I have a 1986 GLE Turbo Diesel with 109,000 miles and have had it the past 3 years and my grandfather had it since it was new and until now there hasn't been one problem. Last night I went to start it (it had been driven less than 24 hours earlier) and it wouldn't start (36 degrees out) after 6 tries. A bunch of black smoke came out. I checked the oil (Chevron 15w-40 Delo) and it was at the minimum mark so I put a half a quart of Delo in and a half a quart of 10w-40 Castrol.

I tried starting it again and it wouldn't turn over. I checked the battery and it is showing 3/4 power and the air/lights work fine. I noticed some black smoke was coming out from what I believe is the exhaust tube going to the muffler (about 1' from the engine).

The only thing I've ever done to it was change the oil and the coolant (done a few months ago). It has a full tank of diesel and all the fluids look fine. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what could be the problem? Fuel pump, no spark, coil problem? If any of these can you please tell me where I would find it and how to check for a problem? I don't really have any experience working on automobiles but I am eager to learn and would like to try and fix it myself.

Also, I was about to change the fuel filter anyway so I figure I midas well go ahead and do it. Can somebody tell me where this is located on the car and if it's easy to do? I've done it on my Xterra before and it was pretty easy (except for getting gas all over my arms). What would be the best filter to go with?

Purolator F60152 $6.99
AC Delco TP858 $7.97
Fram P8043 $9.77
Wix 33472 $13.99

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've gotta get this thing running again! :)


Jeff

Also check to see how fast the engine is turning while cranking the starter.
( Put a mark with a paint pen, liquid paper etc on the rear pump belt and have someone crank the starter for exactly 15 seconds,and count how many times the mark goes by, multiply that by 4, then that figure by 2 and you'll have the cranking speed, you should barely be able to count it, but it should be up around 200 rpm to be able to start properly , they'll start down to 180 or so on some. any less and either the starter or battery are bad.

Alsoyou can check to see if the pump is drawing fuel by putting fresh fuel in a clean can and attaching a clear hose to the filter intake and cranking , it should draw fuel from the can, if not you may have fuel shut off solenoids not opening or slow cranking speed .

Theoretically, diesel fuel doesn't gel at 36deg f, but I can tell you from years of experience driving a semi that fuel purchased in southern states has a real bad habit of gelling anywhere below 40. Not a big problem on trucks that don't get shut offvery often, but it'll leave a car dead in the water when you try to start in the morning .. In northern states you can actually get away with untreated pump fuel better then you can in the south.

Also your rings may be starting to get a bit sticky which will lower your compresion making it hard to start

I would stronly suggest a thorough cleaning with Auto rx to get it up to snuff.
www.auto-rx.com
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-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel

36 degrees below zero by fahrenheit? may be not possible to start a diesel without complete heating at all. years ago i had some experience with diesel engines in Siberia, former Soviet Union.we were using arctic diesel or adding about 20% gasoline to diesel fuel at very low temperatures. anyways we had difficulties with starting attempts. at such low temperatures diesel fuel becomes very thick and unable to flow.was it correct you said about outside temperature?
--
i prefer non-german cars

Hello,

I meant 36 degrees above (+) zero. I wasn't sure if this was cold enough to where it would cause starting problems, but I figured I'd include the temperature just in case.


Jeff

I have extensive experience with the D24 so I will try to help you here however you're going to need a supply of GoJo or Fast Orange when this is over.
The tests Im about to outline here are only valid assuming the car ran the day before thus discounting a serious mechanical problem like a broken belt.
Before you do anything open the little screw at the top of the fuel filter and let some seep on a paper towel, carefully sniff it for the smell of gasoline, I was mis-fueled in Portland Oregon once with 92 octane after repeatedly telling the pump jockey that it was a diesel car. All the pumps had the white sleeve on the pump handle and the pump itself was a 2 handle meaning one was for 3 grades of gasoline and 1 for diesel in the same box... At night I could not tell the diffrence until I got down the road... Gasoline does not burn in a diesel engine very well.

First things first, at +36F diesel fuel will not gel unless its Bunker-C and in that case won't flow until its over +125F so we can discount gelling or wax in the fuel system. The D24 has no spark plugs coils or intake injectors, the diesel injection works at 2200+ pounds of pressure spitting fuel into the chambers whos ambiant peak temps are over 1500F with the block at 170F at idle. Enter the glow plug. These little heaters normally come on when the engine is cool or cold and the "on" time varies with block temp. Normally they will run for a few moments and go off allowing you to start the engine. If one or two plugs fail to heat during this cycle the car might start up and be very grumpy for a few minutes. 3 plugs or more failed will not allow the engine to start however you will get the black puffs of smoke as the fuel tries to ignite.

A simple test... With the interior lights on hit the key and allow the glow plugs to cycle, note the intensity of the lights or if you have the cluster volt meter it should drop way down then rise once the plugs have cycled and the interior light should go bright, make sure the heater blower moter is not running or place the climate control in the off position. You will not notice 1 or 2 failed plugs in this manner however it will indicate if all the glow plugs are burned out. Listen for the controller to cycle off and the lights should go back to bright. Wanna get greasy? Grab your safety glasses, you will need them and place a thick towel over the battery vents only leaving the terminals exposed.

Armed with a 5/16 nut driver or wrench remove the copper strap that connects the thick red wire from the glow plug controller and move this strap back to test the glow plugs individually. You will not get at the plug nestled under the injection pump however if you can get behind and remove the connection to the last or #6 plug you can test the other through the strap. Now get yourself a clip lead that is flexible and made of number 16 wire clip it to the brass screw of the glow plug and just touch it to the battery plus terminal, do NOT hold it for more than 5 seconds! If the plug "was" good and you exceed this time it will now be bad and will need to be replaced. When touching to the battery plus terminal you should get a bit of a spark, nominal current draw for each plug is around 10 to 12 amps so you will know if its working. Do this test to every glow plug and when you have finished place the strap back on observing the corners around the water outlet neck to make sure it does not short to ground.

Lets assume at this point all the plugs worked and everything went back together correctly. Now remove the glow plug controller relay from the shock tower by the battery and examine the bottom fuse, if it is blown or melted in any way replace the controller and not the fuse. By the time that fuse blew the relay contacts could have welded themselves together inside the controller or overheated the relay itself, sure it may work again but Ive learned the hard way not to chance it.

Next test is to remove the thick red wire OR use a stout screwdriver and short between the battery red to the glow plug red, have your wife or son in the drivers seat and crank the engine over while you use no more than 5 seconds on and 5 seconds off with the glow plugs. If the engine starts easily let it idle to warm up and once warm go get a new glow plug controller.

Now lets say the car does not start and the plugs have ALL tested good. Using a test light with the clip grounded have your wife or son or whoever cycle the ignition key to the run position while you hold the tip of the test light to the copper strap between the plugs, it must light then go out. If it stays lit after the controller cycles out that means all the glow plugs have burned out because the relay welded the contacts internally and the plugs themselves will have either buldged internally or the tips have burned off inside the engine. Pull 3 plugs out starting with #1 and examine the end. A fat buldge on the side will be hard to remove however wont damage the engine, a missing tip will damage the engine and head once you do get it started as the left over tip is stainless steel and will get mashed into the head, valve or piston and damage your wallet. So you pulled 3 plugs out and found no buldge or burnt tip, then the plugs have failed with age and its time to replace all of them. You have 2 choices here, go with the orig 6 volt fast heat plugs OR convert to the slower 11 volt plugs to heat at a snails pace yet no risk of burn out. The 11 volt conversion however is for someone with electrical experience so if you lack this then just replace with the correct part.
Replacing the plugs is NOT for the faint at heart or the inexperienced, to reinforce the previous warning do NOT and I mean do NOT take the car to a chain like Midas, Sears or any of the other "quick profit" auto care centers, they will make a real mess of the engine without knowing it. They do not have the training or experience to deal with an "exotic" engined car. Instead find an older run down import garage or Mercedes mechanic with long gray whiskers to deal with changing the plugs. He will have to completly remove the injection pump to get at the #5 plug and after that retime the pump. One can do this without the timing gauge however it takes an experienced ear to set it correctly. You can however replace all the plugs you can get at and leave the #5 if you dont mind the extra cranking and the local temps dont drop much below say +15-20F.

Cold start advance device... An easy one to check. Look at the side of the pump for a bar that extends up to the throttle lever and should have a ball stud on the end, engine cold it must rest against the throttle lever as this is the high idle position. If it is not and has more than 1/8" clearance the cold start device is bad and the pump must be removed for service as the settings are done on a test bench under dynamic conditions meaning the pump is run by a motor and timing electronically checked and set. Looking for obvious damage or failures like the steel cable rusting or broken parts there is little the home mechanic can do with these, the pumps however do share parts with the early Dodge/Cummins B59-130 engines until 1994 so parts are available.

Last test and this one will suck if everything goes right...

Remove the fuel return hose from the fuel system and place it in a jar, the return hose is the one that comes from the backside of the pump and has a smaller cloth covered 1/4 OD hose connected to the side of the same fitting, it is also marked OUT on the fitting itself but normally is not visible after the years. With the hose in a jar crank the engine without waiting for the glow plugs, best to have someone crank it while you watch, fuel should flow into the jar after a second or two of cranking meaning the internal transfer pump is working. The Volvo diesel has NO fuel pump in the tank or on the frame, the injection pump has a sucker pump to pull fuel through the filter and into the injection circuits. If by cranking NO fuel flows to the jar or its only a trickle make your way to a Pep Boys, NAPA, Checker or whoever your chain store is and get one of those "universal electric" fuel pumps that is rated for around 2-4 PSI of pressure, another is the Onan electric pump used on the Emerald 4000 generators. Plumb the pump in so the discharge feeds the fuel filter and power it from the blue wire at the top of the injection pump, mount it to the plate next to the cruise control or fabricate a mounting plate to hold the pump to the shock tower.

Another thing to try is get one of those small "cube" ceramic heaters or hair dryer rated at 1000 to 1500 watts and place it inside the air filter box after removing the filter element, power it up and after say 30 to 45 seconds hit the key and see if it starts with the warm air in its face, you can also pull the plastic inlet tube from the top that goes directly to the turbo and stuff the face of the hair dryer directly into the pipe. Do not however use a "heat gun" as these are designed for high discharge temp and low velocity. A 1500 watt heat source will yield around 5200 BTU of heat and with 10 to 15 seconds of cranking it will heat the intake up. If the engine doesnt start at this point and you are sure everything is in good condition go find that old timer Mercedes mechanic or run down import service garage with the tempermental owner and see if he will help you out. The Volvo diesel is not a real complex beast and needs only fuel, oil water and moderate heat to start in the morning. I wont get into the synthetic oil debate again here however it is your engine and you can run what you want. I would not however use anything thicker than a 10-30-CD/DS oil in the moderate winter climates and NEVER ATTEMPT TO USE STARTING FLUID IN THE INTAKE!!! Starting fluid or ether in a volvo or any other pre-chamber diesel is not only hazardous to the engine it can be hazardous to your well being! This stuff is very unstable around heat and pressure and with that 22:1 compression it will set off long before the piston hits TDC and could break the crankshaft or worse. At the very least it will blow the head gasket and maybe rip the timing belt teeth off when the engine fires going in the wrong direction.


I will be watching this thread and awating your reply to see how things are going. I would rather take the time and help a fellow D24 owner and help keep the car on the road as I know what a real pleasure these are to drive.


Have fun and work safely.

Fmr Badge988

badge988,

Thank you VERY MUCH for your highly informative response. I will print it out and go over it while working on the car tomorrow or Saturday. I have a few questions about some of the things you mentioned. I'm sorry if some are stupid but please understand that I just turned my first wrench under a hood less than a year ago and have never had any help working on a car.

I always get fuel at the same gas station, same pump, same side, so I'm pretty sure diesel is in the tank. Do you still think I should try smelling it from the fuel filter? If so, where would I find the fuel filter?

From what I gathered from the posts here and on another board, everybody seems to think the glow plugs are the problem.

What do you mean by getting a clip lead and number 16 wire clip? Can I get these at Lowe's (hardware store) or Advance Auto Parts?

What is the glow plug controller relay and shock tower?

The battery hasn't been replaced in over 3 years. I used a Minn Kota battery tester and it said the battery was at 75%. Could the battery just need to be replaced?

Since I don't have that much experience under a hood, do you think I should take it in somewhere to have them replace the glow plugs? Is it a lot more difficult than replacing spark plugs?

I've attached a pic of under the hood that was scanned from the back of the owner's manual. Can you tell me where the glow plugs are? I pointed an arrow to where I think they may be located.

Jeff

Lets see if I can clear up my sloppy service writing.


The #16 clip lead should actually be a clip lead with 2 alligator clips on each end and made of #16 gauge wire. This way you wont have to worry about burning your hand from the load.

The arrow you have pointed to in the scanned image of the owners manual is actually the glow plug controller, this is a good starting point. The glow plugs however are located on the cylinder heads just below the injectors. At this point I would consider the car parked until you get ahold of a real Volvo "green book" covering the diesel engine. As mentioned earlier these are rather simple engines however very expensive in terms of major repair work unless you get a network of parts suppliers together in the back pages of the green book. I guess if I was in your position I would start looking in the telephone book for a smaller ancient import service garage that has worked on the earlier VW Rabbit diesel cars back in the 1980's. Reason I say this is the Volvo D24 is a "full grown" Rabbit diesel with all its cylinders and while it has 2 more jugs everything else is pretty much the same in terms of parts except for the injection pump and other obvious parts. I dont want to discourage you from wanting to learn how to repair your own car however I dont want a simple repair to go wrong and end up costing you more. Not everyone was born with the golden wrench stuffed up his.... er you know what I mean. I never had the gift of managing my money!

Ok back to troubleshooting.
First thing, go get a new battery. At 3 years of age and that 1.4Kw starter plus another 375 watts for glow plugs it wont last much longer. Get the biggest baddest battery you can stuff into the battery tray without the cables bumping th hood when its closed. CCA ratings of a battery are good however we are also looking for sustained cranking time because of the additional loads. WalMart "Everstart" batterys are rebranded Johnson Controls or Globe (GNB) batterys and worth the money. The bigger the case and heavier the better off you are. Want to get exotic? I have telecom service GelCells rated at 1,200 amp Hours on a rack with a switch to make 6-12-24-32-48 volts, it normally is connected to my home UPS but I have another 6 of them to start my diesel generator. Ive used the rack to spin my D24 over after it was rebuilt and I was cranking faster then my running idle setting. My point here is the more energy you can get into the starter the better off you are. Just for the record the rack cells are Globe telecom service 2.1v cells and they are rebuildable. Each weighs 75 pounds!

As I mentioned earlier I would throw a small ceramic cube heater in the airbox after pulling the filter out, just run the cord out of the hole at the bottom where the heated air tube is at the moment, just pull it off and stuff the cord through and set the heater to the highest setting. A word of caution dont leave the heater running for over say 3 minutes without the engine cranking or hopefully running as it will melt the air box down and if the heater gets hot enough it could burn out the internal overtemp protector. With a strong new battery and lots of heat coming into the engine it should start after some moderate cranking.
Another one to try and this is only if you have an open road and are experienced with strap or push towing. This ONLY applies if you have a manual transmission.
With another vehicle and a good tow strap connect both together using the tow hook located unside the bumper pocket have the other driver get you out on a quiet street or if you are rural have him get you out on the highway, get the car up to say 30-45 MPH in neutral then once at a steady speed place the car into 4th and let out the clutch, the car will buck for a few moments but if the fuel system is good it will start and run. You can also do this by pushing you down the road however its a bit more dangerous in you could get shoved sideways while the other car is pushing you. I would do the pull starting in favor of pushing because you can brake easier and stop both vehicles if needed. Just pay attention to his brake lights and your enviroment. I would get a import garage lined up before doing this and once the car is running make a bee-line to his serive bay.


What gets me is now that Im no longer a police officer and have time on my hands I could start a Volvo diesel only service business, it seems there are more around in running condition than I once thought!

I normally check this forum several times a day so if I see something new here I will address it the best I can, I need to get a life again but I also want to help keep these cars running so if I come up with that lightbulb idea I will post it.

Work safely as always

frm Badge988

My experience working with diesels has tought me a few things...
Diesel fuel is icky nasty stuff, so before you touch it, buy a box of latex or similar disposable golves.
Rule # 1 Put your gloves on
Rule # 2 Be sure you put the gloves on
Rule # 3 Double check that they are still there.
Now you are ready to work on the car. I still fail at this all too frequently, and regret it every time.
The only dumb question is the one you forgot to ask.

I don't know how cold it normaly gets in NC, but rubber seals and batteries do not work as well at low temperatures. IF it is colder than ever, this could be the problem. Charging the battery with jumper cables to another car for 20 minutes might help if this is the case. A battery depleted from diagnostic efforts preventing start after the original problem is solved always tops off the day nicely. If using the Xterra as a battery charger, make and break all jumper cable connections with both ignitions switched 'off', and do not start the Volvo with the Xterra key 'on'. This is to protect the delicate computer that runs the Xterra from a possible lethal(to the expensive computer) voltage spike. I have broken this rule many times, and never had a problem, but it does ocasionaly happen.

Rubber shrinks a bit when frozen, in particular the fuel filter seal is of intrest here. Try tightening the filter by hand, it is a spin on, like a baby oil filter, located under the fuel pump by the blue dipstick(2nd red line down in your picture). Diesels are particularly sensitive to air leaks in the fuel system, and with the Bosch VE injection pumps used on Volvo and VW/Audi diesels, almost the entire fuel system is under negative pressure, so any leak will drarw air into the line. The internal transfer pump mentioned by Badge988 automaticaly seperates air and fuel, routing air straight to the fuel return line. It has a limited capacity to deal with air, and will cause low power folowed by stalling, and possible no start if overwhelmed. I have installed a sight glass (a gineric glass fuel filter with the element removed) in my fuel return line. I can see at a glance how much air is being returned to my tank, as well as possibly spotting bits of my injection pump being pumped down the line as it starts to fail. The pump seldom 'just up and dies', and usualy will cause strange and erratic problems with starting and engine speed before it goes. Pump life should exceed 100K miles by quite a bit. It is my advice not to disturb the fuel system upstream of the pump untill you have exhausted other possible problems, I say this to avoid adding air introduced into the system by you on top of whatever is causing the problem, and thus compicating diagnosis. Bleeding air from the system is not particularly difficult, but is best done in the absence of other problems. My favored methods of bleeding are to :

fill the fuel filter with diesel.

fill the pump with diesel funeled in the port for the return line(top of fuel pump, just forward of the boost compensator{has a small tube to intake manifold}, and inboard of the throttle cable wheel, it has a small line from the fuel injectors T'ed into it).

Reaconnect the lines and filter.

From here, there are two options;

A) (manual trans only) with the key on, shift into high gear, floor the acellerator, while towed by another vehicle or roling down hill(have an exit planned). Prearrange a signal to the other driver for when you get started)

B) loosen the fuel pipes at the injector end 1/2 - 1 turn.
Crank the engine till fuel comes out of the loose fittings. It is helpful to have an assistant to be a spotter/tightener. As each fitting starts to spew fuel, stop cranking, and tighten it up. By the time you have most of them tight, the engine usualy starts. For those times it does not, it is helpful to have a spare battery. Stop the engine, and tighten the remaining fittings.

there is a nice picture here: http://images.andale.com/f2/121/119/6544443/1072219489346_Img_5019.jpg

You can clearly see the injector pipes, and directly under the forward injector, you can see the glow plug with its wires. the fuel filter is just visilbe on the bottom right. This picture is for a nice looking car on ebay, item # 2454857305 .

Best of luck from seasonless CA!

Time to go make friends with someone who likes VW or Volvo diesels. Anybody with experience on those old Bosch FI systems (BMW, Peugeot, etc) would be helpful really.

The first suggestion I'd make would be to switch over to Mobil 1 5w30 at the first chance you get. It's been documented to significantly reduce cylinder and valvetrain wear in the D24T.

As for the no-start, if you've got a stick, I'd try to push start it. If it's cold, I assume you don't mean 36C, check the operation of the glow plugs. Even one or two non-working plugs out of six can make the car very hard to start. IIRC, the relay controlling the plugs can also go bad causing similar problems.

Last, once you make friends with someone who knows their diesels, do a compression test. If it's low, you can expect continued hard starting, and poor running problems.

- alex

Thanks for everyone's help. My Volvo is an automatic and I meant 36 degrees Farenheight and unfortunately my wife and I are not originally from this town (Wilmington, NC) and we do not know anyone who knows how to work on cars (regular or diesel) :(.

I did some reading on this forum and it looks like it could be one of these things:

Battery at 3/4% but may not be running strong enough
Fuel filter needs changing (but I think that was done 20,000 miles ago/3 years)
Heater core is bad?
Glow plugs are not all working
Neutral safety switch in automatic shifter now moving when in park?

When I tried starting it, all the dashboard lights came on and I saw the glow light come on then I heard it click off. After holding the key down it starts to shake and let out some smoke.

Can somebody tell me exactly where to look for the glow plugs and what I need to look for?

The owner's manual says to check the fuel lines to the engine to make sure they are getting fuel. Does anybody know where I should look for this? I just filled the tank up the last time I drove it and I know I put the correct diesel (fuel type) in. I hope that some idiot at Hess didn't fill up the diesel chamber with gas. :)

The thing that really sucks is even if I wanted to bring it to a shop, I can't drive it there and if I wanted to work on it myself there's like 6 things that could be causing the problem.

Thanks for the help!


Jeff

maybe you have timing belt failure. was the timing belt and tensioner replaced on time? diesel has no spark and no coil - different working process. do not attempt to start before you have checked the timing belt!!! engine damage possible: broken valves, cylinder head, camshaft. working with that volkswagen-origin diesel inlinesix is not easy. good luck!
no mechanical faults - check glow plug relay etc. also fuel delivery problems.
fuel filter you will find in engine compartment, drivers side. just buy the Purolator and look for sth similar...
--
i prefer non-german cars

My grandfather took the car in to the guy who's worked on it since 1986 when it hit 90,000. When I bought it from him he told me that he had a lot of work done on it then so I'm sure it was probably done. Unfortunately, he passed away last year so I can't ask him. :(

You said not to try starting it until I check the timing belt. Can you tell me where to find this and what to look for?

Do you think if I replace the fuel filter there's a good chance it could fix the problem? Maybe it's built up with a lot of wax deposits or something???


Jeff

There are two timing belts. The rear one drives the injection pump. If either breaks your car won't start, but if the front one breaks your head is toast. If you're not hearing any horrible rattling noises of valves hitting pistons and such, your belts are probably okay. I'd instead focus on what badge988 has to say. I'd also suspect that if you're seeing smoke you're getting fuel and your filter is probably okay.

With poor compression, it may very well take only one or two failed glow plugs before your car won't start in cold weather.

- alex

First thing is that you DO NOT want anyone from Midas working on your car, especially on the fuel system. Next thing is that you should get a repair manual for your car. If it won't turn over then there is a problem with the battery/starter/wiring somewhere. I am not real familiar with volvo diesels but any diesel can be a pain when the temps get down around freezing.Block heaters are a "must have" on any diesel IMO. There may be a problem with the glow plugs. Your car does not have a coil. Hopefully some of the diesel owners here can help out solving your problem. Good luck,rcs.