I have had this van / mini-bus for a while now, converting to an RV in spare time, and it has been started and driven short distances with no problem at all. Now that I have insurance and plates (unrelated I'm sure haha) it has died.

When I turn the key usually the wait to start light comes on, a relay clicks over several times in several seconds, light goes out and I start it fine.

When I turn the key now, the wait to start light flashes, and the relay clicks over rapidly at the same time. The engine doesn't turn over if the key is turned further.

The radio also flickered.. I think it was turning on and off? I pulled it and disconnected power, with no change to starting problem / relay fast action.

Now I'm about to tear apart 'everything' because I don't know the best place to start looking. I presume it is a short circuit somewhere, but unsure where that might be.

Any advice is welcome.

I have been building this into an RV, just got plates, and looking to move my g/f out of her apartment in 2 days. I'm a little stressed... really any helpful advice is appreciated.

 

I did smell electrical type burn briefly inside the cab near the passenger door. Something happened...

 

My guess is that your ign/start switch is bad. You should find it on the steering column under the dash. However I would post this problem on the pre-powerstroke diesel page for a second opinion.

 

Simply cleaning the battery terminals and charging the batteries may fix it. When the glow plugs activate, they pull up to 200 amps. Also, if your wait to start lamp never comes on solid for a little while before it starts blinking, you have some burnt out glow plugs.

 

Thanks for the feedback. After doing less troubleshooting than I could have, but low on time and experience, I decided to get a tow to a local shop with the hopes of having an experienced hand get me going surely and quickly.

Getting vehicle ready for the tow, I tried starting one last time and it worked. wouldn't you know it. haha. Drove to the shop and it worked repeatedly. He gave me some basic troubleshooting, namely checking glowplugs are good to start with.

So it is starting fine. Rather... haha... *was* running fine.

Has had maybe 10 starts or so, no problem. Today a new symptom/problem. The Wait To Start light illuminates very briefly when cold (and it is quite cold today in Barrie, ON) and GP controllor clicks and sounds as usual. But the wait to start light is lit not long enough. Engine turns over, no start. Plug in block heater, wait an hour, starts fine, but smoky.

Looks like GPs are not glowing. Yet I can hear the controller clicking.

I will troubleshoot controller and GP system as per haynes manual tomorrow afternoon. in the mean time I will use block heater for cold starts.

I'm thinking probably the controller is bad. Perhaps someone here has other experience or advice?

Thanks for all the input. I really am glad to have found these forums. So much useful information! I've been reading for hours and hours.

 

Take each glowplug connector off, and take a meter and read ohms to ground on each glowplug, or take a testlight and hook one end to the battery +, and touch the other end to each glowplug tip. You should get continuity to ground, or the testlight should light if the glowplug is good.

Mine was doing just the same thing, and when I tested my glowplugs, all but one tested good. But the connections to the glowplugs were pretty bad, and just taking the connectors off and testing plugs seemed to fix the connections and make the glowplug light stay on.

If you have burnt out glowplugs or bad connections, the glowplug light will go out prematurely, even though the controller is good.

You can also check a large wiring plug on the passenger side fender that supplies power to the glowplug system. I noticed mine has been getting hot and has melted the plug a little bit.

 

Thanks! I did run a 12V hot line to each disconnected GP and they sparked, so basic continuity is good. Except I couldn't reach one, but the rest are good. I'll take the time to get a resistance measurement on each one if the controller otherwise seems to be working normally.

The relay in engine compartment near curb side battery has good looking connectors and wires. As part of general electrical cleanup of main lines and connections I unscrewed those, cleaned with solvent, emery cloth, applied dielectric grease and reassembled. They look good. Likewise with battery terminals, ground straps, starter line.

This current problem seems controller or wiring related, based on my limited experience with all manner of electrical things. But not so much diesel truck experience. To recap, when key is turned on, wait to start lamp lights for a split second, GP controller clicks as usual, but GPs are not activating. I will post back here with what I find in case someone else experiences the same symptoms.

 

Follow the glowplug harness from the engine over to the passenger side fender. Mine has a rectangle black plug before it gets to the relay, and this is the one that is getting hot on mine. They have tandem wires feeding the glowplug relay mounted on the rear of the engine.

 

I found the tandem wire from relay to controller was bad so I replaced it. Doing so broke the relay from overtightening. Aftermarket relays has 4 connectors instead of 3 that OEM had. the extra connector needs to be run to ground. now the GPs seem to be cycling OK with new wire.