Engine swap TD wont start

[MrCatDNA]

Hi all

First I must confess I have neglected my camper over the years. It’s been sat on the roadside slowly rusting away. I needed to use it late last year and a few miles down the road the pump belt came off and it overheated… badly badly.

Had oil in the water but that cleared after a fair few failed attempts to fill the cooling system. Took it to a garage and was told the head was cracked with a possible cracked piston. At this point I was gong to break it and sell on ebay but thankfully I came to my senses and decided to save my van and use it this time. The death of my rusty van had sparked a new love lol.

Got myself a used lump and after a few nightmares have done the swap but can’t start the thing…

I’m posting to see if you learned folk have any ideas, and to find someone who knows their stuff, lives near Ross on Wye, and would be willing to come see my sick van for cash

It’s a 1.6td like for like swap. Atm the exhaust is off and no water in case I need to take stuff off. We all agree this wont affect a first start… will it? I had the new head skimmed and then read in my manual that you shouldn’t skim diesels. I don’t know how much was taken off but should have been minimal. It wasn’t warped, just wanted a new face.

The alternator is wired up, the earth is on the water pump, the fuel pump is wired, and the glow plugs. All other wires are off but they are temp senders and won’t matter, right? I left them as some have broken and I’m not sure which colour block goes where atm.

I have 2 fully charged batteries hooked up but it turns over slower than it should. There were a few occasions when it sped up at the start then slowed again. Originally though it was lack of lube but doubt that now.

I don’t have the tools to time the pump but it should at least try and start shouldn’t it? I have a bar slotted in the back of the cam with the front lobes up, the flywheel notch lined up, and the pump spindle in line with the pump body mark. Have also tried rotating the pump body slightly in both directions

We bled the injectors by slackening the pipes, and the colour of the exhaust suggests there is fuel getting through, but today I plan to check everything is timed correctly… again! and remove each injector for testing.

Thanks for reading and any help you can offer

Steve

Btw. When I get it going I will visit the next west midlands meet and I hope to do some camping meets this year. Would be cool to hook up with some fellow T25/3ers

[Oldiebut goodie]

Obvious points to check - is cold start lever operating and are the glow plugs getting hot. Check the current draw:

[MrCatDNA]

Hi and thanks for your reply. i put the glow plugs on a battery before they were fitted and replaced one of them. Have checked for power to the plugs but only with a light. Will get a meter on them. The cold start lever works ok.

Thanks for posting the tech info