[ihc] Diesel Injector Question

["Joseph Shaw, II" <josephshaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Okay-also, sicne I cannot seem to get on my beloved diesel forum, let me ask
this question here:

I am working on a '67 Scout body mounted on a '77 Scout II diesel frame and
running gear.  It has an auto trans, and is non-turbo, SD33.

I have been slowly trying to bring her back to life, as she had sat for about
six or eight months when I got her, and has sat about six since I got her, so
I have been trying to take it slow.  With the exception of a dead battery, she
was thought to have been a runner (engine-wise) when I got her.

I have gotten a new battery, had the starter rebuilt, and cleaned out the fuel
filter and filled it with FRESH diesel fuel.  I have got it to where the
starter turns it easily and quickly enough to start, I would think.  However,
I still have no start.

I have checked the glow plug circuit, and the circuit itself seems
intact-meaning that all seem to have ground and there seems to be juice
getting to the wire on each glow plug.  I have not checked to see if there is
any inherent flaw in each individual glow plug.  I checked my glow plug
switch, and though it does not seem to have a working "relay" system (or
whatever the timer is that holds the juice on after the button is pushed for
15-20 seconds or whatever), when the button is held on it seems juice is
getting through.  I was really not too worried about the glow plug system, as
my prior knowledge of diesels (from a couple of older Mercedes Diesels from
the '70's) was that they would usually start even without the glow plugs
working unless it was particularly cold.

Anyway, I feared that the fuel pump/injector pump was not working, so tried to
check it.  I had checked the line that runs down the side of the injectors to
see if they were getting fuel when I pumped the hand/primer pump.  They were.
I checked when the engine was turning itself over, and they did not spit out
any fuel, so I feared maybe the injector pump was not working.  However, after
finding out that this line is the "overflow return" line, I realized that,
theoretically, these lines should NOT be getting any fuel unless the pump was
pumping TOO much fuel, which I guess I will figure out later.

So, I cracked the injectors at the top where the line feeds directly into
them, and cranked the engine.  All six injectors were sending out spurts of
fuel, and all seemed pretty equal in their little squirts.  Should these
squirts maybe be LARGER and it is not getting enough fuel?

The fact that I know the pump is sending fuel into the injectors, and it is
NOT coming out the overflow lines, I am guessing this is good reason for me to
believe that the injectors are not clogged somewhere, and this fuel is
actually reaching the cylinders.

SO-now what????  Should I further troubleshoot the glow plugs?  Pull them,
wire them to ground, and then run a hot lead to them to see if they are
glowing/heating up?  And if not, should the Scout start even without them?

Any other suggestions on what to try next?  I thought I had been quite careful
and methodical in the way I have gone through this, but am beginning to get a
bit discouraged.  I either need to get this thing running so I can drive it,
or I need to sell it to someone that knows more soon!  I had sold it once when
desparate for money, but the buyer then decided against it.  I agreed to send
back his money as soon as possible, but am trying to get this running so I can
keep it for my driver, and then can sell my other trucks.  However, if
something does not "eureka!" here soon, I am going to have to let this one go
anyway, and that is NOT what I want to do!!!

Thanks for any help/knowledge/suggestions!

Michael