Tuesday, Jun 13, 2006 at 22:15
Howd'y, I've got a 2002 turbo diesel jackaroo also and have recently had a few fuel problems. A mate of
mine has one too, slightly older, about 2000. We both have noticed its fairly hard to start the engine (say compared with modern fuel injected petrol cars or even my old 1HZ toyota diesel) and this is particularly evident when it's cold. A Holden guy once told me its because the engine is prevented from starting by the programming in the ECU which won't let it kick over 'till the oil pressure reaches a certain pre-determined level. Presumably the ignition is prevented by the fuel injection being 'retarded' 'till the pressure gets high enough. This is supposedly a bit of a safety thing as
well as its supposed to protect some vital components from wear/damage 'till theres an adequate supply of lubricating oil present. I've noticed it starts more quickly after its warmed up so the oil would be a bit thinner then. I guess it makes sense. Another thing I've noticed is that more battery CCA = faster start up. i.e. The 2002 (and later) Jackaroo diesels had dual batteries from factory BUT, like the 100 series landcruisers this is more a factor of getting cranking power UP within a cramped underbonnet environment. Easier to fit two smaller batteries in than one huge truck size one. They are just wired in parallel to give twice the CCA rating = plenty of start-up power. I've had my batteries replaced (another story) with fairly high CCA rating (Exide Extremes) and fitted a Redarc battery isolator between them so usually I now only have one starting battery (which is the bigger of the two). I can hit a button on the dash and bring the second battery back into circuit (still in parallel) to help start and I notice this makes the engine start (cold) about twice as fast. I've said all this because I think the extra starting speed comes simply from extra cranking speed (or battery CCA) which lends itself to the idea that the oil pressure thingo is the real reason behind the inherrently sluggish starting on these engines.
On another front though, I only 'fill up about once every 3 or 4 weeks (not a daily driver) and I recently had the motor running sluggishly when you put your foot down to accelerate (OK at idle). Like if it was petrol, you'd think it had a dud spark plug or lead or simillar. That turned out to be probably caused by slime in the fuel filter. I'm told this probably was the result of the car sitting 'round in the driveway for a week or so with half a
tank of fuel in cold weather. 1/2 a
tank of fuel also means 1/2 a
tank of air. Algae can grow in diesel, or more precisely, at the interface between the fuel and
water. They grow better in higher oxygen concentrations. If
water vapour condenses in your
tank and drips into the fuel, it sinks to the bottom (h2o being denser than diesel) and the biological 'bugs' can then grow at the interface between the fuel and the
water. This algae stuff can produce a slime that gets stuck in the fuel filter. I tried some diesel fuel conditioner which seemd to work after 2 days (ran better than ever) but then within a day, it was running crappy again. I then changed the fuel filter which seemed to make it much better but still not perfect. I opened up the old filter and saw the 'slime'. It was a kinda brownish colour and like vasseline petrolium jelly and had done a great job of blocking the fuel filter medium. No wonder it ran crap, it was struggling for fuel. Recirculating fuel systems are supposed to clog the fuel filter quicker becuse the algae slime growing in the
tank is constantly getting pumped into the fuel lines and the filter than has to take it out. I now have some Biocide to put into the
tank to kill the bugs but I haven't had the chance to 'treat' it yet. I hope it works because I'm supposed to be going bush next month. I've been searching the net to find out if I could fit a Lucas/CAV/delphi glass bowl filter in series prior to the factory filter as I'm told they shouldn't be used to do a complete replacement (something to do with 9 micron filtration instead of 5 and a pressurised fuel feed as opposed to vacuum). I'd hoped this would make it easier to get the 'bugs' or other gunk (including
water) out of the fuel before it hits the (expensive) factory filter. (I can't believe Holden specify a 40,000k service life between fuel filter changes but that's what it says in the service book, crazy) CAV/Lucas/delphi filter elements are cheap! Dunno if this will help anyone but then again it just might. I've some more info regarding running on biodiesel if anyone is interested but that enough for now I recon. I should say the 3.0 litre jackaroo turbo diesel is actually an amazingly good 4wd for the money and I love it. All I gotta do is sort out my 'bugs'.
Spudley.
FollowupID:
434524