Diesel start problem

[Bluey]

ok, put this here as not sure it is vehicle specific:

'85 Middy, with diesel 3B. no turbo

sometimes when i turn key to start car, after waiting for glow plug light gone out, nothing happens for anything from 1 second to almost 30 seconds today. dead silence except for heater fan, radio turns off and after 10 secs or so car alarm will beep.

if i give up and release pressure on key it will try to fire (real quick turnover, nevers goes from this). can do this several times in a row, yes it is getting worse!

no guarenteed time before it will try to start, but always starts once its decided it's good and ready (except for key release as above) unless real cold in morning (i live in tassie)

please help
would it be only glow plugs or ....


Cheers
Lance

[Patroler]

Well i'd check the starter solinoid, usually there are 3 connections on it, two are pretty big threaded posts, and one will be quite a bit smaller, One of the large posts is wired via a large cable to the battery's positive terminal, the other is wired into the starter motor itself.
When you turn the key from 'on' to 'start' the solinoid is activated, simultaneously pulling in a pluger which pushes out the drive gear on the motor, and sending power out from the other threaded post to the motor, making it spin.
If you get a test light, just check to see that the small cable gets power when the key is on start (the solinoid should click straight away if it does), and if so check the big wire between the solinoid and starter motor, it should get get power when key is at 'start' pos also.
This should give you an idea of wether the starter is getting power or not and if the solinoid is working.
Otherwise could be the keyswitch or bad connections.
If it were just the glow plugs, the motor would turn over but not fire (depending on compression).

[Roktruk]

Make sure all you cables are clean and have good contacts. Make sure you check the engine earth lead, too. A bad connection here means the starter current looks for any path it can - usually the throttle cable or air cleaner inlet.

The Toyota starter contacts are slightly dodgy affair, not contacting for the full surface area available. If the solenoid does pull in (described above) there may still not be enough current passing through the contact to spin the 3B, particularly if it's cold.

There's an aftermarket solenoid/contact re-build kit available that uses a large contact, and it made a big difference to spinning the 60 series 2H. Genuine Toyota is $$#@off expensive, and won't fix the problem.

[STIKA]

i had similar problem in my 60

i replaced both of the contact and the plunger in the starter motor and have no further problems.

The contacts and the plunger didn't apear to be worn however after replacing all 3 contact, i have had no further problems

[Bluey]

thanks guys, will check out the starter solenoid and cables asap. any more info on these rebuild kits like company/dollars would be good too






Cheers
Lance

[TUFF MAV]

Does it do it with the key held in the start position? If so does the fan stay on?

Kyle

[Bluey]

yeah, key held to start position and sometimes nothing happens. do you mean heater fan then yes, or engine fan then no idea but is viscous coupled fan anyway i think

[Vulcanised]

Sounds to me like your ignition switch may be on the fritz...... if it fires quickly as you release the key, probably means it's making contact again as the switch goes past where it is supposed to be in the first place..... try turning it all the way forward, then back it off just a fraction. I seen the same thing happen to a Volvo i used to borrow from a neighbour..... (shhhh don't tell anybody i drove one!!) it did the exact same thing as you are mentioning....... sometimes to get the wipers and radio and heater fan to work, you have to turn the key back a fraction.

[Reddo]

Sounds to me like your ignition switch may be on the fritz...... if it fires quickly as you release the key, probably means it's making contact again as the switch goes past where it is supposed to be in the first place..... try turning it all the way forward, then back it off just a fraction. I seen the same thing happen to a Volvo i used to borrow from a neighbour..... (shhhh don't tell anybody i drove one!!) it did the exact same thing as you are mentioning....... sometimes to get the wipers and radio and heater fan to work, you have to turn the key back a fraction.

Im with Roe on this one. To me it sounds like the contacts are worn out. If this is the case, it can be fixed at home

[TUFF MAV]

Yeah check the ignition switch. When you turn switch to start position you should have no power to accesories.

Kyle

[Bluey]

Sounds to me like your ignition switch may be on the fritz...... if it fires quickly as you release the key, probably means it's making contact again as the switch goes past where it is supposed to be in the first place..... try turning it all the way forward, then back it off just a fraction. I seen the same thing happen to a Volvo i used to borrow from a neighbour..... (shhhh don't tell anybody i drove one!!) it did the exact same thing as you are mentioning....... sometimes to get the wipers and radio and heater fan to work, you have to turn the key back a fraction.

Im with Roe on this one. To me it sounds like the contacts are worn out. If this is the case, it can be fixed at home

cheers boys, will check this out too


hey reddo, was up a tungatinah today, had about 4" of snow. friggen cold