What kind/weight of oil should I use on an '86 Volvo TurboDiesel?

[JTM]

I just put about a half a quart of Delo in and a half a quart of 10w-40 Castrol in and tried to start it. Unfortunately it wouldn't start after trying about 5 or 6 times. It just keep trying like it was about to and never got there. It's 52 degrees so I don't think it's a result of the cold anymore. I did notice some black smoke coming out from what looks like the engine to the muffler (in front of passenger side). I also tested the battery and it is at 3/4 power and the air and lights came on fine.

Does anybody have any ideas why it's not starting? Spark plug maybe? If so, where would I find this? I tried looking for the distributor cap and couldn't find it.

 

[cryptokid]

man i feel for ya. its probably somthing simple. a diesel needs only a couple things to run, compression and fuel and and somthing to warm the combustion chamber in an idi(like a glow plug) when the engine is cold. you can get around the glowplug and fuel by using ether to start the engine, and to some extent ether would help with compression too, but by the looks of your postings, im not convenced you wouldnt do damage over spraying the intake. you did mention looking for the dizzy after all, and no offense but you should probably learn a little bit more about diesel engines in general, and espically your engine before attempting repair on it.
best guess for me being an internet mechanic (all i can do is guess) and based on previous vw tdidi repair and rebuild, i would say it to be a glowplug(s) problem or a problem getting power to the glowplug(s).
goodluck.

 

[JTM]

crytpo,

Thanks for the help. I don't take offense to what you said and I admit that I barely know anything about diesels (except changing the oil). I'm 28 and just turned my first wrench under a hood just over a year ago. I would like to do the work myself to save the money and especially just to learn about cars and know that I can fix things on my own. On the otherhand, if I screw it up more the only help I have is the shop that I'd have to take it to.

I can hear a click after the glow plug light turns off so it seems like it's not a fuse problem. Others have said on the Brickboard forums that it could be the glow plugs. Can you tell me where I can find these and what I should look for? I heard that if the lights dim a little while starting that the power is working correctly, is this true?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[FowVay]

The 15w-40 that I liked to use was Delo 400. It seemed to be a good product. I got a incredible deal on Pennzoil Longlife and Quaker State HDX a few months ago but I sold the car and now have a supply of this oil to use in my new beater. My winter 5W-40 is Pentosin Pentosynth 5W-40.

As for the anti-gel additive: it goes in the fuel tank and not the oil. It is there to keep diesel fuel from turning to gel when it gets cold.

Yes, the coils that you mention are the glow plugs. They mount in the cylinder head sort of like a spark plug mounts in a gas engine. If your glow plugs aren't heating then you may never get your diesel to start. You can do a resistance check between the center electrode of the glow plug and the cylinder head. I am not certain what resistance you should get but if you check all four and you have one or two that are not nearly the same (megohm readings) as the others then you have bad glow plugs. It's best to buy a service manual which will tell you what the resistance should be in each glow plug. I highly suspect that you have one or more dead plugs.

As for using ether in diesel engines,, I have heard of people spraying ether into the intake system after they've heated the glow plugs and it nearly blew the head off of the car and took their body parts with it. My newer VW TDI says specifically NOT to use any type of starting fluid in the engine for this exact reason.

Check your glow plugs for resistance with a ohm meter. just touch one lead of your meter to the center prong of the glow plug and the other lead to the cylinder. You will get a resistance reading such as 9 ohms. See if you get uniformity between all four plugs and start from there. There is also a glow plug relay but on this particular car you'd need to get the service manual to identify locations (i'm a VW guy.. not a Volvo guy).

Good luck!! It looks like our weather is warming a bit so if you're seeing the 50º days then it makes working on the engine a bit easier.

 

[Neil Womack]

Hi Jeff

Forgive me if this is too simplistic.

For the driving public diesel engines are pretty much like a gas engine until it gets cold. You know put the key in and crank it up and drive away.

What causes combustion in a compression engine, like your diesel, is the heat generated by the compression of the air/fuel mixture until it reaches a temp that will cause spontaneous ignition. So when the engine, air and fuel are all cold. Compression alone has trouble getting the air/fuel mixture to a high enough temp to ignite.

Your glow plugs are little heaters in each cylinder that give the air/fuel mixture a little help reaching that spontaneous ignition point.

On your dash should be a light that indicates when the glow plugs are being heated. You turn the key to on, without cranking the engine, and wait for the light to go out. Then start the engine. Sometimes if its really cold or your engine is older and losing compression you may need to glow several times to get the engine warm enough to start.

Once you learn your engine you'll know when to glow multiple times to get a good start on the first try.

When I talked about spinning your engine I mean that when you crank your engine, crank it till it fires. Many gas engines you can just tap the starter and they fire right up.

A cold compression type engine needs a little more RPM to get that spontaneous ignition going good enough to be self sustaining.

Now you will have to learn what kind of limits your starter has. The starter and battery can only take so much at one time with out a cooling / recovery period.

Neil

 

[greasezerk]

JTM, First thing to do is change the fuel filter. Buy a gallon of diesel fuel and fill the new filter before you put it on. This should take care of any air that you can get into the fuel lines. If the car still doesnt start then check the battery for voltage and amperage. If the batt is good your engine should fire up even if the glowplugs do not work(provided it is 50 degrees). See if you have a block heater. This will warm the engine when it is cold outside. If it still doesnt start then you may hane a bad lift or injector pump. That means take it to the shop. Glowplugs are not too expensive. If these are the originals then i would change them out.

 

[eljefino]

Back up a bit...

When did you get this car? Where? Is this your first winter with it? What excited you about this particular car over others you looked at?

It seems like your first diesel experience is in your driveway. They're... different.

You need an awesome battery. Cheap batteries will fit and test okay but not crank well in the cold. Diesels have almost twice the compression ratio of gas engines so they starter has to work a lot harder. A battery brand called "optima" goes for $110 and really beats anything out there.

You've got glow plugs as explained above that are on a timer-- typically 30 seconds but could be ten to sixty. They come on when the key is turned to "run" but the starter hasn't been engaged. A light or buzzer indicates "wait to start". When someone says "wait two cycles" they mean turn the key off then on again and wait the next ~30 sec. With those little glow plugs (heaters) running before you even crank the motor you can understand the need for a great battery!

Walmart carries Rotella synthetic 5w40 that should have good winter properties for your diesel. At $13/gal it's pretty cheap. This'll let your engine spin faster with less drag and could mean the difference in starting or not starting. 30 above is a little warm to have to deal with no-starts though, so you have some diagnostic work and tweaking ahead to get reliable wheels.

PS while you're in walmart look at the diesel fuel treatment additives. The older diesel cars are somewhat fragile and the diesel fuel available these days is pretty rotten on them. Additives improve lubricity (good for injector pumps), prevent gelling in the cold, etc.