Sev1710

New User
I have a Ford 1710 with 900+ hours, Shibaura 3 cycle diesel. It
has always been hard starting, but the last few years has been
really hard to crank. Here recently, I have been completely
unsuccessful. I have a brand new battery, and have tried
multiple new starters thinking it is just not turning it over fast
enough. New glow plugs and water separator, new oil, and filter.
New water pump and thermostat. New muffler also. I have
checked the injectors and they are getting fuel, glow plugs
burning hot orange. I have yet to replace the injectors, because
they are hard to find. I get black smoke, and the occasional
backfire, but it never starts, even after the engine gets warm
from trying to start. I live in Florida, and it is about 75-80 F, still
no dice! Any troubleshooting advice, and comments are all
welcome! Help me get this thing started, so I can fix my
driveway!
 
I think the key phrase for me is where you say that you think it's just not turning over fast enough. Is there a way that you could make a video and put it up on YouTube for us to watch and more importantly, hear? Because if you are sure the glow plugs are working, and you get smoke, it should start, especially in warm weather. It almost has to be an issue with slow cranking.

Or, maybe it's getting no air? Try disconnecting the air cleaner pipe at the intake manifold and see if that changes anything. Try that first. If no difference, see if you can post a short 10 second video.
 
Agree with checking the air flow. I worked on a JD 450 crawler that would not start under all these conditions. It turns out the mice had filled up and clogged the air filter housing.
 
He mistakenly posted this in the Tool section. I will link that discussion. All I have to add is whether or not pressure leaked by the rubber tip when compression was being tested. If it did not then those compression readings in the upper 100s also point to possible blockage of the intake air. Although it could be just worn cylinders or bad valves.
Post in Tool Talk
 
Get a friend, another tractor, or a pick-up truck and chain and hook to it and pull it in a higher gear with the the glow plugs heating and the throttle about half open and let the clutch out. If it starts, it is cranking too slow with the starter. If it doesn't you need to dig deeper. I work on these indirect engines all the time. We Rebuilt a N844T last week. They have to spin fast and have glow plugs to start easy and they don't like starting fluid.
 
I ordered a diesel compression testing kit. I put the old starter back on, the one with 11 teeth. The one I ordered on eBay was supposed to be a reman of the Old Mitsubishi that came off or it, but it only had 9 teeth, even though advertised as 11. When I get off work, I am going to test the compression again. Is there any advice you guys have for how best to do that? If I shut the fuel off will that stop the injectors from interfering with the test, or does that matter? Also, should I take the valve cover off and check for clogs? Could there be build up, or sludge in the valves? Trying to guage whether I may need to do a complete rebuild, or just a head job, but I guess I wont really know until I get that far into it.
 
So, with the fitting 290, 200, and 290. The valves look dirty, especially that cylinder, and that cylinder is the closest to the air intake. So, could this be a problem with the valves, or what lies beneath? Should I re-ring it, and put a new head gasket, or go even deeper?
 

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