GU-2.8TD Starting Update

Submitted: Monday, May 10, 2004 at 14:47

ThreadID: 12748 Views:1614 Replies:2 FollowUps:2

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Member - Hugh (WA)

Hi to those guys contributing to earlier discussion,

I phoned Motson's today and spoke to Noel who was very knowledgeable on this issue and gave some extra advice.

The cover plate in question is indeed for the injection timing piston. The wear mechanism is as posted by "GUMagoo93". The spring is other side than for the GQ pump, hence the fix can be done with pump in-situ. The Motson's fix is a new cover with extra thickness in lieu of shims, as available ex Nissan. For an in-situ fix, I think the Motson's cover seems a good way to go as I could see fitment of shims being a little fidly. Quoted price was $49.50 + postage.

Noel recommended that before replacing the cover plate, that I check the pump inlet filter which can become blocked. This is a small brass filter locating in the banjo fitting of fuel inlet hose to pump - not the primary fuel filter mounted off the inside guard. If this filter is blocked then it induces similar starting symptoms. Apparently the Nissan fix is to leave the filter removed, however Noel advised they replace it (very cheap). I wonder if the battery fix is somehow related to this filter i.e. electric pump flow is less due to reduced voltage and longer to prime pump if the filter is partially blocked.

I intend to check the inlet filter to see if this may have been a problem. Given that the engine starts OK now after new battery, I'll hold off on the cover plate for now.

Regards,
Hugh

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Reply By: rolande- Monday, May 10, 2004 at 19:05

Monday, May 10, 2004 at 19:05

Hugh,
Out of interest, how long do you have to crank it for to get it to fire, eg, 0.5secs, 1 sec, 2secs, etc??? Went for the shim with the old battery and was just wondering
Rolande

AnswerID: 58033

Follow Up By: Member - Hugh (WA) - Monday, May 10, 2004 at 19:37

Monday, May 10, 2004 at 19:37

Hi Rolande,

Prior to replacing the battery, and leaving it at key-on for ~ 20 secs after glow plug light went out, I would say that it took ~ 2-3 seconds of cranking before first fire. It has only been a few days, but I now find it fires almost instanteously (say ~ 0.5 seconds after crank), and this is with cranking as soon as glow plug light goes out. I tried cranking prior to glow plug light going out but that isn't too effective.

By the way, I called into the Nissan delaer on the way home from work to ask about the filter in the banjo assembly. The service guy told me that the 4.2TD had quite a problem with this filter blocking, so Nissan have now deleted it. He hadn't heard of too many 2.8s having this problem, however this may be explained by reduced volume. The filter is actually inside the banjo bolt and apparently comes out OK. I am going to remove mine.

Regards,
Hugh

FollowupID: 319784

Follow Up By: rolande- Monday, May 10, 2004 at 19:52

Monday, May 10, 2004 at 19:52

Hugh,
Thanks for the reply, just for the record, I used to crank for 5 - 6 secs after the glow plug went out before firing, now it fires in about 0.5 secs whether the glow plug light has gone out or not, ( I don't usually do this, just tried it to see what would happen).
Rolande

FollowupID: 319790

Reply By: Diesel Do - Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at 15:52

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at 15:52

Thanks for all the info. Can't decide whether to fit the shim or not...

Car has done 78,000 klm. Mostly long trips towing a boat and loaded with gear. It's absolutely brilliant for this kind of travel. Don't use it (really) off road - it's underpowered low down and the throttle response is horrible for that kind of work. But put a long road in front of it and it's just great. I can drive from Adelaide to Alice in ~15 hours and not feel buggered when I get there.

Just for comparison, mine starts within 1-2 seconds, but I use the seat belt light as the timer, not the glow plug lamp. I haven't checked the delay on the seat belt lamp, but thinks it's about 10 seconds.

If I leave the ignition on for 30 secs or more, the car will crank for 20-30 seconds (or even several retries) before starting, and then blow heaps of smoke. It actually starts better than that if I don't wait at all before cranking (as you would a petrol engine). I don't do this usually, just tested it for this message.

So no delay is bad - long delay is worse and seat belt lamp delay is perfect.

This is after replacing the battery about 18 months ago. Before that it was a bugger to start in almost all conditions (except when hot already), and always created a cloud of smoke.

Thanks again.

AnswerID: 58166