Glow plugs knackered

[Sharpie]

This is the mitsubishi piece of s##t 4D56 engine if its a 2.5 but I'd say its sounding like a battery issue. These engines need the cranking speed to fire or they won't go, I'd avoid easy start with these engines if I were you as they're fragile when running normally let alone with a shot of ether detonating in it. The list of problems is pretty long though with these engines, I've spent (wasted) many years of my life running a company that built L200s into offroaders and modifying them. If it was one or 2 glow plugs it would cough and run rough until it warmed up, all glow plugs failing to heat would probably be a shot glow plug relay

Ether/Easy Start is ruination for diesels. As said it detonates inside them before they have gone over top dead centre. Don't go there. works well for lower compression spark ignition things such as petrol engines, or in my case garden tools, strimmer, chainsaw, outboard motors and a generator if I haven't quite got around to laying them up properly when put out of use for a while. It is supposed to have some upper cylinder lubricant in it as well but I don't really trust that, particularly in my 2-strokes.

I lay up those things by draining off the E5 or E10 petrol, run them through with a bit of Aspen Alkylate stuff, good to go first or second pull next time. Actually I mostly run the strimmer and chainsaws only on Aspen so don't worry about them. Lawnmower and particularly outboard motors use lots more, so it is E5, or sometimes E10 mostly, Aspen flush for layup. Ditto the generators. Stale petrol is not used again, tipped into my diesel vehicles, no more that 5% at a time, which both of them say is safe. E.g fill up car (50 litres) add max. 2.5 litres stale petrol. Truck takes 125 litres (extended range tank) but I very rarely fill it more than 50% full for obvious reasons. Rarely need to do 1000 miles on one fillup and prefer not to be carrying the extra mass.

 

[Malxwal]

4D56T, sold loads of cylinder heads, hundreds. Scrapped blocks that cracked at the front cam bearing housing (54/55 plates). Otherwise they rumble away....

 

[shakey jake]

would towing it and bump starting work? assuming its manuel

 

[Malxwal]

would towing it and bump starting work? assuming its manuel

Would still need heat to aid cold compression, which without battery to run glow plugs, probably not.
Sooo easy just to try jump starting off another motor.

 

[jimmy milnes]

I suspect that if you look on YouTube, you might find that replacing the glow plugs yourself is not beyond your ability

So long as they come out easily and don't snap off.

 

[Phil fox man]

I've had the same problems over the year's on my l200 and other cars.
the battery shows 12v but won't turn it over fast enough to start.
it's only the surface charge not the underload charge that you are measuring,I bet if you put a volt meter on the battery and crank it over you will see a volt drop.
I have two batteries in my work shop off my cars that will run pigeon magnets all day but not start my cars ( low load) low load usage.
no matter how much you charge a fcuked battery it's still a fcuked battery!.

 

[Phil fox man]

just an after thought! you don't want a car that may or may not start at 3oclock in the morning in the middle of a field, it's a long walk home or a cold night in the car,trust me

 

[Malxwal]

@Puds , please put us all out of our misery and tell us if she fired up with a jump start

 

[Puds]

Nope, wouldn’t go with a jump. Starter was stuck and battery utterly knackered, so had to get a tow up the street from my mate then roll down and bump-start it after ****ting the starter with a lump of timber & a mallet.
She’s got a new battery in now, and is going into the garage for an oil change & rocker gasket replacement on Tuesday so I’ll get them to test the glow plugs then & only change if necessary.
This is the last time I Google what could be wrong with it before asking on here though

 

[Malxwal]

Starter bearings could be shot, which in turn will put undue load on the battery and hinder cranking speed.

 

[Puds]

Starter bearings could be shot, which in turn will put undue load on the battery and hinder cranking speed.

I’ll get them to have a look at that too. I hate mechanic stuff, and would much rather pay somebody to do it for me.

 

[viking90]

Nope, wouldn’t go with a jump. Starter was stuck and battery utterly knackered, so had to get a tow up the street from my mate then roll down and bump-start it after ****ting the starter with a lump of timber & a mallet.
She’s got a new battery in now, and is going into the garage for an oil change & rocker gasket replacement on Tuesday so I’ll get them to test the glow plugs then & only change if necessary.
This is the last time I Google what could be wrong with it before asking on here though

If it's going in for a rocker gasket (I'm assuming it'll be leaking down the back of the head like they all do) ask them to get and fit a metal half moon piece instead of the plastic one that comes in the gasket kit. If they use the plastic one they may as well not bother doing it. I can't remember the mitsi part no for it but it's available online and is one of the things they came up with to try and cure the problem. If it's left to leak it'll take the clutch out eventually. The other important thing to check if it's been leaking is the rubber hose at the back of the head that feeds the EGR cooler, the oil turns the rubber hose to jelly and it'll blow. It's probably best to get them to change it anyway but atleast give it a look, it'll save your engine. If they change it don't let them use red OAT antifreeze to top it up either, use blue glycol or the OAT will eat the heater matrix. Thats enough anyway, I'll be here forever going on about the problems and fixes for these old s##t boxes at this rate

 

[Puds]

If it's going in for a rocker gasket (I'm assuming it'll be leaking down the back of the head like they all do) ask them to get and fit a metal half moon piece instead of the plastic one that comes in the gasket kit. If they use the plastic one they may as well not bother doing it. I can't remember the mitsi part no for it but it's available online and is one of the things they came up with to try and cure the problem. If it's left to leak it'll take the clutch out eventually. The other important thing to check if it's been leaking is the rubber hose at the back of the head that feeds the EGR cooler, the oil turns the rubber hose to jelly and it'll blow. It's probably best to get them to change it anyway but atleast give it a look, it'll save your engine. If they change it don't let them use red OAT antifreeze to top it up either, use blue glycol or the OAT will eat the heater matrix. Thats enough anyway, I'll be here forever going on about the problems and fixes for these old s##t boxes at this rate

Cheers, I’ll give them a list! MitzyBitz seem to do an updated gasket set so I’ll order that if necessary.
It’s a good solid truck but occasionally the engine (it’s a 4D56 I think) has a strop, and unfortunately I’ve never got a clue how to fix it

 

[viking90]

Mitzybitz should see you right for parts but yeah they are a horrible engine, especially the variable vane turbos lol. If you leave the trucks alone then generally they're pretty good but when you start modifying them with suspension lifts, big tyres etc then the yearly maintenance and repair bill goes through the roof. You could argue the factory power chip on the animal spec trucks and Ralliart power chips turn engines to scrap but I don't think it really matters as they all spit their dummy out at some point.

 

[Red Dragon 2]

L200 engines, as I was told, were old design and then upgraded beyond their capabilities, hence heads cracking all the time, got rid of mine when the head went for a second time.

 

[Phil fox man]

I've had my l200 from nearly new 59 plate raging bull.,(touch wood)no problems yet,though I don't drive like a boy racer.
oxygen masks drop out of the sun visors if I go over 60mph

 

[Puds]

I've had my l200 from nearly new 59 plate raging bull.,(touch wood)no problems yet,though I don't drive like a boy racer.
oxygen masks drop out of the sun visors if I go over 60mph

I only take mine over 50mph if I’m feeling like a big spender, the fuel needle goes down at the same rate the speedo goes up

 

[Smellydog]

Driving any diesel slow is not the answer either. They need a good blasting now and then.
The worst thing modern diesels have to go through is no gentle warm up!

 

[Fadcode]

would towing it and bump starting work? assuming its manuel

Unless you are absolutely sure the diesel is getting through a tow wont do any good, most modern diesels have electric fuel pumps so a good battery is essential, if a vehicle wont start off a good battery then towing wont help. If it is the heater plugs the light will stay on showing the fault, if it goes out, the chance is something else is wrong. As been said it would be quite rare for them all to fail at the same time, first thing to do is to fully charge the battery, take out the air filter and blow hot air down into the engine, give it plenty before you try to start it, as a last resort try Easi-Start if that wont do it, then look for other faults, other than the glow plugs. It is quite common for batteries to become less efficient in cold spells and fail.

 

[viking90]

I've had my l200 from nearly new 59 plate raging bull.,(touch wood)no problems yet,though I don't drive like a boy racer.
oxygen masks drop out of the sun visors if I go over 60mph

One of the mk4 L200s (like yours) I built returns about 200 miles to a full tank after all the modifications