'78 BJ40 Engine Start Trouble - seeking advice (1 Viewer)

[Wade Sahni]

Hey everyone,

Finally I got the BJ I always dreamed of....hold the laughter...

But seriously, my 78 BJ40 just arrived from Costa Rica,

I have not had a lot of success getting her to start, despite the engine turning over without fuss before she as shipped.

1. I connected the battery but wouldn't even get a click or wind when trying to start, I figured the battery was drained from 6 weeks at sea not being used.

2. I jumped it and after a while, like 20 minutes of trying to start her and waiting in between attempts she finally started. I let the engine run for a while, took it out for a spin, brought it back, turned it off, tried to start, no luck, no clicking or winding, so I jumped it again, and it started.

3. I figured the battery was finished. So I bought a new battery. 865 CCA 12V battery, connected it up, tried to start her, nothing. No clicking when trying to warm up the plugs, no nothing.

4. Got the jumpers cables out again and tried again, engine was trying to turn over, and I was getting the single CLICK sound when heating up the glow plugs.

5. Disconnected the jumpers, and now when I try to heat up the glows I get rapid succession clicking. When trying to start I get a wind or just a click of the engine trying to start.

At this point I am not really sure what I should do, whether it is a glow plug issue, or a starter issue, or an electrical issue.

Side note, when I hook up the jumpers the accessories work (all the lights and such), with the new battery hooked up the lights do not turn on.

Any thoughts from the LandCruiser hive mind? What would you do next?

Cheers,
Wade

 

[JohnBoy]

Make sure your grounds are good clean. For that matter, make sure all your factory grounds are present. I'm no 40 expert but having messed with some muscle cars over the years, I've seen this problem over and over. A PO does a restoration and leaves off grounds or attaches the ground to a protected or painted surface causing poor contact. Bad grounds can cause all sorts of failing to start Gremlins.

 

[Wade Sahni]

So it turns it out it was a combination of a bad ground wire and a dud new battery from Napa auto parts.

I took it to a good diesel mechanic (DAS Auto Werks), he recommended an AGM battery, any recommendations on a good battery to go with?

 

[JohnBoy]

Yep!

Just an FYI and I'm simply passing along what little information I do know. Whenever I purchase a battery, I always put my multimeter on it and make sure it's fully charged. And of course, if the battery is down, I charge it up before the install. If I'm lucky enough to get it running, I multimeter the system and see what type of voltage my system is putting out.

Body grounds are so over missed and cause more people to cuss than almost any other issue. Improperly connected grounds, missing grounds, grounding wires to painted surfaces, corroded or dirty ground contacts, old cables/wires and poor battery terminal lugs/ends will cause every conceivable electrical Gremlin known to mankind.

My power and ground cables always come from a welding supplier or an industrial trucking supply business. I measure what I need and have them cut and crimp on my battery terminal lugs and ends. I've been able to successfully eliminate electrical issues but may have just jinxed myself.