Bongo Fury

2.5 diesel. Would not start yesterday so took battery off and charged overnight. Still wont start - glowplug light comes on ok, engine turns over. Put Multimeter on glowplug rail and engine body 11.75 volts. Wondering how to check if fuel is getting through, searched previous threads and saw suggestion to unscrew at injector. Is that straightforward, I dont want to cause another problem by overtightening or some other mistake.
Ron

Update. Looked at the injector nut and decided to take the plunge. When turning over fuel squirting out so guess the fuel supply is ok. Battery now flat so taken out and put on charge again. It is the Japanese battery that came with the vehicle when it was imported about 3.5 yrs ago so maybe it is knackered. Before putting it on charge I put the multimeter across the terminals and got 12v - in the past when it is flat I read about 8v. Might something wrong with the battery affect the glowplugs? Even though they are getting current could it be that they dont get warm enough?
Ron

11.75 volts sounds not enough. I think that a tired battery drops its voltage especially when cranked, so the glowplugs lose glow just when fuel starts to be squirted around them - the worst moment for a poor glow! If the plugs themselves are a little under-par then that would tip the situation over all the more readily.

Its only my half-baked therory but 11.75v does sound poor to me, and if the battery has an unknown history/age.......

Hi Mike thanks for the comments. It struck me that voltage is only part of the equation and the actual energy from the battery may be insufficient. Anyone else can comment on this? Any other way to test it?
Thanks
Ron

dump it its nackered

Hi ronhud,

I would test for a faulty heaters.

the voltage should be approx..

Batt 12.5 volts

Heater rail 11.5 volts

Batt 14.4 volts engine running

PS most heaters ar 11volt.

Cheers..

get the alternator tested to

whats the voltage once running will give a clue

Hi thanks for further comments. I tested the heater rail before flattening the battery second time and it had 11.75 volts. Since it has been a wee bit slower than usual to start for the last month or so I am tending towards buying a new battery... but I'm Yorkshire born and bred! I have a leisure battery too which is in good nick but also flat at the mo so I think I'll charge that up overnight and then tomorrow I might jump lead from leisure battery and see what happens. Unfortunately the leisure battery is so heavy that although I can wiggle it out it is a real weighty problem wiggling it back in and the Bongo is quite a height and I'm not so young and I dont have a drive so van is on the road. Ah well......
Ron

I suspect the leisure battery may be quite unsuitable for the job as it lacks the cranking amps ( = ability to maintain voltage when a v. high current is pulled from it).

the big question is - what voltages are you getting when the engine is being turned over by the same battery that is supplying power simultaneously to the glowplug assembly. Are you able to measure that (and what should it be normally). With a knackered SB, I wonder if the voltage drops unacceptably (esp. if plugs/assembly tired).

I wish Geoff or one of the other BF electrical experts would comment though, as I am emphatically not an expert.

id say buy new glow plugs aswell they dont last forever

Well several things I guess;
If the voltage was measured as 11.75 without the engine running then it will fall a lot by the time the Glowplugs are ON and the Starter motor is turning, as said above it needs a good charge from the mains first.
Using a L/B to do the starting, yes but don't do it to often and expect the L/B to have a shorter life! Also don't expect your charging relay and wiring to handle the starting current, you will need to use jumper leads in the normal way for both -ve and +ve terminals.

g8dhe wrote:Well several things I guess;
If the voltage was measured as 11.75 without the engine running then it will fall a lot by the time the Glowplugs are ON and the Starter motor is turning, as said above it needs a good charge from the mains first.
Using a L/B to do the starting, yes but don't do it to often and expect the L/B to have a shorter life! Also don't expect your charging relay and wiring to handle the starting current, you will need to use jumper leads in the normal way for both -ve and +ve terminals.

Hi Geoff,

It looks like like the 11.75 volt was measured at the rail(glow plugs on)

((Quote))Put Multimeter on glowplug rail and engine body 11.75 volts.
Cheers..

Further update. My son came round and we tried to jump start from his battery ( heavy duty on a 4wd vehicle). First I put my suspect battery back on the vehicel (after a couple of hours charging) and connected the leads. Then ran my jump leads from his battery to mine, he started his engine and I tried to start mine. Still wouldnt start but he saw a puff of dark smoke from the exhaust. The starter motor became slow as though I was only drawing from my battery. Removed the cables from my battery and connected them direct to the jump leads from his battery so now it was as if his battery was mine. Starter motor didnt turn at all, oh hell I've blown a fuse somewhere. Checked the engine fuse under the dash and the fuses in the cartridge attached to the positve battery cable. All ok. Went back to the original setup - my cables to my battery, jumpleads from his battery to my battery. Now starter motor turned but slow as if again my battery was affecting it. His battery started his motor as normal so dont think I could have drained his much.

So does having a knackered battery in the jump start situation affect the power being delivered to the starter motor and glow plugs?

And why would nothing happen when jump leads ran direct from his battery to my pos and neg cables?

jumping across jump leads usually doesnt work as your trying to draw a large current through leads that 9 out opf 10 times rated for it, jump leads are meant to be placed between the cars, let the 'donor' car run for approx 10 mins to put charge into the other battery, then disconnect the leads and let the vehicle turn over on its own. The battery acts as a capacitor and stores charge needed, basically the cables cant supply sufficient current.
Pull out your glow plugs as recommended by Dave, just because you have voltage at the rail doesnt mean the plugs are glowing up, and if they dont glow you'll never start the vehicle, pull them out, test directly across the batter using your jump leads and make sure they all glow nicely within 5 or so seconds, if not,bin and replace them!
Julian

The Starter motor itself is not fused, its directly connected to the battery - starter motors will happily take 500-600 Amps - briefly!
The various combinations you tried should have worked under one setup or the other, given that none of them did, I can only guess that you weren't achieving what you thought you were

Try this, with the Ignition OFF, measure the battery voltage of your battery at the terminals of the battery, after it has been charged from the mains and is mounted back in the vehicle it should be about 12.6 Volts.
Leave the meter connected to the terminals, now turn on the Ignition so that the GlowPlugs are on but no Starter, the voltage should be about 12 volts or better, if its below 12 volts and it was freshly charged then the battery is suspect. The voltage on the actual Glowplug rail will be less than at the battery terminals but only by 0.1-0.3 Volts if its much less then that then the Glowplug relay / fuse connections are suspect.
If all above is OK and your battery is able to turn the Starter and engine over reasonably well then I would suspect the Glowplugs given that you have checked that the pump is working, but I only own a V6 Petrol and don't have to worry about such items so no practical expertise in that area!

Oh yes one point to get a battery fully charged then its going to take more than a couple of hours at least 24 Hours and preferably 48Hours or until the charger says its in float or Mtce. mode.