1987 lt35 recovery truck

Hi, I am new to this forum, having only just found it whist searching the internet trying to work out whats wrong with my old truck. So to start with, Hello! , I have had my truck for about 6 months, she got 120,000 miles and is in a reasonable state i would say, for her years.

Anyway, to the point...
Bearing in mind, i bought her in the summer, she has always been a pain to start cold. The glow plug light stays on for ages and if you didnt give them at least 30 seconds before starting, it wouldnt go. and if she didnt go first time it was like she flooded, and wasnt likely to start at all without a tow. I havnt used her much recently, mainly due to the starting issue. Just before christmas i decided it was time to throw some money at her and see if i could resolve the problem. I started with a  new battery and new glow plugs. I was hoping this would make the light go off a bit quicker, but no. and no help with starting either, infact no difference at all. i checked the voltage coming into the relay, and coming out, there seemed to be a bit of a drop, and by the time that gets to the plugs it was down to about 7-8 volts. So next i bought a new relay, still no difference.
The fuses for the relays have been replaced by wire, so are un-fused but are making a connection, looks like it has been like this for years. She starts immediatly with a tow! like as soon as you lift the clutch in second at 5 miles an hour. I have bled the injectors and seem to be getting fuel through at each, although i will say the only time it sounds like it wants to start is when i try with all the injectors cracked off.

I know this subject has been covered before but i cant really seem to find a good soloution, i have also read that the thing on the dash that looks like a choke knob is something to do with cold starting? i never wanted to mess around with that as i didnt know what it was for.

Any help would be grately recieved as i really love my old truck and she needs an mot this month so i have to get her working.

thanks

it doesnt run that well, untill its warm, also a bit noisy. Yes there is smoke, quite a lot of smoke, infact many many smokes fill the road...once its warm all would appear to be good, i put the smoke down to all the failed starting attemts but i guess its always done it when it first starts

Welcome RetroMercs,please do persevere I'm sure you will get it sorted with the great advise from the other member's.Did you post a pic of your recovery wagon ? It's not displaying on my P.C. What have you got a beaver or spec ? Old L.T'S carry weight well without showing and should serve you well good luck with it.

Faceache links never work

hi, ok sorry been so long getting back to this but i have had a busy start to the year. I just went out with a set of jump leads and connected the wires to the glowplugs, engine side of the underbonnet fuses, direct to the battery. low and behold she started, no immediatly but was firing straight away so i kept in it and she went. no smoke either. This suggests to me that the wiring system for the glow plugs has some issues, maybe a bad earth? i know i only get 7 volts directly at the end of the glow plugs so something is getting through. i have wired the jump lead wire in to the system so i can connect to the battery tomorrow and see if it starts again.

it does start perfectly after the first cold start, and i am fairly sure starter is ok as it cranks over quite well, but i do see where you are coming from with that one

ok, last cry for help, nothing and no one can make her start cold...i have now been told it could be valve clearances affecting compression, is this a worthy route to go down?

Unexpected visitors, so a little behind schedule. The most clear version I have is June95, which is a bit late but prior to that is 83.

----------From-----------------via----------------------------To-------------------------
Glowplugs                 4mm2 Red/White         50A fuses in engine bay.       They are also linked at input.
50A fuses                  4mm2 Red/White         8/87 on GPRelay.
2/30 on GPRelay     4mm2 Red                    H2 on rear of fusebox.
6/85 on GPRelay     0.5mm2 Brown            Earth near fusebox/engine compartment loom.
1/T on GPRelay       0.5mm2 Blue/White     Engine Temp Sender1
Eng Temp Send2    1mm2 Brown                Earth near fusebox.
C10                            1.5mm2 Red/Black     7/50 on GPRelay.
C6                              0.5mm2 White/Red     3L on GPRelay.
A12                            1mm2 Black                 4/86 on GPRelay.

Fuses have been known to break down and not show any outward signs, that is cracks. If the new relay has not helped then hopefully the above information will enable you to rule out wiring issues.