[theman53]

I would say air in the IP. The cummins pump I bought had loose screws in it and the internal pressure wouldn't build enough to start properly. After starting it would idle poorly and run ok. I would guess that with the old starter it didn't get all the air out of the IP yet. If you could get someone to tow you for about a mile in gear with the key on it will help your starter and that should pull plenty of fuel up for you.

[Torchd]

I would say air in the IP. The cummins pump I bought had loose screws in it and the internal pressure wouldn't build enough to start properly. After starting it would idle poorly and run ok. I would guess that with the old starter it didn't get all the air out of the IP yet. If you could get someone to tow you for about a mile in gear with the key on it will help your starter and that should pull plenty of fuel up for you.

Okay.. so changed the filter the return lines and various washers but nothing helped... and now I think "the man 53" is correct. I parked the car on a steep slope yesterday and today it started instantly. And some diesel was also leaking from somewhere from the IP. I guess some seal is worn and it gets air when parked normally and when at a slope the fuel pressure keeps the air out.

So am I in for a pump reseal? How can I tell when seal is leaking? And are there any re seal kits available? From where My pump is the big later model AAZ pump, with two or three solenoids and switch for the EGR.

Please help!

[Vitwagen]

Whilst it may be any pump seal, I'd suspect the main pump seal around the shaft.

classic sign of air in the pump.

HTH

[Torchd]

So how far does one have to go in dismantling the pump to fit new shaft seal?

The thing is no one here is competent enough to dismantle and reassemble a bosch pump which is fully functional. So it really scares me and I don't know what to do. I am an experience DIYer but pump stuff scares me!

The previous owner of my car had some IP issues and he tried to get the pump sorted from a local diesel shop but it never started the car again... so he replaced the motor with a 1.6NA he had lying around. Then I bought the car and imported a new AAZ and installed it. I also got the old motor dismantled IP with the car.

[ORCoaster]

Good news, you don't have to disassemble the pump to replace the front seal.  You can be real gentle and pick it out with a sharp curved rod and then clean up the area and tap the new one in place. 

Help me out boys isn't there a how to on this forum?  Maybe it disappeared with the rest of Libby's work.  Or is it on Vincents page?

Don't have time to check but someone might.

Later

[8v-of-fury]

I dont know man, I have had a few of these pumps apart very recently.

The squareness of the head is A LOT bigger than the cylindrical piece the o-ring fits around.. I would almost fear you have a high chance of tearing the ring, or deforming it.

[Torchd]

I dont know man, I have had a few of these pumps apart very recently.

The squareness of the head is A LOT bigger than the cylindrical piece the o-ring fits around.. I would almost fear you have a high chance of tearing the ring, or deforming it.

So you are saying it might not be possible to do it that way and a dismantle might be needed??

I will open up the timing cover today to make sure that the shaft seal is at fault but I thing there is some other seal worn out too, the spring on the accerlater lever is always has some diesel on it, so there is slight seepage there as well.

Thanks guys!

[Torchd]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6775764363/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6775767827/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6775771755/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6775776193/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6775779609/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6775783005/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6775786121/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6775789677/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6775792605/

I tried to add the pics here but couldn't please tell me how it is done.
I removed the original fuel filter and installed a Toyota one which has a pump as well. This way i can pump some fuel and get rid of the air before i start in the morning. I also found a bosch diesel center in another city so i will send them the other dismantled pump i have and see how well they fix that then i will send them this pump if they know their stuff.

I also removed the timing cover and it seems like shaft seal is fine but the ip leaks from a few other places.
Have a look at the pics above and the video below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26223372@N06/6776384303/

[Torchd]

bump