Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hi everyone,

I just got finished installing my new T belt and other bits, everything is reinstalled - but the engine won't fire, it simply cranks. I know the obvious answer is the timing is off (tear it down again, bleh), but if none of the sprockets moved during installation how can that be? (Save the IP pump sprocket which rotated 360º back to its proper alignment).

Any suggestions before I dig back in would be great.. I'm desperate!

Thanks!

Hi there,
I've done the belt 4 times now and the sprockets always move a bit. I find it takes me a good 5 minutes to hold the ip sprocket while tightening the tensioner to get the teeth perfect. Did you check the 3 marks before you put it back together? Also did you do any maintenance to the fuel system?

You only need to remove the top belt cover to check the timing. Pictures here: http://www.delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=17654

Of course if it's wrong, re-tensioning it requires more teardown. It's allegedly possible to re-tension the belt without removing the lower cover, but I've never been able to do it.

As Helibrian says, what else did you do? Check the basics first: You've plugged the injection pump electrical connectors in? If you loosen one of the injector pipe nuts, does fuel come put when you crank the engine? Does the engine cough or smoke at all when cranking?

I did both belts, water pump, and thermostat. I believe I've found my issue: the marks on the camshaft and IP sprockets line up perfectly, but it appears the mark on the crank pulley lines up to the 10 on the cover rather than the T. The engine doesn't cough or smoke at all when cranking!

Growlerbearnz wrote:Check the basics first: You've plugged the injection pump electrical connectors in? If you loosen one of the injector pipe nuts, does fuel come put when you crank the engine?

Have you got photos? I'm not too familiar with the fuel system yet..

Sorry for the triple post:

I'm going to try priming the IP system as soon as I get home. I was thinking if the pump sprocket rotated 360 degrees independent of the camshaft, isn't it possible that the fuel was pumped into the fuel return line, while drawing air in from somewhere around the filter drying up the line? This winter I had a few (cause unresolved) no-start issues that were resolved by priming.

If you're reasonably certain that nothing moved, definitely go for the Priming. Even the slightest air leak, in addition to the engine being down for service for awhile may starve your injection pump. I've had to go through numerous connections and fix small leaks that are only apparent when priming.

Crack an injector nut to be sure. Seems odd to not even have a cough or sputter.

Best of luck

mcmastai wrote:the marks on the camshaft and IP sprockets line up perfectly, but it appears the mark on the crank pulley lines up to the 10 on the cover rather than the T.

That certainly needs to be fixed before starting the engine. If the timing is incorrect it can break rockers, so fix that before cranking the engine much more.

mcmastai wrote:I was thinking if the pump sprocket rotated 360 degrees independent of the camshaft, isn't it possible that the fuel was pumped into the fuel return line, while drawing air in from somewhere around the filter drying up the line? This winter I had a few (cause unresolved) no-start issues that were resolved by priming.

Not quite, fuel is always drawn into the injection pump when it's turned (as long as you turn it in the correct direction!), and both the supply and return lines are always full of fuel. What you might have is an air leak. Check both ends of all rubber fuel hoses: if the rubber is split then remove the clamp, trim the hose until the splits aren't there, and reinstall. Then prime the pump (using the plastic primer knob on the fuel filter) and bleed the injectors (there's a post in the Technical Reference Library)

There's a bit of a learning curve with any new thing, but once you get the hang of it a diesel is far simpler than a gas engine.

Well, upon further inspection my timing was way off... thankfully nowhere near hitting the valves though... my upper two marks are aligned fine, but upon aligning my crankshaft it encounters resistance one tooth before TDC. I don't want to force anything.. how should I proceed?

I've got it figured out! Turns out having your crank 180 degrees away from where it should be causes all sorts of problems (jeez what an amateur hey? ). Anyways got it timed (double and triple checked). Will be starting tomorrow evening!