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Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 30 Jun 2018, 10:40
by nsjtaylor
Good day, folk!

Van has been running great recently, but has now developed an issue (discovered on the driveway - happy days), where it'll start just fine, run for a few moments, then dies.

If I start rev'ing it in an attempt to keep it alive, it still dies eventually. I've noticed that between re-start attempts, the time from start-to-fail gets a bit shorter. If I leave it alone for a while (go have a cup of tea) then come back and start again, it's back up to running for a minute or so, and the cycle starts again (start-to-fail gets shorter) if I re-start the engine.So, possibly some kind of progressive issue that eases off if I leave it alone for a bit.

Thinking that it could be filter-related fuel starvation, I replaced the fuel filter (old one was a bit skanky but still passing fuel OK) and also had the conical filter in the carb out (Pierburg 2e3) which was clean as a whistle.

Van has recently had new batteries, new starter motor, a bunch of earth connections polished and reconnected. I replaced all 4 spark plugs last weekend for new, and it ran great for the afternoon. I went to start the van yesterday morning, having not run the van for 5 days, and that's when I came across the start-then-die problem.

I'm fairly new to "running" issues, so; what's the next logical step in determining where the failure might be?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 30 Jun 2018, 10:47
by jrt
Have you tried pulling a pipe off and seeing if the pump (manual? ) is pumping enough fuel through.
David.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 30 Jun 2018, 11:27
by nsjtaylor
jrt wrote:Have you tried pulling a pipe off and seeing if the pump (manual? ) is pumping enough fuel through.
David.

Think I read something about that in the Haynes manual earlier :D (no laughin'! - we all start somewhere, eh?). I'll pull the fuel inlet hose from the carb again and see if the pump chucks plenty of fuel out under manual operation.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 30 Jun 2018, 11:44
by jrt
Yes just pull the pipe bung a bottle on the end and turn it over.
David.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 30 Jun 2018, 11:51
by nsjtaylor
jrt wrote:Yes just pull the pipe bung a bottle on the end and turn it over.
David.

Ahh, ok. So I DON'T actually have to remove it from the engine entirely, and operate it manually (literally). I'll Call a Friend and ask them to turn it over whilst I hold a container under the pipe.

I'm assuming I'd expect "a fair gush of fuel" as the "yup, it's working" indicator. As opposed to a bit of a "pffff" of fuel. Yeah ok, that all sounded a bit odd, but I've got no basis for comparison currently! e.g. it should be reasonably obvious if it's working/not-working correctly.

Thanks chap - I'll go give it a look-see in a moment.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 30 Jun 2018, 12:06
by jrt
You should get a decent squirt of fuel.. not a dribble. If not you could take the pump off and see if it's goosed by manually operating it-measure the push rod too, should be 100mm long.
David.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 30 Jun 2018, 12:46
by nsjtaylor
Cool. If it dribbles out I'll be removing it anyway, at which point I'll also test push-rod operation. Cheers.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 01 Jul 2018, 08:54
by nsjtaylor
jrt wrote:You should get a decent squirt of fuel.. not a dribble. If not you could take the pump off and see if it's goosed by manually operating it-measure the push rod too, should be 100mm long.
David.

Fuel is coming through fine. Come to the conclusion that it's probably crap in the carb (it's looking pretty grim), as it all starts and sparks fine (no timing issues either) and I'm 90% sure it's a fuelling issue.

So, I'll get a rebuild kit, strip it all out and learn how carbs work :D . If I'm still left with an issue, at least my carb is clean as a whistle!

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 01 Jul 2018, 09:46
by jrt
James Akers videos on you tube are great for all things pierburg :ok
David.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 01 Jul 2018, 11:05
by nsjtaylor
I already have them bookmarked, and have watched them previously! Wonderful videos. :ok

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 01 Jul 2018, 15:35
by Ant-t
jrt wrote:James Akers videos on you tube are great for all things pierburg :ok
David.

+1 for that, did mine with the help of these videos, a much happier bus after a clean and rebuild :ok

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 07 Jul 2018, 20:09
by nsjtaylor
Part way through my rebuild on the 2e3 carb. Testing every component that I've re-used as I go.

Testing the choke pull-down unit, and when I suck on the vacuum tube the unit kinda wheezes at me and doesn't move. (Really, it's not me wheezing!). I'm assuming this unit is toast and needs replacement, but as it's the first time I've rebuilt one, have no previous bench mark of a fully operational choke pull-down to compare against.

What do you reckon folk? Bust? Me not sucking hard enough? Or is it fine and the carb generates more suction than I ever could?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 07 Jul 2018, 20:29
by captain Byrne
nsjtaylor wrote:Part way through my rebuild on the 2e3 carb. Testing every component that I've re-used as I go.

Testing the choke pull-down unit, and when I suck on the vacuum tube the unit kinda wheezes at me and doesn't move. (Really, it's not me wheezing!). I'm assuming this unit is toast and needs replacement, but as it's the first time I've rebuilt one, have no previous bench mark of a fully operational choke pull-down to compare against.

What do you reckon folk? Bust? Me not sucking hard enough? Or is it fine and the carb generates more suction than I ever could?

Thanks in advance.
You've found your problem there. It should move with very little sucking effort.

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 07 Jul 2018, 22:03
by nsjtaylor
Thanks Captain! I shall order a replacement and continue on with putting the carb back together until it arrives. Hopefully the van will be back on its merry feet by Tuesday evening. Learning quite a lot by rebuilding this carb...

Re: Early 1.9DG - Starts, runs for a moment, dies.

Posted: 08 Jul 2018, 05:07
by kevtherev
There is also the idle speed fuel cut off.
Often called the anti dieseling valve.
If it's faulty it won't allow the engine to idle.
But it will rev happily.