Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hey folks,

I have a 98 L400 Deli. Love the girl but as it started getting colder she started having issues starting. I have done the following:

- New battery
- checked the new battery and alternator and starter (all good)
- replaced the glow plugs
- put in a manual glow plug button
- replaced the gas filter seal

And it is still having issues.........

Ugh. Any ideas? Suggestions? Hints?

Thanks all :)

What's it doing (or not doing) when starting? Cranking for ages? Running rough? White smoke out the exhaust?

Did the things you tried have any effect?

It takes a lot more cranks to get it going. The colder it is the worse it is. When it is really cold am holding the manual glow plug button down for 15-20 seconds. Often there are puffs of white smoke. Literally once I drive it for 1-2 minutes and turn it off, it starts right up again like there was no problem.

Sigh. :)

What weight of oil are you using? 15-40 or 5-40? Makes a huge difference.

I would have to take a look at the oil. Can't remember. What do you suggest?

Seems you guys in the lower main land are having a colder than normal winter yes? I was visiting family in Chilliwack at Christmas and was surprised by how cold it was. If thats still the case I would go with 5-40. Or you could have a block heater installed. Its good insurance. No way in hell I could get away with 15-40 here in Winnipeg in the winter!

I will check into that. Thanks brother. :)

Before your first start in the morning try priming your fuel filter. If it starts first try you may have a faulty/weeping injector.

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I am having similar issues with my '94 L400. I replaced the glow plugs, no change. I primed the fuel filter last night, got 7 pumps of air before fuel came out. Woke up this morning feeling good, went out to start it, primed the fuel filter first (1 pump of air this time - more encouragement!!), and it started , but ran really low rpms (about 500-600). It didn't have the bucking problems it normally does (I assume these were due to air in the fuel system. Confirmation?) Within probably 10 seconds, it stalled. After that, it didn't start again.
To be fair, I didn't crank it for too long the second time. I was mostly testing it to see if the air in the system was our problem. If it had started like a dream after priming, I would have taken it to work, but it didn't, so I left it at home and took the car. I then left the oil pan heater plugged in for about 15 minutes (it was -18 this morning) and tried again (the block hater is pretty much always plugged in in winter). Same as second try. It cranked for a while, I tried giving it gas, which has helped in the past, but got nothing. Again, I didn't crank it for too long, probably only about 5 seconds.
Do I just need to crank it longer? Are these issues typical of a particular problem?

Priming the fuel filter.......not being overly mechanical anyone have any vids of that?

I know, take away my man card lol

Don't worry, I spent a good half hour scouring the internet trying to find out exactly the same thing.

Right behind your coolant tank is you fuel filter, on top is a pump. Just loosen the little screw on there and press the top until fuel comes out. Then tighten it up again and presto.

This video does nothing to give you the location, but does show you what you're looking for.

Likewise, this doesn't show where it is (it's from an L300), but it's the same part on an L400. If you push down on the primer it'll pump the fuel manually.

Loosening the bleed screw will get air out of the fuel filter, but if your air leak is in the injection pump you'll want to leave the bleed screw closed while you pump the primer. (I'd try that first as it's less messy).

This shows where it is in the engine, tucked behind the coolant. The guy has taken out his batteries, but you don't need to do that in order to prime it, only to change the filter.

pj_jazzy_janz wrote:I am having similar issues with my '94 L400. I replaced the glow plugs, no change. I primed the fuel filter last night, got 7 pumps of air before fuel came out. Woke up this morning feeling good, went out to start it, primed the fuel filter first (1 pump of air this time - more encouragement!!), and it started , but ran really low rpms (about 500-600). It didn't have the bucking problems it normally does (I assume these were due to air in the fuel system. Confirmation?) Within probably 10 seconds, it stalled. After that, it didn't start again.
To be fair, I didn't crank it for too long the second time. I was mostly testing it to see if the air in the system was our problem. If it had started like a dream after priming, I would have taken it to work, but it didn't, so I left it at home and took the car. I then left the oil pan heater plugged in for about 15 minutes (it was -18 this morning) and tried again (the block hater is pretty much always plugged in in winter). Same as second try. It cranked for a while, I tried giving it gas, which has helped in the past, but got nothing. Again, I didn't crank it for too long, probably only about 5 seconds.
Do I just need to crank it longer? Are these issues typical of a particular problem?

PJ jazzy Janz. Sounds like you may have a front seal issue on your injection pump. Coming problem on the delica. Do a search for front seal injection pump and you should get all the info you need.

Thanks, poochike! I'll look into that.

In the meantime, I attempted another exorcism this morning, only today I tried to get her started with a little more vigor than yesterday. Granted, it was -39 with the wind chill, so the elements themselves were against me...

I had the block heater plugged in overnight, plugged the oil pan heater for 20 minutes, then pumped the fuel filter pump both with and without the bleed screw open, but since I didn't know what to look for with it closed, I have no idea if I did it enough/just the right amount/too much. Then came the test...
I cranked it and floored it until she came to life *insert maniacal mad-scientist laugh* I ran her for about 2 minutes at 2000 rpms, at which point she slowly died. Every time the rpms would dip, I would give a bit more gas and they would pop up again, only to dip further. We danced this dance for a few seconds until she ultimately died. However, today I had more chutzpah, and was not willing to simply abandon her to the icy grip of death. I tried again. She came back to life, ran between 2000~2500 rpms for about a minute and a half, at which point she died, a little quicker than last time. Did I give up? Unthinkable! I tried a third time yes, a third time!! She came to life, ran for another minute and a half or so at about 2500 rpms (by now the coolant temp gauge had moved comfortably into the middle-ish between the C and H), at which point, I gently let her down until she ran independently at normal idling rpms. Then I had to go to work, so I returned to the house triumphantly, informing my wife that I had bested the stubborn beast

She informed me that her doctor's appointment had been cancelled the night before and therefore didn't need the van today so I left the house (in my car) with the van running in the driveway.

Does this sound like typical front seal injector pump issues?