Will it run?

[reb78]

Had it running today. An interesting start -

New lift pump, connected to the fuel tank, pumped using manual lever - spat out some brown slime, and then the pump blocked.
Reverse blew it out with air line (which i didnt think was actually possible) and then connected some temporary hose to a jug of clean fuel.


New filter, and then to the IP, which also hasnt been run in years. Left the injector connections loose, and the same brown slime appeared at them on turning the engine over.

It became a toss up between burning out the starter or chancing the bad fuel, and, after some cycles of cranking for a bit, and then waiting, we connected the injectors up and gave it a go...


It started, but unstable revs. Which isnt unexpected when theres air in the system, but the revs wouldnt drop back properly when the IP arm was released back. Ie would rev up and not drop back to idle properly.

We were considering this after a few goes at starting, when the engine went into run-away, and, just as i got to the ignition cut, it suddenly dropped back to an entirely stable, smooth idle.


Starting and stopping now as well as any other 300 ive had and entirely stable idle.


Hypothesis -

Governor in ip stuck either because of, or independent of, rotten old fuel.


When i poured out the jug at the end of the job, there was the same brown fuel at the bottom that id seen in the tank, so i guess the pump was full of it also.


I drained the tank from the sump plug (i think the tank is one of the newest parts of the truck - every other part of the 110 is dented, but i could see no damage to the tank at all, so it must be new (there's been plenty of other bits bent underneath the vehicle, so there's no chance its the original tank at all).

I dont have a good plan to flush it, beyond what ive done - drained it, then poured jugs of fuel in, and let them drain again, and carried on doing that (they keep coming out again brown, so im certainly flushing something).

At the end of the day, i put the plug back in and a couple of jugs of fuel in to try and soak it a bit, and then ill drain again, and see what its like.


The front hubs are in bits at the moment, and all the wings etc off, but its not so very far off an MOT now for the first time in years. So not a bad days work.

Maybe drop the tank off (could maybe do it in situ?) and wash it out thoroughly with a detergent? Sounds mucky! Hot air gun on moderate heat to dry it?

 

[julianf]

Maybe drop the tank off (could maybe do it in situ?) and wash it out thoroughly with a detergent? Sounds mucky! Hot air gun on moderate heat to dry it?

I was very reluctant to drop the tank, as i figured that would probably result in needing new tank fittings, or fuel lines, however, given the "newness" of the tank, i think someone has been at it not so very long ago, so it may not be that painful.

Normally i have loads of diesel about, but at the moment things are a bit slim. From what i was seeing today, it wasnt sediment, but rather discoloured fuel, so im hoping that the clean fuel im leaving in overnight will mix up with it, and then ill drain that and it will be done.

At the rate the 110 will suck up fuel, any remaining diesel bug etc wont have a chance to breed quick enough, and, plus, i will fit a heated fuel filter, so the tank will get pasteurised soon enough anyway!

 

[knighty]

if you can't remove the tank..... I'd tip some petrol in too..... or methanol? (can't remember if you're a bio of veg guy)

just some kind of solvent

best to flush it like crazy now than have random problems later on?

 

[julianf]

best to flush it like crazy now than have random problems later on?

I'm going to have random problems later on regardless of what i get up to now, im sure!

I've always cleaned my jerry cans out before using hot, methanol laden, bio, straight from the beginning of demeth, and then just sucked it back into the reactor.

We have had a DPF addled car for a couple of years though, and ive only been running the central heating on bio (i had a couple of thousand litres made years ago, and im just getting to the end of it now) so am out of touch with it at present.


The stuff thats come out of the tank, with the exception of the very first pump blocking stuff from the lines, has all been discoloured, but no lumps. For all i know the stuff that blocked the pump could have been, well, anything that had crawled into the lines themselves.

I suspect that, when the flush starts running yellow from the tank drain, rather than brown, then ill chance it then. Im really pushing to get an MOT on it at present (as i need the space where its parked), and then ill deal with further detail once thats done. At present a stack of filters, or a new lift pump is a risk im probably willing to take!