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Technical 2.8 JTD won't start

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Technical 2.8 JTD won't start

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mwooly10

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Hi all, Was wondering if anyone could help, I'll try and put as much info as poss below, so bear with me here :)

Just before xmas my 2.8 JTD 2003 van decided it didn't want to start in the cold mornings, so got the AA out and the bloke said the thermostarter relay fuse had power going in but didn't seem to have power coming out, so after a bit of easy start it started, once warm i was able to turn it off and restart it again, Wasn't working over xmas so i left it til the new year, on the odd morning it started by itself, otherwise i used easy start.

So the new year came and went :D anyways, the other night i drove down to London, all was fine going, van started again after doing my job and i set off back home, about an hour later i stopped for a coffee and the van struggled to start but did in the end, about another hour later the EML came on and all the power went, when going up a hill (found out later that it had gone into limp home mode and revs wouldn't go about about 3500 revs).

Yesterday plugged it in and it came up with 3 codes (1 of which i knew about)

P0380 - Board relay, thermostarter (which i knew about)
and 2 new ones
P0382 - Thermostarter valve relay
P0191 - Diesel Pressure Control.

So i took it to my garage to book it in for a faulty spring, finally got it started and it sounded like a bag of spanners, until it got a bit warmer, they told me to first change all the filters (its over due a service anyway) so i changed all the filters, and cleared the codes and tried to start it again, no joy after a few goes, no codes either.. so out came the easy start again and got it started. Before i started it i turned the key to bleed the fuel through and the gurgling and bubbling noises from the fuel tank were very loud, dont remember having that before, took about 4 goes to get it to stop doing it.

Tonight ive driven over 450 miles and apart from not being able to restart the van when ive turned it off(for some reason it needs fuel as well :D ), it drove fine.

So i know why it wont start when its cold as that happened first, and i dont think its a fuel pressure problem unless im getting in air somewhere.. so why will it not start when it has warmed up?

Any ideas on this will be most grateful..
 
mwooly10 said:
Hi all, Was wondering if anyone could help, I'll try and put as much info as poss below, so bear with me here :)

Just before xmas my 2.8 JTD 2003 van decided it didn't want to start in the cold mornings, so got the AA out and the bloke said the thermostarter relay fuse had power going in but didn't seem to have power coming out, so after a bit of easy start it started, once warm i was able to turn it off and restart it again, Wasn't working over xmas so i left it til the new year, on the odd morning it started by itself, otherwise i used easy start.

So the new year came and went :D anyways, the other night i drove down to London, all was fine going, van started again after doing my job and i set off back home, about an hour later i stopped for a coffee and the van struggled to start but did in the end, about another hour later the EML came on and all the power went, when going up a hill (found out later that it had gone into limp home mode and revs wouldn't go about about 3500 revs).

Yesterday plugged it in and it came up with 3 codes (1 of which i knew about)

P0380 - Board relay, thermostarter (which i knew about)
and 2 new ones
P0382 - Thermostarter valve relay
P0191 - Diesel Pressure Control.

So i took it to my garage to book it in for a faulty spring, finally got it started and it sounded like a bag of spanners, until it got a bit warmer, they told me to first change all the filters (its over due a service anyway) so i changed all the filters, and cleared the codes and tried to start it again, no joy after a few goes, no codes either.. so out came the easy start again and got it started. Before i started it i turned the key to bleed the fuel through and the gurgling and bubbling noises from the fuel tank were very loud, dont remember having that before, took about 4 goes to get it to stop doing it.

Tonight ive driven over 450 miles and apart from not being able to restart the van when ive turned it off(for some reason it needs fuel as well :D ), it drove fine.

So i know why it wont start when its cold as that happened first, and i dont think its a fuel pressure problem unless im getting in air somewhere.. so why will it not start when it has warmed up?

Any ideas on this will be most grateful..
Click to expand...

Should start fine without thermostart inless its well below zero I have mine disconnected so I don't fog the whole neighbourhood when it a few celcius.

Leak off test first thing.
 
Thanks for the reply Mood :)

Yeah i knew it didnt need it much, as it did start itself if it wasnt too cold.. Just baffled me why it wont start now after its been on a good run and warmed up..

The service seems to have helped as when ive got it running it runs as good as it used too, before this problem occurred

Its in the garage on Thursday for the spring so i'll ask them to take a look
 
Last edited:
Well i managed to get it in a garage near work today that i've used before..

2 Injectors down, apparently returning too much fuel.. Anyway it works again now and starts first time :)
 
The expansion with heat reduces the clearances in the injector. Mine was the same when I had a bad injector I had to use it for a couple of weeks until I could source some cheap new injectors. I used to have to run in and out of places cause if the injectors cooled down too much it wouldn't restart without the extra rpm of a jump start. I had my eye on these ones, you might get 4 good used ones for the price of a dody reconditioned one I still have 3 new spares so I'm letting it go:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141161535778?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1431.l2649
 
Last edited:
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Wel i think i may try and find a couple of new ones if i can so i have a couple spare incase the other 2 go as well.. I would of had them all done but at £90 + vat each i decided against it for now..

I suppose thats the trouble when you need something fixing quick and its in the garage.. Least if i have a couple on the van and its in the garage it'll only cost me an hours labour for them to fit them
 
£90+vat isn't genuine new bosch one surely. Must be one of those shiny shiny polished chinese jobbies in a fake bosch box or a refurb.

$(KGrHqJHJC!E-kfO3l!bBP0PdqS0Gw~~60_35.JPG
 
Always one thing after another :(

Driving home the other Monday at 3am and after a little rubble the engine cut out. After waiting for the AA for 2 hours i was told the cam belt had gone :(

8 1/2 hrs and 3 trucks later i eventually got home put the van in the garage, who were very busy and short handed, so the head only just went back on yesterday with the new valves that bent, apparently it was only the teeth on the belt that went and didnt snap the belt, not that it makes much difference most of the engine still has to come out. so now almost 2 weeks later im off to the garage to hopefully start putting it all back together again and get my van back on the road (they still have 2 off sick) bit rubbish for me having to hire a van for this long but least its getting there again, im just wondering will it run as good as before or sound like a bag of nails :( looks like i may have to start looking for another van a bit early than i a expected...
 
Last edited:
Ok, vans almost back together, Ended up just bending 4 valves and half the teeth off my belt, so could of been a lot worse.

Well we ran out of time putting it back together on Friday and it wouldnt start, so we'll have a look on Monday.

So after a few tests with a pair of pliers (yes i know technical gadget) it turns out that my Thermostarter wont heat up with the fuse in but does when using the pliers.

I tried quite a few places to get one a while back but cant find one anywhere, does anyone know where to get one or have one they dont need.

Its the 50amp black box type fuse that is for the thermostarter, goes behind the black cover at the top middle of the engine.
 
With the lovely spring weather we've been having recently the thermostarter shouldn't kick in (I think it fires up when temp less than 4 degrees centigrade)

Not wanting to depress you but it might be that the temp sensor is not energising the fuse etc and non-starting is down to something else....

(Edit to add that your 'pliers test' shows that there is power to the fuse so forget the above comment.... but van should still start without thermostarter when temp above freezing)
 
Last edited:
I thought that also, but we did run out of time to try anything really.

It seems like the fuel isnt getting to the thermostarter when the ignition is on, Since we took the head off and all the injector out, it like the fuel has all ran back to the tank, so may well be something else apart from the fuse.
 
mwooly10 said:
I thought that also, but we did run out of time to try anything really.

It seems like the fuel isnt getting to the thermostarter when the ignition is on, Since we took the head off and all the injector out, it like the fuel has all ran back to the tank, so may well be something else apart from the fuse.
Click to expand...

The thermostarter solenoid is pulsed to supply diesel to the plug but as said it only works at low temperature. The jtd is self bleeding, you just turn the key to first position, lift pump will run for 20 secs or so, turn off an on again to repeat, keep doing that until you don't hear any more bubbles in the tank.
 
Hi Mood

I know its self bleeding but my mechanic seems to think its needs to be bleed as we've had all the injectors and head off.. It just seems not to be pumping diesel to the thermostarter..

Mostly its just turns over, but sometimes it does try to fire up but dies before it can and just carries on turning over
 
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