Hi all,

Need some help with my xj I am no mechanic and little understanding with engines for the most part. I have swapped engines etc. in the past and kind of learn as I go. I brought a 2.5td xj sport 1998 recently with 12 months MOT and it didn't start. engine cranks and cranks but no fire. there is a really bad oil leak as you are looking in the engine bay on the right hand side.
to start with I have replaced the fuel filter, rocker cover gasket, glow plugs and that's about it. the dip stick pipe is very loose and you can pull up and down. I have loosed the pipes to the injectors and fuel is getting through. have used a full can of easy start and still no fire. I have basic tools but can some one tell me what to look at next? I'm really think crankshaft sensor but would this cause the engine not to fire at all? maybe a bad earth but any ideas where I would find these etc? any help would be appreciated.

 

Are the glow plugs getting power?

 

Diesels (at least old diesels) are very simple.

Crack the line at the injector loose and see if you're getting fuel. It's pretty high pressure, so just crack it, don't go crazy. If not, keep going back further until you find where it's stopping. You *might* be looking at having the injection pump rebuilt. If there is a fuel shut off solenoid, check that. Diesel XJs aren't a thing over here, but I can try giving general diesel troubleshooting advice.

Also, I know a lot of diesels don't like it when they run out of fuel. You might have air in the system somewhere and need to bleed it out.

This time of year, glow plugs really don't do anything for starting. They help preheat the air, bit they don't ignite the fuel directly. Even on cold start, diesel engines are solely compression ignition.

 

Yeah they're getting power light goes off within 3-5 s3conds ish. have also replaced them just incase but to behonest they looked good

 

I've been pumping the fuel filter till it gets hard. can't really say if it's doing anything or not. have also loosened each pipe to the injectors and fuel is getting to them so I don't think it's the fuel pipe. someone was saying with the oil dipstick being loose there would be no back pressure? I'd still have thought it would start eventually. battery is now buggered but only from trying to start it then charging it over and over again so I know that doesn't help. but just connect it to another car to try and get it to turn over.
should also mention I took the stop solenoid out the fuel pump and tested and works fine.

 

Well I probably should have read your initial post fully.

Have you ran a compression test? If it's not kicking off on starter fluid, it might not have enough compression to ignite the fuel.

 

not done a compression test might look in to getting a cheap kit from ebay. what would cause low compression out of interest?

 

You bought it like that, right? So there's no way to tell what the previous owner did to it. Did they drive it through a pond and suck water in the engine and bend all the rods? I've seen it. Did they overheat the hell out of it and blow the head gasket to smithereens? Seen that too. Did they try to do their own mechanic work and install a used injection pump but didn't get the timing marks lined up and also use zero gaskets so it leaks like a screen door? Who knows. If you got this thing in non-running condition, you have to treat it like nothing is right until otherwise proven innocent.

If you have fuel getting to the injectors and compression, it should be coughing at least. Also not running on starting fluid is a sure sign it's not compressing enough to ignite the fuel.

Do you have a block heater? If so, try plugging it in and give it a few hours to heat up, then give it a go again.

At this point, you have done some good initial checks so it's time to get a little more serious. Compression check it, if that comes back good you're probably looking at pulling the injection pump or timing cover at the least to see if the timing marks are all matched.

 

Oh yeah, you did say that there's a leak on that side of the engine... right?

 

Excuse my ignorance, but what does 12 month MOT mean?

Have you been driving it for a time and then just one morning it wouldn't start?

That turbo diesel is a high compression engine and you need for the
starter to spin fast. The battery needs to be very strong and the starter
needs to be in good shape. Have you tried jumping it with another vehicle?

Here in Africa when a diesel with a manual transmission won't start,
we get some guys to push it and it usually starts.

May I suggest you ask on the Aussie forum ? There are a lot of 2.5TD owners
down there and many are very knowledgeable. http://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum/vbindex.php

 

yeah didn't run when I got it. does almost want to turn over but just nothing when I had the rocker off it seemed all ok checked gaps etc and quickly spun the engine over and again seemed OK. going to try a jerry can of diesel with a direct feed in to the pump just to rule out crap fuel and then will check compression if nothing comes from that.

 

an MOT in the UK is what every vehicle after they are 3 years old has to go through each year to ensure its road worthy. they check brakes, tyres Structure of the vehicle etc. so I know if there is rust it's very little. Will check on the aussie site shortly thanks for the tip.

 

What key are you using with the immobilized system? Is it a gray key? Black key? Silver key, with no plastic? Is the yellow light in the dash turning off, that shows the Jeep is recognizing the security key?