1.9 troubles

[gunrtd]

my 1995 1.9L TD is having some major issues. taking for ever to start in the am (10-15min!!). Tons of blue smoke, and will not stay running once started unless the cold start valve is engauged. (even when hot)
I am trying to find injectors, could I use the 1.6L TD or are they the wrong calibration?? Am I on the right path? Car has 75K kms.
Can't source any injectors on Vancouver Island. Any ideas? I wanted to replace rather than rebuild cause I need the car daily and can't afford the down time.
Was running great, then this BS all of a sudden.

[burn_your_money]

Check the crank pulley to make sure it isn't wobbling. It sounds like your timing is slowly sliding into oblivion

[vanbcguy]

Sounds more like glow plugs than injectors... Especially the fact the symptoms started suddenly (coincidentally right around the time of year when it gets colder!!)

Definitely check the timing too!

[Smokey Eddy]

yeh 15 mins of cranking sounds like none of he gps are working...(how does it crank for 15 minutes? thats nuts. My battery would die in less than 5)
the blue smoke means oil, im sure you knew that. common places for oil to get into the combustion areas i've noticed on the forum is at the turbo and the rings.
Rings could also contribute heavily to your starting problems.
check the level to see how much oil you're burning?

[gunrtd]

doesn't really burn any oil, this is only on start up. I got it running and undid the injector lines one by one. The problem seems to be cylinder number one. Once it's on the highway it seems pretty good.
The GP's look new, any way to test them?
I work in marine, on  marine diesels you hit the GPs for like 30 secs and then they just go. These plugs seem to only be on for a couple secs - is that the norm, or is the relay NFG?

[vanbcguy]

The blue smoke isn't necessarily oil - it can be (and in this case almost certainly is) unburned diesel fuel.

When you say "these plugs seem to only be on for a couple secs" do you mean the light on the dash, or you only see voltage at the plugs for a few seconds?  The light just means the relay says it wants to turn the plugs on, it doesn't mean there's actually any voltage at the plugs.  Furthermore, the light goes out when the relay considers the car "ready to start", it doesn't actually mean the glow plugs are turned off yet.  

Check for voltage at the actual glow plugs with a multimeter or test light.  If you disconnect the temp sender wire they should stay on for a loooooong time.  If you're not seeing any voltage at the glow plugs then I'd check in this order:

- Big 50A fuse on the firewall
- Glow plug relay itself
- Wiring (unless you've previously had a wiring harness fire / short or something, then start here!)

If you actually want to test a GP you can pull it then connect it to your battery directly with some leads.  It'll get red hot REAL FAST if it's good.  You can also check the resistance across the plug, but you have to disconnect the bus bar and everything first anyhow.

As far as the injectors go, can you be more specific?  Do you mean the car starts better with injector #1 out of service, or the smoke goes away?

[cyrus #1]

It's very unlikely that the rings are bad after 75k km.  Does it do it only when cold or hot starts as well?  The glow plug light only indicates the car is ready to start.  It doesn't really relate to when the plugs are on.  If you have a multimeter you can measure the glow plug itself for resistance.  If there is none it needs to be replaced.

Did you check the crank for wobble?  Does it sound any different than usual?  Does it lack power?  How has the fuel economy been?  If you have heat shields for the injectors you could swap a couple around.  If you move #1 and the problem follows it's a safe bet the injector is at fault.  If it stays you are likely to have an issue at that cylinder.

[gunrtd]

I'll check those plugs for voltage.
With number 1 off, the smoke subsides.
Crank pulley is true and the bolt is tight.
Fuel economy has dropped this past tank.
Anyone know of a source for injectors in western Canada?
Still waiting for the tools I bought to come so I can check the IP timing.

[vanbcguy]

Does the smoke go away one the engine is warmed up?

I haven't found anywhere that has injectors over this side yet.  They can be rebuilt though - I know of a place in Langley that does them, but I've never been there myself.  They apparently put the 1.6TD in to my Jetta all the while telling the owner at the time it was the same as the 1.9 AAZ they pulled out, but that could be previous owner BS too...

Auto Parts Online Canada claims to have 1.9 AAZ injectors...  autopartsonlinecanada.com - kind of pricey though!  I also can only recommend them so much - I got my timing belt from them OK (and very quickly) but I'd ordered some brake rotors at the same time which never showed.  I contacted them about it a week later (thinking they might get shipped separately) to be told that no, they hadn't been shipped and they'd give me a credit.  I told them I'd rather have the rotors, then got nothing back from them whatsoever for another week.  Asked again, this time saying I'd be talking to my credit card company if they hadn't responded by the end of the month.  They came through with my refund then, but refunded the wrong amount (a couple bucks more than they should have so I'm not complaining, but it indicates they don't know what's going on!)  YMMV...


Too bad you don't have a spare set, you could always send them off to Giles...

[burn_your_money]

I'd be less surprised if the car actually has 375xxxkms instead of 75000 kms on it. Does your cluster say total?

You should check the crank to cam timing. You don't need any specail tools to do it.

As a test, take a 8 gauge wire and connect it to one end of the glowplugs, and the other end to the + terminal on the battery. Go try and start the car. From the time you hook it up, give yourself 30 seconds before turning the key. If it starts better, bad wiring, fuses or relays. If it's the same, glowplugs, timing, injectors or compression. Or a combination of things. You can leave the car running and unhook the cable. I think the glowplugs are on for up to 2 minutes on the AAZ so you aren't going to damage them.

[vanbcguy]

As a test, take a 8 gauge wire and connect it to one end of the glowplugs, and the other end to the + terminal on the battery. Go try and start the car. From the time you hook it up, give yourself 30 seconds before turning the key. If it starts better, bad wiring, fuses or relays. If it's the same, glowplugs, timing, injectors or compression. Or a combination of things. You can leave the car running and unhook the cable. I think the glowplugs are on for up to 2 minutes on the AAZ so you aren't going to damage them.

Smart!!

[arb]

It's very unlikely that the rings are bad after 75k km.

Unless the oil was never changed. It doesn't have the factory oil filter, does it? US cars have a specially marked filter (Ford uses a green dot on the outside) at the factory so the dealer can see why an engine fails when the oil has never been changed.

[andy2]

I would still say that the timing is off either belt or pump timing.The crank pully doesn't always have to wobble to indicate that there is a problem.I would pull the crank sproket off for inspection as it is usually a problem.

Burn is right it probaby has 375,000 kms on it.

[andy2]

it could be possible that the timing belt is not tight enough and has skipped a tooth or 2.

[gunrtd]

There is a wealth of knowledge here! I appreciate everyones comments.

It is 75K, although I have no idea how the car was kept - paint is poor but interior excellent, I can only hope they were good to the little engine.

I will check the timing are there marks on the pulley, or does the valve cover need to be off?

I checked the voltage at the GP and it only registered at 9V. Is there an internal resistor, or are these supposted to be 12V? Feeling like its time for an external relay.

I built a tool to remove the injectors and am trying my hand at cleaning those up.