Vito won't start after rebuild

[E240estate]

I replaced the head gasket on this engine, and have had a nightmare trying to get it restarted after rebuild. The injectors were stuck so i had to remove them with a screw type puller, which meant I had to disassemble the injectors in situ and then reassemble them before sticking them back. I did almost 1,000 miles in this van before I did the work and it ran faultlessly.

I have used up two full charges of a good battery cranking it over and over, and bled out as much air as possible form the fuel lines around the fuel filter.

As a last resort this morning I tried easy start, which got the engine running on 3 occasions, for up to a minute. It would tend to keep running with the accelerator down, but would not idle or keep running indefinitely, and failed to start again without another squirt of easy start to get it going.

There are no fault codes stored in the ECU and no EDC or any other lights have come on.

Can anyone offer any pearls of wisdom as to how I might get the van up and running properly? I've obviously put it all back together correctly for it to run, and there is half a tank of diesel in it. Otherwise I'll have to assume I have somehow damaged the injectors, which is going to cost £££, so I don't want to go down that road until I've eliminated everything else.

W638 108CDI OM611 engine.

Thanks in advance

 

[martyz]

Timing is the first thing that comes to mind, tooth out on chain?

 

[E240estate]

Thanks. I did wonder about the timing. Is it possible to run with a tooth out on these? I would have thought the valves would hit the pistons, but I could well be wrong.

 

[E240estate]

Having tinkered a bit more, I think it's running on less than four cylinders. It will only run quickly, and doesn't sound loud/punchy/dieselly enough. Can it be anything but an injector issue?
Back on the spanners either way, injectors got to come out to check the timing!

 

[sprinter316]

It is possible to get the timing out on this engine and it will still run, easily done if chain has stretched, back to yours, how far did you strip the injectors? Just the solenoid, or further?
Have you checked rail pressure while cranking?

 

[E240estate]

I removed lots of components to be able to screw the puller into an internal thread, including two springs, a three bladed propeller looking thing, right back to a miniscule ball bearing.
Spoke to two fuel injection specialists in the process, one of whom said that by doing this I had scrapped the injectors and needed replacements, and the other said just put them back together carefully and I should be fine. So not sure where I stand with these things really!

 

[E240estate]

Oh, nearly forgot: not sure I know how to check rail pressure, only got a basic fault code reader.

 

[estate-agent]

I know you said you got it to run on easy start with a misfire but couldn't be sure reading the other posts whether you had got it partially running on diesel now?

If you have got it running (albeit with a misfire) have you tried working out if it is one particular injector that is causing the misfire by pulling of injector connectors one at a time to see which one makes no difference to its current running state and whether removing each other one (one at a time) causes it to run worse, that way you can be sure if there is one particular injector that appears faulty. If you can work that out then you can swap it to another cylinder to just double check that the misfire moves to the cylinder you re-fit the suspect injector into which will clarify that it is definitely the injector.

If you haven't got it running at all on diesel then scrap what I've said above.


.

 

[DieselPete]

I would remove the injectors and get them tested first, if i have to open an injector to fit a removel tool i always get them checked out just incase they get damages pulling them. I use pf jones in manchester they dont charge alot to test them but its piece of mind when re fitted. Good luck!

 

[E240estate]

Thanks all. Injectors are now out and ready to go to dtm in Bristol, who are nearer me and who have been helpful. I didn't know pf Jones offered this service, but they seem an alright lot - I've bought a couple of towbars off them and they know their stuff.

 

[E240estate]

Thanks all. Injectors are now out and ready to go to dtm in Bristol, who are nearer me and who have been helpful. I didn't know pf Jones offered this service, but they seem an alright lot - I've bought a couple of towbars off them and they know their stuff.

 

[E240estate]

It was running partially on diesel.

 

[E240estate]

Engine sorted - 4x recon injectors cost of £650.
Moral of the story: Take your injectors apart only as an absolute last resort.