This is my first post on the forum, wishing it could be under better circumstances
I picked up my 1991 L300 a couple weeks ago, and I love it! Unfortunately, I've begun to run into some starting issues.First issue (sort of): I was having trouble starting from cold (-5 to -25 celcius) while unplugged. Obviously, this is no big surprise, but this is where my real problems started. I had one no start when I left my Deli outside my work for 6 or 7 hours in the cold unplugged. I cranked it for awhile, but after a couple minutes the batteries gave out and the starter started to slow down. With a boost however, she fired right back up, no problem!
Second issue: This happened again when I forgot to plug it in (this time around -10 in my garage), and again, with a boost she started right up!
Third issue (the bad one): Again, outside my office. Forgot to plug her in, for 7 hours or so in -30 (BIG MISTAKE). She cranked for a couple minutes, and then died (starter slowing down dramatically). I tried boosting her, but it was no use. With cables hooked up for a couple minutes, she would crank slowly for 10-15 seconds and then die. The next day I tried again, with the block heater plugged in (again in -20): had her hooked up for at least 20 minutes and she cranked for a while, then died, the same as before. I tried a couple more times in succession, but each time she cranked a few times slowly, getting slower each time: no more normal-speed cranking. The case was the same when I tried again the next day (-15). I still have the block heater plugged in, and am waiting for a warmer day to perform the recovery, although what I suspect is TOTALLY drained batteries (not sure if they're the original Japanese batteries or not), no longer accepting a boost (from what I've read on the site).
My plan right now is to head there tomorrow (+8 in Regina, SK
) and first do a voltage test on the batteries, both while attempting to crank and while the key is off to make sure they're reading over 12.5v. Otherwise, I may try boosting again and just leave it hooked up for ages... I'll also make sure to prime it in case there's air in the fuel lines (Haven't tried this yet). I have already verified that the glowplugs are good both through an ohm test and by pulling them and making sure that they glow. What do you guys think? I've done a tonne of reading and I think I have a good place to start, but any advice is welcome! I'll keep you posted!
Clark, from Regina
