But with so many different vehicle variants out there, it is a job to know exactly what to look for. To increase engine speed, the system adds fuel to reduce engine speed, the system reduces fuel a healthy diesel engine runs with an abundance of air and uses the heat of compression to produce combustion.Ĭlues to a problem can be gleaned from looking at live data. So what next? To answer this question, consider what makes a diesel engine tick. In this case, my quick health check did indeed show the system to be healthy. The quick health check is also a good way of establishing a healthy common rail diesel fuel system, thereby enabling it to be quickly eliminated as the cause of the problem. Based upon test results, further tests can then be carried out tailored to the system variant(whether it be metering control, two point rail control, with or without electric lift pump in tank etc).
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No expensive equipment is required, just a thorough understanding of the system and how to manipulate it to conduct the required test. Knowing what to expect is the key to the test. I have found this health check extremely useful for highlighting a variety of problems from low pressure fuel supply to transfer pump failure and excessive leak back from injectors. The system produces a characteristic pressure waveform which is displayed nicely as a graph. The purpose of the test is to establish what rail pressure the system is capable of producing during engine cranking, at engine idle speed and during a snap acceleration. This test takes just a few minutes using nothing more than the graphing function of a diagnostic scan tool to evaluate fuel rail pressure against engine speed. Due to the nature of the problem, the vehicle had been kept in overnight so that we had a fresh start under the right conditions.Īfter checking that the engine oil level was satisfactory, I decided to carry out my quick health check of the fuel system. There were no diagnostic trouble codes stored or pending in the engine ECM and the malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) was not illuminated. The injectors had been sent away to be tested and returned with no fault found. After a couple of minutes, the diesel knock subsided but the smoky exhaust continued. It is between Centennial Blvd (King Soopers Shopping Center) and Mesa Road.The symptoms were severe diesel knock when the engine was started from cold and greyish/white smoke from the exhaust.