"Mike Harrison" wrote in message
...
I have a diesel transit (2.5L K reg) that hasn't been run for a year or so,
but was formerly a very
quick starter, even when cold - have been through a few
charge/try-to-start cycles, (maybe a total
of a couple of mins cranking in 10 sec bursts) with no signs of life -
I'm guessing fuel may have
run back & isn't getting through - ISTR something similar a while ago when
it wasn't run for a
while.

Any hints for how to get it going - is there an easy way to prime the pump
etc.? Is it possible that
the fuel shutoff valve has stuck?


slacken off an injector pipe union, then get someone to crank it over and
see if you get any fuel out the cracked open union, that'll tell you if it's
a fuel or heat problem.

if no fuel at the injectors, first thing to check is the damn awfull
diaphram in the primer pump, push the black 'button' a few times on the top
of the fuel filter, if it has resistance then it might be ok, but they rot
away with no warning, so i'd expect you to find no resistance at all there,
if so that's the problem, get a new filter primer head to sort it.

if you get fuel at the injectors and still no start, then check the cold
start cable hasnt snapped, there will be a shirt bowden type cable going
from the pump to a large metal cylinder on the engine, this has a wax stat
in it and pulls on the cold start lever when it's cold, releasing it as the
engine warms up.

i had a works trannie that the cable had snapped on, would start down to
around 5 degrees c, but below that i had to wedge the cold start lever on to
get it to fire,

try to move the cold start lever, if it moves the cables snapped inside the
outer cable) so pull the lever in and get someone to start the engine....
it'll start again all day from then on, but the next day if cold enough
you'll have to do the same) of course the wax stat could have failed, so
undoo the big nut and operate the cold start that way.

..... i was on my own when i had the trannie with the snapped cable and the
boss who wouldent buy a new un, so i used a wedge of wood on a string to get
the thing going, string was threaded through the bulkhead in to the cab,
i'd pop the bonnet, place the wedge to hold the cold start lever open and
shut the bonnet, get in and start it, leave it for a minute or so to settle
down, then tug the string to release the wedge and drive off,

better than the job i had when i was the YTS bod at that firm a few years
before, my job was to crawl under one of the wreckers with a lump of wood to
push the starter up when they got a call out, it had a broken bell housing
and the starter sagged out of engagment, in the cold another yts lad was
employed to empty a can of easy start down the air intake (which ment
climbing on to the cab roof to squirt it down the intake untill he
discovered he could spray it in the water drain in the filter housing)