I have a 1997 Rodeo, 2.8L TD (4x4). I bought it recently and am in the process of getting it up to a roadworthy standard. When it has been left for a while, it does not start well (just keeps stalling unless it is given revs). I found that if i prime the manual fuel pump (on the water separator), it fires up better. Upon this initial startup it surges like it is choking for fuel and has air in the lines. After it has ran for about 10 seconds it runs fine and will continue to run fine. If it is turned off and restarted, it has no difficulty. I am suspecting some air in the lines or something like that, however i also dont think that my glow plugs are working. It seems like they dont have any power (multimeter on the power rail) and if i pull the fuse for the glow plugs it starts the same. I am also thinking that the thermostat is stuck open (i dont think thats relevant to this issue). Additionally, if i apply significant revs and then let off in any way other than very slowly, it splutters and surges before usually stalling. I can usually recover this with careful application of revs. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

 

If it has been setting for a while, I would have dumped some SeaFoam in the fuel tank right away, that way every time you do start it, it works its way through the fuel system and starts cleaning it out,. may even start to improve things pretty quick for you.

 

Thanks, ill look into that. Is it possible that the fuel pump isnt able to supply enough pressure for some reason? I have read about adding a second in-line fuel pump which may help the pressure upon start-up and prevent what seems like fuel starvation when revs are applied and then dropped. Any advice about that?

 

well the pump that was put in there did the job before,....providing enough pressure to make it run, so I dont really see any reason to add a second one, if anything, just use the money to replace the existing one if you feel it may be an issue.

other thought,...... if it had been sitting for a while,.. how long was a while? Are you starting it up on the same fuel thats been sitting in it for that same amount of time? If it has sat for a long while, it could be a fuel issue......either excessive moisture in it, or maybe even contaminated.... which again makes me want to put seafoam in the fuel tank,... Also maybe even consider doing the actual Seafoam treatment on it once it gets to the point where it will run and idle better .

 

I should clarify that by 'sitting for a while', i mean like a day or possibly less. Basically once it has been running and then restarted without being left for a day or so...it starts up fine. The fuel is all new as it was almost empty when i bought it. I cant speak for the fuel pump as i have had these issues since buying it. It is also worth mentioning that i havent really driven it much as it is unroadworthy and has been in my garage mostly. The initial start up is an issue...but i can deal with that. The pressing concern is that it behaves in the same way after high RPM is applied and then dropped. If the revs are not lowered very slowly it runs very poorly and i cant really stop it from stalling. I will be using Seafoam as soon as possible, however im just exploring other possibilities in the mean time. What i would like to rule out is Injector Pump issues as i have read that these are very costly. The car does have 291,000km so its certainly a possibility unfortunately.

 

A few other things to mention, the previous owner fitted a long range fuel tank and the water seperator had been dodgied so i have also replaced that (and bled the lines using the bleeder screw)

 

Just an update. I installed a secondary inline electric fuel pump between the water separator/manual pump and the fuel filter. It still starts a bit rough but now it handles revs and loading fine. A hill which i couldnt even climb in first is now effortless in third. Having a close look, i think that diesel may slowly be leaking from the distributor however it is so slow that i cant be sure...my only evidence is that the surface of the distributor seems to be slightly wet. There is no dripping or anything. The inspiration for the idea came from the following video where the distributor looks wet like mine, however i do not have the dripping.


I picked the pump up on eBay for $20 which is certainly worth trying prior to forking out over $1000 easy on an injector pump rebuild or replacement.

Now ive just got to sort out the rough start and ill be off!