Chaps, I have a bad diesel smell coming from the engine and there is evidence of fuel which has been captured in one of the pulley wheels.
It is very hard to start if sat for a few hours as I gather the fuel line now has air in it

Those of you that know the 2.7 derv engine, can you think of any obvious place that I can be loosing fuel at the front of the engine as thats the only place I have evidence of it due to derv being on the front belt.

90,000 miles on the clock 2004 2.7 Grand Cherokee

Thanks.

 

Hopefully someone can help you. Not many diesels over here in the states.

 

The Merc diesel is very temperamental to starting when air gets into the fuel lines and as you've seen that that'll be your poor start cause.

Often with these the 'o' rings on the end of the fuel lines allow ingress due to age. This more often sucks air overnight but have been known to pass diesel out but isn't so common.
Changing the 'o' rings is an easy job and cheap but do be careful if releasing the fuel line plastic clips as they will be brittle and break easily.
You push on the back of the white horse shoe that then flares the two retaining plastic clips.
The fuel line is pulled back while the horse shoe is pushed.
The 'o' ring for each end is just swapped with new (about 30p each from MB)
MB will need a VIN number from an earlier MB (the ends were changed in 2004) to search their PC. The rings are generic to earlier MB diesels but more often the sales chap is lost without an MB VIN (sorry I don't have one to hand).
For preventative maintenance it's a good idea to change these any way.

The more likely cause for your diesel leak is from the high pressure pump.
Located toward the top on the front of your engine diesel leaking will fall onto the auxiliary belt and be sprayed.
Repair kits can be bought for these pumps at approx £45 from a diesel specialist.
When I did mine I was fortunate in that once the pump had been removed I could see the clamp plate inside of the pump had worked loose, I tightened the torx screws and all has been fine.

The symptom was that after a cold night the Jeep was very difficult to start (air in the system). During the attempt to start diesel was leaking and onto the belt (so was every where). Once started the pumps own pressure sealed the leak and all seemed fine.

To identify I cleaned the area well using white spirit from a spray and rags, when engine warm after a run.
The following cold morning I watched with a torch while my other half cranked the engine. Seeing where the diesel was coming from was now easy.

 

That is very helpful thank you, I'll have a look thanks.

 

i have the same issues not starting and leaking, check the injectors as i have faulty ones(2 of them) that leak out the top and burn black hard crystalline mess allover the engine under the rubber mat on the engine under the plastic engine cover.

I'm still looking for injectors cheep enough anywhere outside of australia.

 

Well I had a mobile mechanic come around who stripped it down and found the seals leaking on the pump saying it was quite common for them to go.
so apparently he sent it off to a specialist to be re sealed and then fitted it again.
within 60k it was pissing out again so its been taken off again and not quite sure what's happening now.
It apparently cost 150 GB pounds to re seal

 

Your issue isn't the same. You have what is termed as 'Black Death', don't panic it's not really a death thing.
The injectors are a push fit into the head, they seal by a copper washer between head and injector. The injector is clamped into place by the fork and torx bolt (bolt into head).

It is fairly common for the sealing washer to pass.
The result is a smell of diesel and the tarring around the injector seal and head.
If left this can cause a greater issue as the tarring is corrosive and will eat at the head.

To resolve remove injector, 'cut' a new flat surface on the head, clean injector, renew 'sealing washer and bolt'.

Injectors can become solid in the head, there are specialist removal tools, or mobile removal specialists that can remove. Consider an overhaul of injector while out.

If it's the back injector (and possibly the next forward ?) the head needs to come off to remove as the bulkhead is in the way. This is one serious disadvantage of having the Jeep and not the Merc.

When reinstalling be very cautious and remove debris (and fluid) from the bolt hole. Heads have been punctured when re installing a new bolt with debris still in the hole.

 

thanks for that m1211!
i had the leak at the front of the common rail at first.
then i had injector probs.
or so the mechanic said.
after they fixed the leak they replaced the o ring then they told me injector was faulty.
now the 2nd time they replaced 2 injectors and one is faulty and they quote me $750 each injector.
do you have any ideas where to buy a complete set of injectors cheaper than $2500 anywhere outside of Australia?

 

I can ask a few questions to see prices around the UK.
Refurbishment is usually good enough at £125 per injector, although a friend had a couple done at around £80 recently (I'll let you convert to Aussi Dollar)

To replace all though removing the head for the back 1 (or 2 not sure) is the ball ache.

By 'o' ring I'm assuming you mean the sealing washer ?? It's just that 'o' ring to me is rubber.
If the work isn't done conscientiously when replacing the sealing washer a return of the black death isn't surprising.

Are you aware that you can prove injector integrity fairly well with a leak off test ? Injectors still in place and measuring the diesel leaking back to the return line while the engine is running.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Reconditio...ht_2280wt_1139

I'm seeing these sort of prices, some a little more, some a little less.
It wouldn't surprise me if this is an exchange item, so they can refurb for the next customer.

There are several from breakers also and can be cheaper, there is obvious risk when buying those though.

 

Horribly jelious here I want a diesel 2004 GC really bad aside from you leak how's the mileage/power? (sorry for not being to helpful)

 

The best consumption I've seen over 285 miles is 41.22mpg (UK gals). That was calculated brim to brim.
On reasonable runs I can regularly see over 30 mpg
The missus gets as low as 21 mpg in winter on a 7 mile each way commute, cold start and very hilly though.

The power and torque are good, bearing in mind that they aren't a sports car. There is ample grunt when asked for. Top speed if you don't mind watching the fuel disappear at speed is around the 120 mph.

They're very drivable.
As with the petrol's on the 17" wheels it's a bit wobbly. As It's not for off road use I've considered stiffening the suspension.

 

Sounds like a great jeep (minus the leaky bits) but they are so hard to find I'm surprised there even some on this forum

 

We is in the UK and Australia.
Here at least the 4 and 4.7 litre petrols (and as big as 6.2 litres I believe) 'aint so popular . Converting to LPG (with some disadvantages) would be a common option.
I looked at feasibility of buying a cheap (cos they are here) 4.7 and converting, the diesel won
Your fuel is cheaper I think so the concern of consumption is less. Although 'I guess' it's on the up as I read increasing concerns as to fuel cost.

The leaky bits thing shouldn't be very common. As I've owned a few Mercs, now a C320 CDI, I'm involved with a Merc forum so see a few tales. An excellent forum for assistance which swayed me toward the GC with the Merc 2.7 CDI Merc engine. For the balance of power and economy the best engine they ever produced, IMHO.
They are well known to cover 500,000 miles. Their 5 speed auto box is also smooth and reliable, it beats the 7 speed in my C320.

The biggest issue I see with the Merc engine in the Jeep is getting to the 2 back injectors, in a Merc not a difficult job, but a GC comes in at around half the price of an ML and I think they look better.

 

Well with my 4.7 I get about 10mpg and gas here in Wisconsin costs $3.75 a gallon or 2.3920 pounds for you UKers which isn't all to horrible if you think about it but it'd be nice cheaper or if it lasted longer. I'm just a die hard fan of a big v8(US definition of big to you is probably monstrous lol) my dad has a 2005 jaguar xk8 and that has a 4.2 and I think it's tiny but he gets about 30mpg.