Engine wont start!

[Mister E]

If there is still air in the injector pipes you will get some fuel out of them but not all the fuel needed to open the injectors.
It doesn't need a lot of air to stop the injectors opening.

 

[stu9000]

OK. Good to know. I've bled it twice now though. I'm on my own and tricky to see when turning ignition. This video suggests good flow to me..

could try again i suppose.

 

[38mess]

Yes thanks. No go

Try putting heat into the air intake, that usually works

 

[Mister E]

Looking at the video that is not a lot of fuel coming out.
Try opening 2 nots a bit more and close the one with the most flow. Then turn over for a count of 20.

 

[Pye_End]

Is there enough electrical grunt at the starter? Doesn't take a great deal of loss of revs sometimes to not start.

Presumably you don't have the water seacock open - just checking.

 

[38mess]

OK. Good to know. I've bled it twice now though. I'm on my own and tricky to see when turning ignition. This video suggests good flow to me..

could try again i suppose.

Should be a lot more fuel coming out. Take care as it's high pressure and can penetrate skin.

 

[chris-s]

We have the same engine and similar vintage, in comparison yours appears to be turning over slower, maybe just a result of your repeated attempts. You haven’t left the decompression lever ‘up’? I’m sure you would have spotted that as it’s pretty obvious.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I think the starter motor is turning too slow because battery juice is to low. It sounds slow to me. Take the starter battery home and charge up.

 

[dgadee]

And don't flood the engine with cooling water - as I once did. Only to find I had an empty fuel tank.

 

[oldharry]

Doesnt sound to be turning fast enough to me. The engine must turn at a good speed or the fuel in a cold engine will not ignite. Low battery? Terminals at: battery, starter motor, negative return strap at the engine (the most common cause of non slow starter). A quick but not infallible way of testing is to crank the negine for 10-15 seconds then see if any temrinals are hot. But be careful they can get very hot very quickly! Another way is using a multimeter set for 12 volts (usually 20v range, and check the voltage between the battery negative pole (not the terminal clamp) and a clean metal bit on the engine block with everything switched on. Anything over around 0.5volts indicates a bad connection. Dont go pulling injectors yet. If it was running and now wont start it will not be injectors. Mechnical injectors will never all fail completely the same time S*ds law excepted!).

 

[black mercury]

Does it smoke out the exhaust when it's turning over? Depends where your control panel is, you may need long arms or an assistant. If it smokes the engine is getting fuel. If you place your fingers on an injector when the engine is cranking you should feel it 'squeak' if it's injecting fuel. You could try easystart to see if it fires.

 

[srm]

Might not be relevant but I had a lot of trouble starting a Yanmar 2GM as the starter motor was sluggish even with fully charged batteries. After trying many things the answer was a starter motor from eBay.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

After turning over a few times to get oil onto bearings, I would squirt quick start (not WD40 which is a lubricant and freeing agent) into the air intake. If it doesnt at least fire on pure ether something is very wrong with it.

If it fires on pure ether but stops then either fuel not getting to injectors at right time or fuel heavily contaminated with water.

If it fires on pure ether and runs then starter + battery combination was inadequate for just diesel

 

[stu9000]

Tried again at injectors.
No joy.

 

[Graham376]

After turning over a few times to get oil onto bearings, I would squirt quick start (not WD40 which is a lubricant and freeing agent) into the air intake. If it doesnt at least fire on pure ether something is very wrong with it.

If it fires on pure ether but stops then either fuel not getting to injectors at right time or fuel heavily contaminated with water.

If it fires on pure ether and runs then starter + battery combination was inadequate for just diesel

Is it definitely fuel not water when bleeding?

 

[stu9000]

Is there enough electrical grunt at the starter? Doesn't take a great deal of loss of revs sometimes to not start.

Presumably you don't have the water seacock open - just checking.

I think so. 400ah of leisure batteries, topped up with solar. I have another two batteries for engine starting but I do wonder if there is a problem there. Turns over ok with leisure bridged to support engine batts.

 

[stu9000]

Is it definitely fuel not water when bleeding?

Yes. Been mopping enough of it up so I believe the fuel is good. I've also had the water intake off as was reading about flooding the engine.

 

[stu9000]

After turning over a few times to get oil onto bearings, I would squirt quick start (not WD40 which is a lubricant and freeing agent) into the air intake. If it doesnt at least fire on pure ether something is very wrong with it.

If it fires on pure ether but stops then either fuel not getting to injectors at right time or fuel heavily contaminated with water.

If it fires on pure ether and runs then starter + battery combination was inadequate for just diesel

Thanks. This is useful. Was using wd40 on advice it is less aggressive but your approach will help with troubleshooting..

 

[stu9000]

Might not be relevant but I had a lot of trouble starting a Yanmar 2GM as the starter motor was sluggish even with fully charged batteries. After trying many things the answer was a starter motor from eBay.

Thanks. I'm starting to wonder if it something like this. How did you narrow it down to the starter motor?

 

[stu9000]

Looking at the video that is not a lot of fuel coming out.
Try opening 2 nots a bit more and close the one with the most flow. Then turn over for a count of 20.

Thanks. Great to have an experienced eye feeding back. Will give it a go.