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[wildrover]

Hello Jeepers...    Wonder if anyone can help with advice on my 1997 2.5 turbo diesal xj....?

Just recently on cold damp mornings my oil burner has chuntered into life rather reluctantly , seemingly firing now and then , producing lots of smoke , and after a few seconds firing up on all cylinders....   Normally the beast fires up first time , and even now , once started fires up all day without problem....

I am a bit concerned the problem may get worse once the winter proper arrives here in the Polish forest...is there anything i should be checking or replacing before the snow comes...  ?     the battery is good , i wait untill the glow plug lite goes out...what could be the problem......or should i just have a can of ether handy for the really cold weather...?

[mattyspr]

Not that I know a lot. But as a fellow owner of an XJ oil burner, have you tried checking / replacing the glow plugs?

That would be my first point of call.

But I'm sure, some other tech boffin on here will prob prove me wrong and tell you its something more simple ........

[Mike Pavelin]

Disconnect the glow plugs. On each glow plug check the resistance between the centre pin and ground. It should be around 0.2-0.5 Ohms. If it is a lot higher the glow plug is scrap.

[wildrover]

Thanks guys....The glow plugs were top of my suspects list..but as funds and resources are scarce out here in the forest i wanted to be sure i targeted the most likely cause of the problem....    cheers....

[Dave69]

I gather you have contacted or will contact the VM specialist for a price on glow plugs etc, they are based in chesterfield

[wildrover]

I have not contacted anyone re the glow plugs as yet , but it might be handy to have the name of the vm dealer in Chesterfield...    I am actually in the middle of a forest in Poland , but my sister in the UK might be asked to get me some glo plugs and post them on to me.....Funny enough its been starting ok the last few times...

[Mike Pavelin]

There's a guy in Poland who collects regular shipments from Mansfield 4x4 and sells the stuff locally. If you give them a call they might be able to put you in touch.

[wildrover]

Looks like my wonderfull sister in the UK has got me a present of a set of glo plugs , and will be sending them over to Poland for me...I don,t have a workshop manual for the vm engine as yet , so can anyone tell me if fitting the glo plugs is as simple as i think its going to be...?

I am pretty competant with a set of spanners , so not worried about that , but if anyone has done such a job before i would appreciate any advice....I must confess i am a bit of a petrol head , and not had much experiance of oil burners...

[Bubba]

i thinkl its no 2 thats a utter bastard to do

[mattyspr]

yep. 2 & 3 are the teasers. I gotta change mine.

Just a bit of moving other pipes about to get to but its a simple enough job.....

[The Smiths]

a 1997 should have the plugs going in at a angle - not horizontal as early ones which is a sod to do.

[wildrover]

Thats good news...don,t suppose you know if my xj is one with the seperate cyl heads do you..    i had a possible gasket issue a while back , might have to change it at some point....?

[daggie]

seperate heads...........................

[Mike Pavelin]

..............and it'll be a cracked head, not the gasket.

[wildrover]

I didn,t even want to think about that possibility....I guess that would mean one of the heads would have to be replaced , along with new expander bolts....?

This is probably a silly question , but seeing as my Jeep apperently has seperate heads...can i just replace the cracked head , without having to dismantle the others that are ok , and are all the heads the same on all four cylinders...?

[brian reid]

i have the same problem just now,have a set of plug comes on monday,took the old plugs out,they came out easy enough,10ml long reach did the job,take your time,take the plug off the top of the glow plugs with long nose pliers,dont pull them off by there cables just in case,take your time,there is a long thread on the plugs,and when putting them back in again take you time,you dont want to thread the plug or the head,that would be a nightmare as the head would have to come out to be re-threaded if that was possible,if not a new head would have to be sought,take your time doing this.,,easy job,but easily could go wrong,take your time....

i was getting the same hard starting problems in cold weather,thought it was the pump on its way out,but i was getting load of blue smoke while trying to start,a sign that fuel is making to to the head,but not burning,we took the plug out and tested them and got nothing from any of them,if this does not work then i will look at the glow plug relay.

regards brian

[Dave69]

This is probably a silly question , but seeing as my Jeep apperently has seperate heads...can i just replace the cracked head , without having to dismantle the others that are ok , and are all the heads the same on all four cylinders...?

if your swapping one head then take them all off. you may have 4 individual heads but they were not designed to swap on head at a time as they are all interlocked together. if it's one of the middle heads causing a problem you can't just take that one out due to the outer head stopping it from being removed. All the heads are the same so it doesn't matter which order you put them back on.

[brian reid]

did my glow plugs,massive diffrence in starting,went out the next morning -7c car had been out all night,first turn of the key after warm up and she burst into life,job well done.

regards to all