LUVTruck.com

I have an 82 LUV diesel which starts hard when cold. It starts well when warm. I hava also noticed fumes coming from the oil add spout when I remove the cover and fumes from a pipe on the passenger side of the engine in the center. It looks like a crankcase ventilation tube. What is wrong? How can I fix it? Finally, how can I obtain a good repair manual for the vehicle? Thanks!

Could be that your glow plugs are not working, that is a good guess. A whole lot of smoke-fumes may mean your rings are bad or you have leaky valve seals- worn valve guides

Let us know what you find, or ask more questions. I know diesels, just not the Luv - Isuzu ones.

_________________
75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

I shall look into the glow plugs. If the piston rings are worn, I assume the solution is an engine rebuild. If the valve guides are worn, what is the solution? Any ideas as to where I can obtain a repair manual? Thanks!

Try this before the next cold start: Turn on your headlights THEN turn the key to the "on" position to activate the glow plugs. When your "glow" light goes out, your headlights should get brighter. If not, the system is not working.

As for that pipe on the passenger side, it is as you suspected -- for crankcase ventilation. It's called a "draft tube". Some blowby gasses are normal, especially for a truck this old. The '84 and later engines had a hose to route these fumes back into the air intake. Isuzu even had a TSB and sold a retrofit kit to do this on the earlier ones. You can make your own for a couple of dollars with the instructions HERE.

Before you worry about rings and valve guides, lets work through the simple stuff.

Manuals pop up now and then on eBay. I prefer the factory manual, but I've heard some of the others are good and some are weak.

Jack

_________________
'83 Isuzu P'up Diesel LS - Original Owner
JoeIsuzu@IsuzuPup.com
IsuzuPup.com

Thanks for your response. I don't care particularly about the crankcase ventilation of my 82 LUV, but the blowby gasses make me wonder if the engine is dying. I am running it on pure veggie oil. If the engine is ready to die, I will not go to the expense of modifying it to a two fuel tank system and a veggie fuel heater. I shall follow your recommendation of seeing if the headlights dim while the glow plugs are to be operating. I have started using a little starting fluid if it is hard to start. By doing so, am I going to blow up my engine? Thanks!

Are you saying that you are trying to start your diesel on pure vegetable oil? I didn't even think it would start that way. It would surely lead to a hard start in the least.

_________________
'75 body with '82 diesel running gear
My build thread.

In fact I have burned about 300 gallons of veggie oil in my LUV without any diesel fuel. Yes, it will start, but I am trying to help it. (Warm summers in Dallas help.) Just for the record, I have worn out two Mercedes diesels (a 1984 300D and a 1985 300TD) running on veggie oil only. Veggie oil killed neither: I put about 1,500 gallons of veggie oil through the '84 before the transmission died. The '85 TD burned over 700 gallons of veggie oil but died when we did not spot an oil leak quickly enough--bled to death and locked up the engine. I presently have three '87 Mercedes running on pure veggie oil. They start well, even in the winter.

But enough with bragging about veggie oil. I don't know that much about the LUV and would appreciate any advice that you could give me. Thanks!

Wow DW, awesome! I'd be interested in seeing photos of your Appleseed or collection setup. I don't currently have a diesel, but I'm very interested in this stuff. I think you may be able to solve your problem with the Isuzu diesel by adding a preheater. It does sound like you've got a weak glow plug though...

Another component here might be that the MB's have got more rotating mass in the 5 cylinder than the C223. It might be the lack of that 5th cylinder that makes this engine harder to start. Do you know anyone running straight veggie in a 240? I know here in OR you have to pre-heat with the smaller 4 cylinders or you just end up frying the starter. Here is one of the local bio suppliers, these guys even have a dealership selling bio ready rigs... http://www.greeneyeautos.com/

_________________
"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Have you tried it on regular diesel to see if that may help you find the trouble? I am not sure what that would show you? It would tell you that the WVO is not your problem. Water or trash still in your WVO. I do believe that you can run WVO just fine without any problems. A ton of people do. If you want, start a new post on WVO...

_________________
75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.

It may not hurt to pull the injectors and check for coking, if the glow plugs check out ok. Slow, gradual coking can make it very difficult to start because of a deteriorated spray pattern.

_________________
Bona Fide diesel fanatic.
1994 Chev S10 Ext Cab Isuzu Diesel 5spd
Kubota B6100 HST diesel

Using unheated veggie oil is asking for trouble in the long term. Not only form coking, but it can destroy your injection pump.

Using starter fluid (ether) can destroy it in an instant.

And if you pull the injectors, be sure to replace the washers, they're intended for one-time use only. JLEMOND on the Isuzu P'up forum has explained what happens when people re-use them.

Jack

_________________
'83 Isuzu P'up Diesel LS - Original Owner
JoeIsuzu@IsuzuPup.com
IsuzuPup.com

I think there are a number of one thank WVO people. I would think you would run some kind of heated system. I have read of Mercedes running in Florida and other southern states, on one tank systems. I think they are running heated fuel lines, a tank heater, heated fuel filters too. I think JoeIsuzu has some good points.

Be carefull of advertising that you run WVO. Some states are busting people that run WVO, home brewed Biodiesel because they are not paying fuel tax on it. You can talk about it, just no stickers on your cars... That is what they look for. BUSTED

_________________
75 Luv, 350 V8, TH350, Camaro rearend. New 1975 Luv Step side. Stock for now.
Grandmaster of the "Shade Tree" way.. I can't see the yard for all the cars. Come on down and we will sit on the porch and watch the grass grow.