Thread: Glow Plugs - L series Diesel

I went and replaced the three accessible glow plugs today. All came out relatively easily - noting that the fourth glow plug cannot be removed without removing the injection pump so that is staying put. To get the first glow plug out you have to remove the top radiator hose because it is in the way.

Here is a pic of the removed glow plugs - the two at the right only have a light carbon covering but the one on the left was covered in engine oil - maybe a dead valve seal.



On putting the new glow plugs in and turning on the ignition the first thing I noticed was that the glow plug light was on much longer than previously - now 15 secs where before was only 5 secs. On turning the engine over there was an initial fire but the engine did not start for a few more turns then ran fine - this time there was no unburnt fuel smoke on start.

So has started quicker without smoke but the outside temp was 22 degrees so not a definitive test but I would say I did have a glow plug issue.

I will see what happens in the morning when temp is about 3 degrees. On cold mornings I normal go through two glow plug cycles (summer just start) so if there is still is an issue I guess I will try fine tuning the pump.

Cheers

Garry

Went out and started the car this morning - not as cold as expected but did take some cranking to start but no smoke - so issue was/is a combination of glow plugs and injector pump fine tuning.

I took the injector pump belt cover off and found the sproket to be in the fully retarded position. The slots are about 15mm long so I moved the sprocket to the mid position which has advanced about half a tooth so now is in a neutral position. The engine started straight away but even the engine was cold, outside temp was about 23 degrees.

So again I will try early in the morning when temps will be much colder.

For those who have a FL1 L series here is a pic of the general layout of the injector pump belt - the injector pump sprocket on the left and the camshaft sprocket on the right. The four adjuster bolts can be seen on the camshaft sprocket. Loosening these bolts allows the sproket to turn a little while the actual camshaft to which the sprocket is bolted does not move.



I didn't take a pic before adjusting the belt but the adjuster slots in this pic of the camshaft sprocket are covered by the bolt heads as the adjustment is now in the neutral position. You can see the bolt head marks on the sprocket that gives an indication of the adjustment range available.



Garry

Went out this morning to start the car - after one glow plug sequence it fired first go and with no smoke .

Thanks to Woko for his timing advice - worked really well. However I would have thought that there might have been a more scientific way of fine tuning the injection pump. To advance the timing until the engine fires OK when cold seems just a little crude.

Nevertheless the car starts really well now - thanks to everyone for your input.

Cheers

Garry