New guy with 1st time diesel

[Paco]

Howdy! This is my first time on and first post. I recently got a 78 BJ40 after being without a cruiser for 4 years. I am hving some cold weather starting problems and I think it is my choke or EDIC? motor? I am looking for information on how the B engine choke works and troubleshooting tips.

Thanks

 

[Tapage]

Hi and welcome dude .. official welcome to mud

Ok .. you 40 come with 3B . ? my 2H usea EDIC and it have 3 basic postion, off run and overinyection for starts ..

What kind of problems you have . ?

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

what country are you in and/or where is the cruiser from?

 

[Paco]

I am in the States on the West coast (Oregon). My cruiser is from Australia so it is a RHD. I have the original B engine and the only manual I have found so far is not very helpful with the choke assembly. Recently I had a fuel leak and after fixing a loose bolt on the fuel filter I could not get it to start. I used the pump to pressure the fuel system and it would fire but not stay running. Currently it is pretty cold and I have been having trouble starting it when it is cold. There is a switch on the dash that says choke (written with a sharpie from the previous owner) but nothing happens when I flick the switch. What is the EDIC motor? Is it part of the choke system?

Cheers

 

[roscoFJ73]

I am in the States on the West coast (Oregon). My cruiser is from Australia so it is a RHD. I have the original B engine and the only manual I have found so far is not very helpful with the choke assembly. Recently I had a fuel leak and after fixing a loose bolt on the fuel filter I could not get it to start. I used the pump to pressure the fuel system and it would fire but not stay running. Currently it is pretty cold and I have been having trouble starting it when it is cold. There is a switch on the dash that says choke (written with a sharpie from the previous owner) but nothing happens when I flick the switch. What is the EDIC motor? Is it part of the choke system?

Cheers

There is no choke on a diesel . You should have a fast idle cable which pulls on the throttle to increase revs.

Im not too clued up on the B primer pump ,but when you get air in the fuel system , it has to be able escape when you use the pump.
Your manual should show you how to purge the air out correctly

The EDIC shuts the engine down and it sounds like it is the problem here.Il let the more knowledgeable owners on the forum help you with that.

Have you checked the glow plugs? They heat the combustion chamber up so it starts easier and are particuarly useful in you temperatures.
Aussie owners who live in the warmer parts often neglect the glow plug sytem as it is not so crucial.

Oh and welcome to our forum

 

[bunja]

did you get an owners manual? How did you get a RHD into the states? Are you running regular or biofuels?

 

[Paco]

Thanks! I was kind of suspicious on the choke thing - I had never seen one on the dump trucks that I have driven. The throttle cable makes sense - I had one of my first FJ40, but I was thrown by the toggle switch that was above the "choke" text. I will have to do some wire tracing to see if it does anything. The manual I have is limited so I think I will shell out the $ for a decent shop manual.

 

[Paco]

did you get an owners manual? How did you get a RHD into the states? Are you running regular or biofuels?

It came with dual tanks and I have not yet gone through the fuel that it has in it but I will be running bio in it as soon as I can. Another guy near me has been running bio in a couple of his diesels and they actually run a little quieter and smoother. I looked into importing on my own and my wife was not quite ready to give me the go ahead on that so I picked this one up on ebay a while back. It has higher Km's but it is in pretty good shape. A project is what I have.

 

[bunja]

How old is the fuel? Could this be an old fuel or gelling problem? Also, which bolt did you tighten on the fuel filter, do you think air got into the line?

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

its probably just a simple starting aid issue. Bad wiring to the glow plugs. Blown glow plugs, symptoms that mightn ot show up until its cold like it is.. Good battery, checking for good charging from the alternator. I would start there, especially if it ran fine before.

 

[UpsideDown]

It sounds like you first need to do a full bleed of the fuel filter and injection system. It's easy to do, but takes a bit to explain. Even a small amount of air will prevent running or produce very, very rough running until the air purges.

Then, you need to check your glow plugs for proper function. In an early BJ with a B motor you can "touch up" the glow plugs to produce a smoother run while it warms up. Using too much throttle with a cold motor will make it run worse... use just enough hand throttle to make it run smoothly - about 800 or 900 rpm (given that a normal idle is about 650).

Then you need to see if you have enough oil to get the oil pressure up to keep it going. If it stops after about 5 seconds, then you may have oil starvation issues. One solution is to add a few more litres (ie: overfill it) to get the oil pump to prime, then drain the extra oil out once things are going again.

The "choke," or throttle plate, is used to regulate the position of the rack which in turn determines the amount of fuel and thus the speed and output of the engine.

hth.

~j.

 

[Deadicated]

The secondary Choke switch may a contact closure going to the EDIC manually placing it into the over inject mode (same as start on the ignition), a handy switch to have as once you get it running, you can give your rig a fuel boost if you need extra power.

You can confirm if this is the case having someone flick the switch while you watch the watching the EDIC motor (cylindrical object near firewall with pushrod coming out of it to the injection pump), if the switch causes full extension then it is working (do this as well when you put ignition into start position to confirm that the EDIC controller is working).

If you had a fuel leak you need to bleed the system with the primer pump (purging any system air through bleeder nossel near the fuel filter) As well, you have to bleed each of the injectors (loosen and tighten, loosen and tighten while cranking the engine, starting with the furthest away, continue to repeat until there is no more air bubbles). This will also confirm that fuel is coming to the injectors themselves.

As far as the glow plugs go you can measure voltage across the bar connecting the plugs.... if you have voltage there then you will have to feel to see if they are getting hot.

 

[Paco]

Thanks for the info - I will do some checking and see if the switch is working. I would almost think that one could hear it if the motor was not running and the key was on, but I can't. I am pretty sure that the glow plugs are working b/c it is impossible to start without using the plugs at all. I will check those when I bleed the system. I just ordered a full technical shop manual from SOR so hopefully that will help me.

 

[jmylie]

This is another source for manuals

http://www.books4cars.com/default.htm

http://www.books4cars.com/result2.htm?findyear=1978

72-90 Diesel Landcruiser shop service repiar manual BJ, HJ, LJ, by Max Ellery; over 500 pages including engines: B, 3B, 13B-T, L, 2L, 2L-T, H, 2H, & 12H-T Toyota (81_135895AE)