Any heavy diesel experts on here?

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oldbutnotdead

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Baby lorry (Merc 609) has gone poorly. Was on my way home, trundling up a hill. Engine dropped onto 3 cylinders (no clang or any drama) then ground to a halt. Tried to restart- turns over fine, no clanging or rattling but only fires on 3 and won't rev above tickover so stops after a few seconds.
Recovered home- recovery driver suggested give her a good go of Easistart - would show up a fuelling problem. So did that, engine fired on all 4 but with a horrid rattle (very large valve clearance rattle sound). No sign of that rattle when turning engine over on the starter motor.
So i'm not quite sure where to start. Any thoughts?
TIA.
PS No turbo, no ECU, pushrod engine.
 
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The horrid rattle was probably the effects of a 'good dose' of Easistart, personally I wouldn't repeat the experiment :cautious:

I would suggest a bad injector or air getting into the fuel system. In the case of the latter cracked injector pipes are a good starting point.
Have you tried bleeding the pump & injectors?

Sorry, I don't fit the bill of 'diesel expert' hopefully others will be along.
 
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norseman said:
The horrid rattle was probably the effects of a 'good dose' of Easistart, personally I wouldn't repeat the experiment :cautious:

I would suggest a bad injector or air getting into the fuel system. In the case of the latter cracked injector pipes are a good starting point.
Have you tried bleeding the pump & injectors?

Sorry, I don't fit the bill of 'diesel expert' hopefully others will be along.
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Cheers and ahhh, thats reassuring (the rattle). Yes fuel system will be first step in the morning
 
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Anything associated with the fuel system, injection pump, injectors, pipes, air leaks. How many miles and how old? Pipes can fracture with fatigue and injectors fail. Can you identify which cylinder? You could try swapping injectors to see if the problem moves.
 
Old Salt said:
Anything associated with the fuel system, injection pump, injectors, pipes, air leaks. How many miles and how old? Pipes can fracture with fatigue and injectors fail. Can you identify which cylinder? You could try swapping injectors to see if the problem moves.
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This is cheering me up no end (the fuel system diagnosis). Think its 2 but not certain, going to try and pin that down today. 300,000 kms, 37 years young :) . And special tools needed to pull the injectors of course..
 
If it is injectors or injection pump you could try a diesel specialist for overhaul and resetting. Fair number in the classic world but don't ignore the marine trade, loads of them around our ports.
 
Old Salt said:
If it is injectors or injection pump you could try a diesel specialist for overhaul and resetting. Fair number in the classic world but don't ignore the marine trade, loads of them around our ports.
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Oh good point, ta. Interestingly just discovered that the engine (Mercedes OM364) is actually an Atlantis Diesel Engine 364 so the maritime connection is definitely there
 
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Burnerman said:
Can you hunt down a garage that could do a compression test?
Any air bubbles inn the coolant tank, cap off?
John :)
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Can't move the bus at the moment. I've got a compression tester (17:1 might redline it a bit, usually use it on the bikes) but problem there is getting an injector out to run the test.
Some progress- found a split line on the return, trying to find the priming pump on the injector pump now (no lift pump as far as i can tell)
 
UPDATE . Now starting on all 4 but still not revving out and dies after 5-10 seconds. Suspect I haven't primed the thing enough (or the fuel filter is FUBAR)- time for a brew then get the strap wrench out :)
And (phew) no nasty rattle :)
 
I am definitely not a time-served man ... but if you've fixed an air leak, I would just slacken off the last flare nut at the engine delivery and turn the engine over until diesel spurts out. That ought to bleed all the air from the system and it should run fine.
 
Nearly that simple but not quite...don't suppose this will be h IMG_20230908_154646_HDR.jpgelping
 
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