Offroad-Express

hey there, haven't posted anything for a while.....because until now my bighorn has been running fine.
but the last few weeks it hasn't been starting too well, i have to wind it over heaps and it smokes crazy.
its always smoked a bit and blown oil but not like this. so im pretty sure the rings are gone,
What are my options?
is a rebuild worth doing ( its a 98 )
or a transplant. what would you do? i paid 2.4 a year ago.....

p.s for sale one bighorn

Take out the glow plugs and test them before you condemn the engine. If you have access to a diesel compression tester, do a compression test at the same time, as you already have the glow plugs out.

ok cheers. where can you get them tested?
i think compression is out because there is some blow by happening....

Take them out. Get a piece of electrical wire. Connect the top of the glow plug to your +ve terminal using piece of wire. Earth body of glow plug to -ve terminal on battery. If plug is OK you will see it get red/orange in about 10 seconds. Caution: the plug will get very hot. Don't burn your fingers.

white smoke ? blue smoke ? or black smoke ?

white on start up, then just a bit of black when you put the boot in it,

when you turn the key on, the orange coil light thing only glows for about half a second before
clicking off.......

The answer could be real simple ... or not ...
I had a problem with my timer light just flashing, I replaced the temp sender ( Isuzu one 'cause I could not find an after-market one that was the same) and away it went.
Easy to check ...
In the top of the thermostat housing there are three senders.
One is the "Temp gauge", one is the "Cold engine idle UP" these two are mounted in the sides, then the "Glow timer sender is mounted in the top.
Pull the connector apart and then turn on the key, the light should come on for about 30 seconds.

ok sounds simple, where on the motor is that located.. roughly?
today the light stayed on a while more than 5 sec and it started first pop!
however tomorow could be a diferant story.
cheers.

In front of the oil filler ...
The circles are faint ... one is around the sender and one the bullet connector ...



Like I said, pull the conector apart and see how long the light stays on ... It should stay on for about 30 seconds.

Let us know how you get on.

ok il get into it tomorow... just to make sence of it.. if it dose stay on what does that tell me?
and will the glow plugs still heat?
cheers mate.

If the light stays on for 30 seconds and then goes out it tells you that the sender that you have disconnected is possibly faulty.
When the light is on the glow plugs are heating ... so wait until it goes out and it should start every time.

thanks man. i disconected it and it lit up for about 7-8 seconds and started no worries,
ill get a new sender then, can i drive around with it undone?
thanks again mate.

There is no problem with leaving it off short term ... I did,
I just made sure the light was out before trying to start it - though when I think about it, it probably makes no difference

If you manage to find an after-market sender let us know.