Is that a problem?

Does your Mitsubishi L300 make a strange noise? Need wheel alignment specs?
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fred4130
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Is that a problem?

Post by fred4130 »

Hello everybody,

I've a L300 diesel 153000 km and I'm currently doing a road trip from BC to California and way back.

I've two questions about the car :

- Is that normal my car is smoking as hell in high altitude (higher than 1500 - 2000 m)? It's an old turbo diesel so I suppose it's quite usual. I don't know if it will be good to adjust a bite the screw injection pump for this condition?

- How does your engine start in cold morning? When it's below 0 degre Celsius my car is just so bad.I'll have to check the glow plug but I don't have the tool and before to buy it, I would like to know if it's usual or not.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Fred
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Is that a problem?

Post by philmeup1 »

Your L300 shouldn't be blowing out smoke. I have a 1993 L300 with 146,000 kms on the clock and it only blows a little bit of grey smoke when started up first thing on a cold morning, usually below 0 degrees Celsius.

I'm not a mechanic, this is just how mine runs. And from everything I've read on here, this is how your van should be running also.

I once had a faulty glow plug, and I remember the engine running quite poorly until everything warmed up. There may have been some black smoke involved as well if I can recall.

Anyway, perhaps start with checking the plugs. And maybe someone else on here can offer more comprehensive advice. There's some fantastic people on this forum, and I've certainly learned a lot from them in my 6 plus years of Delica ownership.

Good luck with everything!!

Phil
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Post by fred4130 »

Thanks Phil,

I'm definitely going to check my glow plug because when it's cold around 0, I need at least fifteen attempt to start the engine...
For the black smoke, the car is pretty good around sea level. No smoke, powerful (ahahaha) but when I'm driving on higher level, around 2000-2500 m, it smoke badly black and it's look like my engine suffocate.

Fred
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Is that a problem?

Post by FalcoColumbarius »

Do you have the altimeter in your wagon? If you do, you will note that at one point the markings turn from white to orange. This is when the compressor has insufficient air to fully charge the turbo, in which case you will see black smoke. Basically, the black smoke is soot or unburnt diesel. You should see this soot when you start the engine (the IP dumps extra diesel into the chamber to ensure the engine starts); you see it when you put the engine under duress, such as climbing a steep hill; you will see it when your engine compression is not properly balanced; you will see it if you have failed to replace the air filter element and the intake is not providing enough air to combust the allotted diesel in the chamber.

Air+diesel+compression= stability in engine performance.

Falco.
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Post by Growlerbearnz »

Smoke from a diesel engine (especially a primitive one like ours) is completely normal at high altitude (above 1500m or so).

The fuel injection pump injects a certain amount of fuel based on engine speed, accelerator position, and boost level (increase in pressure above atmospheric), but it has no way to compensate for how much oxygen is in the air it's burning.

At 2000m there is less oxygen in the air (there's less *everything* in the air) but because the IP doesn't know this, it injects the same amount of fuel as if it were at sea level, resulting in a rich mixture and black smoke.

I don't think there's any point adjusting for it unless you live at 2000m all the time. I'd fit an Exhaust Gas Temperature gauge and just watch the exhaust temperature when at altitude.
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fred4130
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Is that a problem?

Post by fred4130 »

Thank you very much for your answers!
All good for the black smoke.
Now I'm more concern by my glow plug.
I tested the resistance of each and they all have about 3 ohms. So That's look a bite to high but they are all same resistances so it's maybe because they are warm... I’ve measured ~10,5V on glow plug connector bar in between clicks.
I'm bit stuck with that :)

Fred
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Post by Growlerbearnz »

Bench test each glow plug- use a jumper lead to power each glow plug in turn and see that they all take about the same time to start to glow. Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXqz9XDDPiU

Does your van have the super-quick glow system (no warning light on the dashboard, you listen for the clicks before starting)? If so, you should have 6V glow plugs, preferably genuine Mitsubishi ones which have a ceramic tip- the tip looks flattened, like a blunt chisel. The hexagonal part of the glow plug should have "6.2V" stamped into it in tiny writing.

Do NOT drop a ceramic glow plug, handle them like they are light bulbs. If you drop one, do not reinstall it- if the ceramic breaks inside the engine it'll cause a lot of damage.

Do you listen for the clicks before starting? Do they sound about right? About 5 seconds to the second click at 18C, as much as 30 seconds at 0C. If the clicks are absent or far too fast, you may have a faulty engine temperature sender. It's the 2-pin sensor on the cylinder head just in front of glow plug #1.
Nothing says "poor workmanship" more than wrinkles in the duct tape.
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Is that a problem?

Post by fred4130 »

Hi Growlerbearnz,
Thanks to take time to answer :)

I suppose I've normal glow plug because I have the light in the dashboard. Yes, I'm waiting for the clicks and it's never never as long as 30 secondes! No more than 7 seconds when it's cold...
I'm going to check the sender.

Thanks for the potential solution ;)
Fred
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Post by philmeup1 »

Well I got one thing right. I told you there's some great people on here with excellent advice. And now you're seeing it firsthand. Both Growler & Falco have offered up excellent posts and help to everyone on here including myself!!

And just to clarify, mine doesn't blow black smoke, but I don't live in a high altitude area. I'm in southern Ontario where there are no mountains or anything that might be taxing on an older L300 van.

Cheers:)
fred4130
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Post by fred4130 »

I thought about the sender. And when I bought the car the precedent owner said he put a "spring" temperature sender. I think that the target of this sender is to avoid overwarming.
What I'm thinking that's maybe the range of this sender it's too short (the sender can't "detect" under a specific temperature) and so the glow plug don't stay warm longer because the sender doesn't detect the good temperature. I don't know if that could make sense?

Sorry if it's not really clear, it's quite hard to explain and English it's not my first language.
Thanks in advance.
Fred
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Post by sk66 »

fred4130 wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:08 pm And when I bought the car the precedent owner said he put a "spring" temperature sender. I think that the target of this sender is to avoid overwarming.
That makes no sense to me; the temp sensor's resistance changes based upon it's temperature... that's how they work. It's already adjusted for the ambient temperature because it's already warmer.
Maybe you're confusing it with a lower temp thermostat... which also makes little difference and wouldn't affect the glow system either way.
Steven
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fred4130
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Post by fred4130 »

mmh I don't know ...
Is this sensor is the only engine temperature sensor ?
Basically, my temperature gauge needle in dashboard is always moving. So i'm going up a hill, the needle moving to the middle. On the the next way down, it's moving back to the "cold" part of the gauge. I never saw that before with any other of my car. It's really sensitive.
But i don't know if this gauge is connecting to the same sensor as the glow plug temperature and I don't know if all temperature gauge Delica are like that. :)

As solution to start my engine, i just start/warm my glow plug +-15 times (they stay on for approximately 7 seconds) at 0°C. The car start well after that, i just would like to understand why they are not staying warm longer...

Thanks,
Fred
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Post by Growlerbearnz »

fred4130 wrote: Sun Apr 21, 2019 4:31 pmIs this sensor is the only engine temperature sensor?
Yes, that is the only sensor that can change the way the engine or temperature gauge works*. The sender is actually two senders in one piece: one terminal goes to the dashboard gauge, one terminal goes to the glow plug computer. Either terminal can be faulty while the other one still works.
Sender.jpg
Sender.jpg (89.15 KiB) Viewed 9354 times
fred4130 wrote: Sun Apr 21, 2019 4:31 pm Basically, my temperature gauge needle in dashboard is always moving. So i'm going up a hill, the needle moving to the middle. On the the next way down, it's moving back to the "cold" part of the gauge.
That's completely normal. You have a tiny, weak engine trying to move a heavy van, with the radiator hidden under the seat, the temperature gauge will always move. HOWEVER. If your radiator is getting old and tired, maybe with sediment or clogged tubes, the temperature gauge will move more. If the gauge often gets near the Hot mark, it's time to change the radiator.
fred4130 wrote: Sun Apr 21, 2019 4:31 pmAs solution to start my engine, i just start/warm my glow plug +-15 times (they stay on for approximately 7 seconds) at 0°C. The car start well after that, i just would like to understand why they are not staying warm longer...
I don't know much about the regular glow system, but I do know the glow plugs should stay on longer when it's cold, and shorter when it's warm. If they are always coming on for 7 seconds (regardless if it's 0C or 20C), I would replace the engine temperature sender. It's cheap.

*There are one or two other temperature senders on the engine, but they run the AC system and have no connection to the glow plugs or temperature gauge, and they only operate when the engine is overheating. You can ignore them.
Nothing says "poor workmanship" more than wrinkles in the duct tape.
fred4130
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Post by fred4130 »

Thank you very much Growler!
I'm going to change this sensor and I'll see.
Fred
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