Thread: Defender TD5 won't Start??????

Frozen diesel hey I never would have thought of that.

You can remove the injector harness and seal it as a precaution and maybe replace the o rings. There should be some previous post on thi subject when I did mine. The harness connector is a poor design as is the harness in general. As the connector to the main engine harness is a cup type the oil can pool in it and then transfer allong the harness wiring to the ECU connector where it will cause interference with the firing pattern for the injectors. The easisest way to check is to pull off the connector harness at the front of the head and check for oil ingress. I have put a new one in mine, but kept the old one and gave it a good clean and sealed it up at every point where oil may be able to seep along the wiring and into the connector. I am looking at wether a drain hole could be drilled into the connector. Once the oil gets into the main engine wiring harness it takes a bit to get it out and some say you have to replace the engine harness which can be expensive and time consuming. This is not the case, the harness needs to be flooded from the connector with copious amounts of wd40 or non plastic deforming contact cleaner (ordinary contact cleaner can melt plastic), through to the ECU connector. You will need to keep disconnecting the ECU connector fro several days and mop up residual oil/wd40 until clear. The oil will not get into the ECU as it is sealed at the connector.

The big problem I see with the harness is this, They have turned it into a conduit to funnel oil to the ECU. It would be better to have a non wrapped / unsealed section of about 25mm to allow the oil to drip out and give a visual indication of its prescence.
Strip away a small section and reseal the ECU side. The more you try and seal it, the more issues will be created. The engine crankcase case pressure (if any), and/or capillary action will just assist it to find its way along the loom.

I had an experience with a Lime Kiln oil pressure switch where the diaphragm had ruptured and filled the sealed conduit and junction boxes with fuel oil. Over 1 kilometre of conduit and several junction boxes were filled with Number 6 bunker oil. It was found by one of my technicians as he opened up a box on a completely different job. The conduit was a sealed flexible type fitted with glands at each joint. (basically a hose).

Trev.

Thanks all for the replies, I will have to have a good look at the loom, maybe its better to cut away some of the cover to let the oil escape instead of travelling all the way to the ecu? sounds feasiable to me, I will have to have a really close look.
I did think about the diesel freezing as being a farmer with 8 tractors etc I do know a little about it, I am still running summer fuel as poor management on my part the tank was too full before to add much winter fuel. Here in Inverell they change over around April or May to the winter fuel ie non freezing type. I could of added Kero to the overhead tank but wasn't experiencing any problems. The rover was starting the week before in -6 temp no problems so I discounted the fuel freezing as the problem. Although it may have contributed to the air in the lines and probably did. I have ordered winter fuel and should be here this week 147.2 a litre for anyone thats interested delivered on farm. Yes the rover does start without glow plugs if you want which is really good. It gets very very cold here in the mornings -9 a not that long ago.
Thanks again for the ideas I will have to do some more checking.
Cheers Scott

Originally Posted by mikecmb

Frozen diesel hey I never would have thought of that.

it doesn't freeze, it turns to a sort of waxy gel... which deosn't flow through the fuel lines very well

Basically as mentioned add some kero (not too much - a couple of litres in a full tank) and this lowers the cloud point sufficiently to prevent waxing in 99% of possible winter conditions in Oz.

Originally Posted by disconut

The big problem I see with the harness is this, They have turned it into a conduit to funnel oil to the ECU. It would be better to have a non wrapped / unsealed section of about 25mm to allow the oil to drip out and give a visual indication of its prescence.
Strip away a small section and reseal the ECU side. The more you try and seal it, the more issues will be created. The engine crankcase case pressure (if any), and/or capillary action will just assist it to find its way along the loom.

I had an experience with a Lime Kiln oil pressure switch where the diaphragm had ruptured and filled the sealed conduit and junction boxes with fuel oil. Over 1 kilometre of conduit and several junction boxes were filled with Number 6 bunker oil. It was found by one of my technicians as he opened up a box on a completely different job. The conduit was a sealed flexible type fitted with glands at each joint. (basically a hose).

Trev.

The biggest problem from my observations is the oil actually ingressess into the wiring and travels down the inside of the wiring (copper threads) as well as the coduit.

back to the inertia switch....that couldnt have been the problem as it cuts off the fuel pump....
he said he could hear the pump running......

The fuel lines will freeze up in winter in Inverell.
My Folks live in Bundarra and the Campbell's BP sent them out the wrong fuel in winter. It took mum all day to get the fuel lines thawed in her TD5 Disco before she could go to work. Campbells had to come out and drain the farm tank and refill it with alpine diesel