Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club | How do I do a Cold Start Test?

I know nothing, but I think it has to do with how long glow plugs take to warm up, and I think there shouldn't be lots of white smoke when starting up a cold engine.

Is this correct? What else do I need to know?

Thanks!
Mark

Hey,
I get white smoke at start-up it does not last too long.
I thought that was normal.

Right on!

[quote="Luna-Sea"]Hey,
I get white smoke at start-up it does not last too long.
quote]

White smoke?? haha i get black smoke and sometimes stall on startup. if its a big issue, check fuel filter. if that doesnt work, injector cleaner additive. me... i think i need new/cleaned injectors.

sounds like there might be a bit of water in your fuel filter, loosen the plastic winged drain on the bottom, put a bucket under it and pump it out, should only take a minute. Tighten the drain back up, pump the filter till it gets difficult to do and you're off to the races.

having same issues with my 89 pajero 4D56T... anyone have pics of the filter/body, the nut, the pump. mine is a WIX 33128. seems i always have air getting in too, so maybe a bad lower oring? hoping to sort it out soon - getting cold in sudbury lately!

Are you aware of the cost of rebuilding injectors?


My buddy had his hilux done recently and I think it cost him an upwards of 1600 all said and done

I hope that isn't the usual price..

CVI does their pump "rebuild" for a fraction of that, granted it isn't a FULL rebuild, but it's enough to solve 99% of the problems people need a rebuild for...

how long does it take to do a rebuild? does it take an entire day(8 hours)??
just curious as $1600 seems like a lot of cash.

we are talking about to different things here I think, the OP is talking about rebuilding the injectors and Green1 is talking about rebuilding the injector pump.

I didn't think you rebuilt the injectors themselves? I thought you would simply replace them? or maybe I'm just confused....

Cold start white/grey smoke is normal. Huge amounts is not.

The best thing for a stock Pajero/Delica in cold is this :

-A good, solid battery (Delica/Pajero's demand a ton of power from the battery when cranking over in cold weather)
-Working glow plugs
-5W40 engine oil
-Properly functioning injection pump

You can either replace or rebuild the injectors.

Rebuild consists of taking them out, taking them apart, cleaning them, inserting new nozzles and aluminum washers, re-assembling them, adjust the spray pattern/psi output, install with new copper washers.

Should not cost more than 3 hours labor and $80-100 in parts (4 nozzles and washers). The labor rate varies greatly around these parts (BC). Shop around. The injector rebuild can be done at any competent diesel shop.

Rebuilding the injection pump has been discussed many times over in past threads.

About a year old : complete-delica-injection-pump-rebuild-from-top-to-bottom-3602.html

Short version :

Some shops call replacing seals a rebuild, while some shops call replacing seals,tps,ac diaphram,plunger,solenoids a rebuild.

So the term 'rebuild' varies from one place to another.

What you should ask for is the term 'overhaul' and ask what OEM components the shop replaces and if the shop does a factory bench test on the injection pump (a special machine to fine tune the internal/external pump) that in effect tunes it to OEM factory specifications.

The cost for a 'overhaul' ranges from $450 to apparently $1,600 for the same injection pump depending on where you go. Write down the model/number on the side of your IP and shop around. You'll find that the shops that specialize in injections pumps do not care what kind of vehicle it comes from. They only work on the pump itself.

In a cold start situation a diesel needs a few compression strokes to accumulate enough heat to actually ignite
the fuel being injected. The amount of wear in the engine (cylinders ,valves ect.) and the designed compression
ratio as well as how fast your starter is turning the engine over all affect how quickly it starts to burn the fuel
being injected. The glow plug system speeds this process up a lot too. White smoke on start up is unburnt
fuel (no combustion) Black smoke is incompletely burnt fuel (poor combustion) Blue smoke is oil being burnt
and white smoke from a warm engine is generaly coolant (bad head gasket ect..)
Andy Wilson
Sayulita Nay.Mx.

Seeing as how nobody actually aswered your first question, I thought I'd take a stab at it.

Turn the key, wait up to 10 seconds, at which time you should hear a 'click' - that's the glow plug solenoid shutting off. Since we don't have a glow plug indicator on the dash, you have to listen for the 'click'. Your glow plugs will have been on for those 10 seconds (or should have been), and there should now be sufficient heat to combust fuel. After starting (again, if it's like the Delica's system), you may hear repeated, rapid 'clicking' as the glow plugs fire momentarily to assist bringing up the temperature in the cylinders to burn the injected fuel completely.

A cold start is when you don't wait for the glow plugs and the engine is in fact cold. Turn the key and let the starter and battery (batteries if you got a dual setup) do the work. A diesel engine relies on compression and residual heat to combust the fuel, and the act of turning over the engine for a time is enough to build up enough heat in the cylinders and block to burn the fuel, unless of course it is retardedly cold outside, like Siberia cold. When it finally catches, there will probably be an Uncle-Buck-like cloud of smoke belched out the back end of your ride, but that is to be expected (too much unburnt fuel mixed with the air).

Of course, you can only do cold starts if your batteries are up to the task, your starter is still good (or the starter ring), the compression is still high enough (worn cylinders or sloppy pistons will affect compression), etc, etc, etc. If your ride starts fine in the summer, runs fine when it's warm, but is becoming a pig to start now that the weather is cooling, start with the electrical side of the process and go from there.

Well done Paul you did a much better job of explaining that than I did.
Andy