LJ78 wont start after engine wash

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N

n0ferz

10 Year
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Threads
8
Messages
88
Hey all,

I need some help on where to check to solve this no starting issue on my truck.

I went on Sunday 9 of December to the car wash and washed the engine, fired the truck after the wash and the guy told me if I wanted to spray tire dressing into the engine bay rubber and I said ok, he sprayed all the engine bay while the engine was still ON, after that I drove the truck home normally and shut it off.

Last Sunday (Dec 16) I went to start the truck and it wont fire at all, I don't hear the glow plugs clicking, the pre heat light in the dash doesn't come on and well the engine doesn't start, it just cranks and cranks to no avail.

So based on the description what do you guys think might be bad and where do I begin to start fixing this????

The engine is 2LTE with Auto trans.

Thanks,

Emir-
 
Check the glow system first. Getting any power to the glow plug bus (use a test light) when you turn the key on?

If not, then:

There are some fusible links, often green pieces of wire at the + battery terminal, that are for the glow plugs and other electrical functions (there are several fusible links). Check continuity at both ends of the links with a test light.

If the fusible links are good, test further along the glow plug system wires - a good place to look as at the connectors near the glow plug relays that are mounted on the left from inner fender area.

Do this first, then post up your results.


~John
 
Thanks for your reply John....I forgot to add that I manually heated the engine with a wire on the + battery and connected it to the glow plug rail and the engine did not start either, it just cranks and is not picking up to where it starts!!
 
Can you point me where that solenoid is located please? will it work if I disconnect the battery for like 15 mins to reset the ecu or something like that??
 
Sounds like it could be a fuel problem. I found out the hard way that my LJ78 runs out of fuel when the gauge reads 1/8 tank. Try pumping the primer and see if there is any resistance. If not, start looking for fuel system problems. Maybe you just ran out of diesel like I did, or maybe air is getting into the system.
 
Well it might be that there is air in the system because the tank should have around 20 gallons of diesel :P, I need to replace the fuel filter canister since the top button where you prime is not working!!

But what I find strange is that the glow plugs relay are not clicking also the yellow light next to the turbo light in the dash is not turning on either when it should!!
 
n0ferz said:
Well it might be that there is air in the system because the tank should have around 20 gallons of diesel :P, I need to replace the fuel filter canister since the top button where you prime is not working!!

But what I find strange is that the glow plugs relay are not clicking also the yellow light next to the turbo light in the dash is not turning on either when it should!!
Click to expand...

I believe those lights/systems are controlled by the engine computer (ECU). It's located above the glove compartment insert. It's possible the computer is not getting power for some reason, which could be related to the engine bay wash. I've also had a problem before where the ground from my battery to the body was not very good. It stopped power getting to my computer and I had a very similar problem you are having. If you have not already, definitely double check the effectiveness of that ground wire from battery to body. Its the smaller of the two ground wires, but critical as I found out.
 
There could be any number of issues:

Are you glow plugs actually working? have you pulled them and tested them?

Need to go back and see if there's fuel coming out of the injectors while cranking. Easy enough to do, just carefully loosen the injector tubes at the injectors a few turns and then check for fuel spritzing out when the engine is cranked.

If no fuel: check power at ECU - check the fuse first!

The fuel shutdown is controlled by the Spill Control Valve on the pump.

~John
 
Fuel is coming out of the injectors while cranking, will need to remove the plugs and check if they didn't all burn at the same time since these are relative new.

I believe that the ECU is bad, why I say this?? Because you can power the relays and the yellow light next to the turbo in the dash from the ECU if you add power to those lines with an electric test probe.
 
The 13BT uses a shutdown VSV same as the 12HT, and also the 2H with the automatic tranny.

The 2LTE uses a solenoid within the injection pump to shut down but stopping fuel flow - this same solenoid controls the fuel delivery volume during running.

If there's fuel at the injectors then the computer is working.

I would check the glow system more carefully, and if you're not getting dash lights I would suspect a fusible link or a fuse.

When you manually powered up the glow plug bus, did you get a good spark indicating that there was current draw?

The glow system on the 2LTE is somewhat prone to problems, but is not too bad. The timing is controlled by the computer (the same one that does everything else). The power to the two glow relays passes through a fusible link at the + side of the battery.

The two relays are mounted on the left fender.

In working on these vehicles in the past I have found:

- broken / fused fusible links at the battery terminal
- burned out glow plugs
- melted connections within the plugs at the glow relays (arcing burned out the connections within the plug)
- non-functioning second stage resistor for the cooler stage (it's in the manifold)
- non-functioning relays (an easy replacement with good units from the aftermarket)

Things that don't help these systems survive:
- not replacing all the glow plugs at the same time with ones that are all identical. When one plug goes, the current to others increases and promotes an early demise of the remaining good ones.
- trying to "multiple glow" the system by cycling the key on-off-on etc. It's better to cycle the key once, then keep waiting for a bit longer after the yellow light has gone out - the system is still energizing the glow plugs even after the light goes out...

Hope this helps.

~John
 
Thanks for all the info John, I installed another ECU today and still the lights are not coming on so you are dead right that my other ECU is currently working. I will check what you listed here and post the results in here.

I think I will wait for the next year to start dealing with this issue lol

EDIT: I forgot to tell that regarding the glow plugs when I manually powered them, yes I could see some spark indicating current!
 
Update:

So I managed to start the engine by manually powering the solenoid in the injection pump and the engine fired but was running very rough, this is the only way to fire this engine at the moment, we use 2 wires straight from the battery and the engine starts....black smoke comes out like crazy and the engine sounds rough and seems to accelerate itself.

It looks like the TPS, injection pump solenoid and glow plugs are not getting any current at all...any thoughts???
 
Anyone? I am trying to locate the fuse box on this truck as well....any pointers where it should be?

This truck was originally RHD and converted to LHD if this means something to those who have worked in both versions of these trucks
 
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