LJ78 overland camper build

[Duvs]

Hi everyone, welcome to the start of my build thread! It wont be as epic as some(!), but it may tell it's own story eventually!

While the truck has been getting regular use and some minor mods and camping trips I’ve been saving up pics to make a worthy writeup. Plans for the next few months include finishing an interior and rear rack setup, treating the underside, and trip to Portugal. The 78 platform is ideal for me, but I'd like to eventually swap the engine for something more suitable. If I get that far (and everything else is sorted!) despite its current patina'd state being pretty special I do keep dreaming of a paintjob. thats well beyond my current foreseeable reality though!

But fate means I unfortunately have to start with a request for advice: the engine light came on yesterday and the truck isn’t firing! This is especially embarrassing as it’s in a 45min parking bay as of 9am tomorrow, and I’m going away for 2weeks on Wednesday!!

There are a number of potential factors but in brief: yesterday during two 6mile journeys the engine light came on briefly whilst driving maybe 3-4 times. Doing about 50mph power seemed to wane then resume 4-5times. In between the two legs I slackened off the fuel cap as heavy vacuum there had been on my mind. About 2 hrs after the second leg, with the key in ‘on’, the turbo/ engine/ t-belt lights stay lit. The engine turns fine but doesn't catch. I re-tightened the fuel cap but still no start. The OBD gives codes 5 and 12…
There’s no evidence of overheat and fluid levels seem fine. I'm wondering if I need a new pump or if it could be electrical given yesterdays rain and my leaky windscreen seal..

i will add to this thread as i get to the bottom of the problem, and gradually back-fill it with the bits n bobs i've been getting up to and am yet to do.

needless to say, I'd appreciate any feedback!
(and sorry for a less-exciting-than-intended first build-thread post)
Duvs

 

[Gav Peter]

Perhaps a stupid suggestion but hows your air filter looking? I had the Turbo light come on & that was suggested... Worked on the 80 ;-)

 

[Duvs]

thanks Gav, i'll check it out. I'd read there is a sensor near the back of the airbox that can be disturbed and cause such symptoms. (and I've had tinker with the snorkel-to-airbox pipe so I could be the culprit)

i forgot to say i also disconnected the batteries after getting the codes off the OBD in case an ECU reset would help, but no luck.

 

[Duvs]

Some more background:
The engine generally runs fine apart from being a bit rough when starting. A puff of white and the exhaust bangs the chassis 2-3 times. 2 weeks ago it began not starting so good i.e it didn’t always catch the usual 1st time every time.

last week I did 300mile trip to mid wales with rooftent and rack on, cruising at up to 55-65, and slower tootling up and down hills once there. Performance reduction due to the extra weight/wind resistance was disappointingly noticeable. It was harder to get the autobox to change into top (about 54mph). Otherwise it ran fine tho.
I noticed on longer sections at 60+mph my coolant temperature would drop. I had to slow down and keep the cab heater off to keep the needle normal. I was reminded of the grille ‘bibs’ some series landrovers use and wondered if this is to be expected on a 2LTE? I also noticed the oil pressure moving more than normal and getting concerningly high whilst at full steam eg climbing hills.

Ambling home in the 55ish I wondered if that is all I can expect from the 2LTE? (and i barely get 20mpg :0 ) I’m looking for more reliability and cruising capacity! My mind wondered to the 5-pot 2.3TD in my merc 312D and 2.5TD v6 in my audi. Neither vehicle I really need anymore not has much sale value, and yet both are mechanically very sound and both engines common motorhome installations… is this a crazy line of thinking..?

For now time and budget require I get the 2LTE going through!

 

[Scott]

I noticed on longer sections at 60+mph my coolant temperature would drop. I had to slow down and keep the cab heater off to keep the needle normal.

Your thermostat may have failed in the open position, causing the engine to overcool as you cruise along the motorway. The thermostat should close to regulate and maintain the optimum coolant temperature for the engine. Unfortunately this will not fix your failure to start issue, can you not get someone to tow it to a more suitable parking space untill you can sort it out?

 

[Duvs]

thanks for the pointer on the overcooling

can you not get someone to tow it to a more suitable parking space

yes unless it randomly starts in the morn i'll have to take the ticket for tomorrow and call in a favour tomorrow eve from my mate with a ford ranger (oh the shame)

 

[Duvs]

well after reading up all i could last night (instead of studying for a finance exam i have this afternoon) i just got it started.

i pumped the primer for ages (hadnt done that before-didnt know about it), then left it 15mins. then pumped the primer like crazy again. then did 4x cycles of glowplugs (replaced 4 months ago). then cranked it for about 30secs... and it began to s l o wly catch. possibly because it started a bit slowly there was unusually no rattling or smoke

i'll have to take it for a run and see if the power problems are still there. but for now at least i avoid a parking fine.

even if this engine is ok, it's like a permanent dose of background paranoia-laden low-performance - i'm considering my options!!

 

[Duvs]

Once started i left the truck idling for a good 10 mins. Smooth and no problems. I ran it down to where i can leave it (2min drive) and it drove no problem, think the turbo came on where it should etc. So once parked up i gradually ramped up the revs to see what I'd see or hear. It was smooth to begin with but the turbo light never lit at the usual spot (i think just about 2000rpm). Next i felt some lumpy resistance in the 2-3000rpm range causing me to throttle more. Finally as i throttled it harder and touched 3000rpm it basically lost power and died, dash lit up again. Tried to restart once for a few seconds but felt it wasnt gona catch.

I've read quite extensively on the 2LTE on the mud various old surf etc forums and never quite seen these symptoms so i'd welcome any suggestions. the main unit seems ok so its probably a fixable ancillary issue, and as such my priority is getting it fixed!!
but i'm not keen to throw good money after bad as they say, and am interested to do an upgrade so am open to ideas on that too. I think there might be options worth considering that give better power and efficiency and eliminate the overheating tendencies of the normal transplant suspects? bound to be controversial!!
I'll be away for a fortnight from wednesday so apologies if i cant answer much during that time.
many thanks, Duvs

 

[Ben]

Looking forward to the actual build thread starting.

I'm wondering if your engine issues could be fuel related. When did you last change the fuel filter? What are the fuel lines like from the tank to the engine? I wonder if maybe one is split and allowing air into the system.

Maybe you could rig up a temporary fuel can to the fuel filter in hose and see what it runs like.

 

[Duvs]

cheers ben, yes the build thread does need to start! it's just we're beginning with clearing out the gremlins!
I'll get everything pulled apart and fixed up eventually, but i'm afraid for now my timescale is for years not weeks

thanks for the suggestions, fueling does seem suspect. temporary fuel can is a good idea i wouldn't have considered. the filter was done in december, but i'll investigate the fuel lines an report back. the tank breather must be blocked as the tank is highly vacuumed everytime i open the cap. weirdly the issue here only became critical after i drove with the cap slackend the cap off though! i recon that was just a coincidence. it's easy to make problems harder to diagnose by tinkering. its most likley something simple eh

 

[Duvs]

a little update: i have it running again! if i'm right the eventual fix shouldnt be too expensive.
I cracked an injector and cranked it. a small amount of fuel came- not as much as id expect, but enough to guess the pump was ok.
next i rigged up an alternative fuel source to eliminate the filter/fuel lines backwards.
after i'd disconnected the feed from the filter to the pump i thought i'd see if i could pull some fuel through using the primer. the fact none came was telling.
so i extended the pipe with some hose to a can in the footwell, and sure enough the pump drew the fuel up the line and it fired up like it should on the third try. excellent!


so even if it's just the filter that's actually clogged right now, i'm guessing the problem is likely starting in the tank (rather than in the lines which look ok). could be crud or water, certainly fancy flushing it out.
i noticed the base of the tank is very noticeably concave up inside the tank carrier/guard. this could be from a bash in the past, but i suspect it's been sucked it from the vacuum due to the blocked breather...
so i perhaps i could do with a new fueltank...
meanwhile, i wonder if i can rig up something a slightly more robust to get me down to lincomb?! itd be wrong to drive from a pair of jerrycans in the footwell... any opinions??

 

[Jimbo4x4]

Hey Duvs, glad to see Rex is on the road to recovery. Come to think of it I seem to remember the cap hissing when I filled up after running the tank very low, never really thought anything of it though Could you drop the tank and strap a plastic outboard motor tank in place using the tank guard? Or even run from a boat tank in the cab and run some hose through the bulkhead? You must be able to find one of those in Caernarfon! I know they're only 25L but you should easily do the round trip on 3 tanks if you don't hoon it everywhere. It'd be great to see Rex being used off road again, so I hope you can make it.

 

[froggy Steve]

and you could use Red diesel and who would know?

 

[Duvs]

yes i'd been thinking boat tank but not quite got there. I'd also been looking at what tanks were available on ebay at the moment in case there was something cheap and local to be had i could strap in top of the tank guard like a genericy-shaped izuzu etc one.
but boat tank in the footwell thru the bulkhead, and a pair of jerrys on the roof for spares and i'd be ok i reckon I have an old 5gal tank at me old man's..

 

[Jimbo4x4]

So we'll see you there then?!

 

[Duvs]

cheers Jim, really quite gutted i couldnt make it. i think i made the sensible decision in not coming tho or i might've had diesel all over the road somewhere. where i'm up to is;
rigged up outboard tank direct to pump - runs GREAT
Swapped filter cartridge and ran the rigged up line thru it - wont run
So..
1.Defo underlying problem with tank venting (base of tank suck-crushed in on itself, possibly crushing fuel pickup(?), certainly caused fuel gauge to miss-read now (100% until 25% left, then rapid drop!)
2.Defo problem running if fuel passed thru filter
3.Meanwhile, realised I have to limit to how far I can run from the aux tank due to the fuel return line backfilling the main tank. seems she only burns about 25% of what the pump pulls, meaning i rinse about 1liter per mile! so now the main tank is almost full i'll have to siphon out back into the jerrycans.. it's no way to deliberately set off on a highway journey i hope you'd agree.
So while i obviously need to fix the tank breather situation, and ideally repair/replace the tank, first i need to fix the filter issue.
i will check the seals are wet and tight, and there is no blockage in the housing. but it's occurred to me that the primer pump diaphragm may have been damaged by all the vacuum, or by my overusing it to try and pull some fuel through. its where my attention is going next anyway

 

[Jimbo4x4]

Good luck with it Dyfan. All forgiven, although I did really missed Rex last weekend - the X-Trail just isn't quite the same at Lincomb for some reason?!? Cant think why...

I never thought about the return pipe issue and agree it was a far-from-ideal setup even before factoring that in, so yeah, sensible choice imo.

There's an LJ78 being broken in Ellesmere Port at the mo if you need anything. I'm heading out to Abersoch for a wedding on the 27th if you want anything picking up/dropping off, appreciate it's quite far away mind.

 

[Jimbo4x4]

Nice light bar & bull bars dude ;-)