Bought a 110: immediate non-start

I

Iancoletx

Member
Hey guys,

I have just joined the Defender club and added a nicely restored 1993 110 200TDI to my small collection. If you guys would be so kind as to help me address this oddball issue, I would appreciate it.

The vehicle drove onto the transporter when purchased, however, arrived, and cranks and sputters but would not start. I had the transporter tow it so I could drop the clutch to get it into the driveway. It started when the clutch dropped and seemingly ran, however would immediately cease when the clutch was put back in. I only had a short amount of time to test this out so my results are not conclusive. I checked and have good voltage at the shut off solenoid. The spade connection isn’t the best, so I’ll probably tidy that up.

Tomorrow morning I am going to open the fuel filter bleed screw and give it a crank. I will post the results, I’m curious if anyone has any ideas in the meantime. Not sure what would have caused it to stop running while being carried during the course of transport.

Thanks!!
Ian
 
JimC

JimC

Super Moderator
Staff member
My first suspicion is a hopelessly clogged fuel filter but once that’s verified good then I’d shift my attention to the lift pump. If you have the style with a slot screw on top then there is a little cleanable screen under the cap - carefully pry that out and clean it without getting gunk inside the pump. If you have a lift pump with no cleanable filter then just pull of the supply side hose and blow it out with carb cleaner.

Metal fuel tanks can scale up really badly when sitting and the first start is fine. After the system has a chance to suck up the crap in the tank then the lift pump gets so clogged it runs badly or not at all.

if you can drain the tank then do so and flush it as best as you can with some diesel. if it’s really bad then it’s a tank-dropping task, but that’s not even that bad. Worst part is messing with old rusty hose fittings.
 
expanse

expanse

Well-known member
terminology is a bit confusing for me. Does "clutch dropped" = pressing the clutch pedal to the floor?

If the clutch In vs Out is a repeatable symptom, Sounds like the truck is stuck in a high gear. knock the transfer case into neutral and try again.

Electrical
  • Check the truck's battery is actually grounding to the chassis/engine. These Diesels can be picky AF sometimes. run a set of jumper cables to a clean spot on chassis/engine bell housing and connect to ground terminal only.
  • Check that someone didn't connect a 12v+ to the chassis/engine and thus causing as ton of funky stuff to occur. A probe, meter, test light will tell you this.
  • test bad voltage when cranking too. might be getting a live signal to the chassis.
Air/Fuel
Id be checking the fuel system and intake for correct operation/faults. All really easy to check as these engines are not that complex.
  • Air - is the air filter canister blocked? is the filter clogged/soaked in oil?
  • Fuel - are you getting fuel @ the injectors (crank engine and crack an injector line at the top of the injector, it'll spray a mist of fuel if pressurizing @ IP) work your way back if not and check solenoid, fuel filter, lift pump.
  • Does the fuel smell like diesel?(silly but who knows whats in there, i've had transporters add fuel without speaking with me just to get a truck off their trailer and onto the next delivery. hefty up charge on fuel is always a fun one)
  • You may want to bypass the wiring harness on the solenoid and go direct to a battery. could be getting bad signal.
this all should take an hour or less to check and cross off a lot of easy ones. If you don't have one, a fancy powerprobe is $100 at napa and worth every cent paid. You'll thank yourself for many years to come.

report back with findings or questions!
ap
 
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I

Iancoletx

Member
Here are some pictures from the auction, it's an early Monarch build. Super cool truck.
 

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I

Iancoletx

Member
Well F me.

I just jumped in it to get testing underway, the voltage was down to 11.6v last night though it was cracking over fine, I left it on the battery charger overnight, read 14.5v when I got in and the car smells vaguely like burning lol.

Turned the key to arm and heard a creaking sound under the dash, it slowly lights up, no response from ignition, now no response at all. Doors lock and unlock though. Hoping a fuse and I didn’t somehow cook the ECU with a battery charger. What a start!
 
erover82

erover82

Well-known member
Iancoletx said:
Well F me.

I just jumped in it to get testing underway, the voltage was down to 11.6v last night though it was cracking over fine, I left it on the battery charger overnight, read 14.5v when I got in and the car smells vaguely like burning lol.

Turned the key to arm and heard a creaking sound under the dash, it slowly lights up, no response from ignition, now no response at all. Doors lock and unlock though. Hoping a fuse and I didn’t somehow cook the ECU with a battery charger. What a start!
Click to expand...

The good news is a 200Tdi doesn't have an ECU and electrical issues are generally easier to find once something melts. Just follow your nose to the source of the issue. I'm guessing something rubbed together with the vibrations of transit.
 
expanse

expanse

Well-known member
Monarch.

I'd bypass entire wiring harness and manually trigger the starter and fuel solenoid. bet it'll start.
 
I

Iancoletx

Member
I believe the noise is the glow plug timer


It only did it a couple of times, does not any more

Lights work, locks work, no dash or ignition

Ffs
 
expanse

expanse

Well-known member
thats some serious sci-fi sfx you've got going.

Unless this was sold as is where is, I'd reach out to seller and see what they're appetite is for resolution.
 
I

Iancoletx

Member
Multimeter shows 12.7v now at battery, I have 11.1v at fuel shut solenoid in accessory position. Dash warning lights, gauge lights, , door locks, interior lights, headlights, and HVAC works / fuel gauge is slow to respond but eventually gets there, a/v screen works unless there is other system draw like lights or a/c, then it will shut off. Ignition doesn’t work. Turning ignition kills power for 1 second and then it recovers. Confirmed it is glow plug timer making sci fi noise. All fuses are good and all inline fuses near the battery are good but this seems to be a pretty isolated issue, had to have cooked a wire or a fuse somewhere
 
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expanse

expanse

Well-known member
Iancoletx said:
Sir could you kindly assist me in a basic outline of that process?
Click to expand...

when I do this I use a gator clip and run from fuel valve to battery (this opens the fuel valve), then use my power probe to fire the starter. remove gator clip and engine will shut off.
 
erover82

erover82

Well-known member
Since you said it smelled of burnt electrical, I'd pull the dash binnacle and look around for burnt components. It's only a matter of screws to remove. Relays, such as your glow timer, can switch rapidly on-off when there are other faults such as bad grounds or shorts.
 
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