2002 3 litre diesel Navara starting problem .

[ianoz]

Ok , bit of background info . Bought it 12 months ago . Guy said it had a few little problems like it would just shut down as you drove along , but turn it off then it would restart . Did it to me a couple of times . So searched the forums and found pedal getting out of sync with computer , so start and idle for 10 minutes to reset . Next was Engine management light would come on . He said each time it did it he would take it to local servo to scan it . but no faults would show in the scan .
I found sometimes it will wind over very slow and not want to fire up . Next start attempt it would wind over at normal speed and fire up after about 10 seconds of cranking . and Engine management light would then come on . So i drive 30 ks each way to work .So after 3 starts the Engine management light would go out ..
So going to work one morning 3ks from home saw temp gauge was up . So put about 4 litres in radiator , turned back home and took old ute to work . Found leak was heater core ,
Two weeks later .Got round to fitting caps to heater pipes. So go to fire it up and winds over for ages does not want to fire . Tried next weekend After reading up .Cleaned a few earth spots . Tried pumping primer on filter and it feels firm . Put jumper leads on and finally got it to fire up . When it is cranking the tacho needle bounces up and down . When it starts it idles about 800 rpm after about 10 seconds it will go up to 1000 rpm then back to 800 . So take it for a run and goes great.But engine management light on all the time .Took it to work a week ago as guy i work with has a scanner . Plugged it in . No faults show .
Now , interestingly . I can get it started Reverse up the sloping driveway shut it off , then clutch start it and it will fire straight up .
Any help getting to the bottom of this Problem Greatly appreciated .

 

[Boogieboots]

Probably your starter motor. Mine was often cranking for quite a while before it would start sometimes throwing a crank angle sensor fault. Once started ran fine.
The tacho needle bounced up and down while cranking, which stopped after I replaced the starter motor. As it started failing it caused interference that threw the fault codes.

I found the problem searching through this forum a few years ago

 

[ianoz]

Thanks mate , will replace it and report back with results .

 

[Erick]

Bought a replacement starter motor for 2005 3.0 l online for less than $150 not so long ago from people that sold all sorts of starter motors. So just keep searching until u find a business u can trust. Goes great BTW.

 

[ianoz]

Any advise on getting the starter motor out ?
Got bottom bolt out Struggled to get the top one out .My son turned up Got the top one out for me . But said it does not want to go out the bottom and out the top has steering shaft in the way . Any hints on getting it out ?

 

[Erick]

I had to remove that side engine mount and Jack motor up. Be careful not to damage oil sender unit.

 

[ianoz]

Thanks Erick , My son thought the same .

 

[howdy96]

Hey @ianoz did a new starter sort her out? My ute is having similar issues atm. Long crank before starting and throwing out 0407, 0301 and 0703. Fitted a new earth cable straight from negative to motor yesterday and that helped abit but still throwing out codes and cranking longer then it should.

 

[Boogieboots]

I jacked it up and removed the front wheel. Took a bit of wiggling and jiggling but it came out ok

 

[Boogieboots]

Hey @ianoz did a new starter sort her out? My ute is having similar issues atm. Long crank before starting and throwing out 0407, 0301 and 0703. Fitted a new earth cable straight from negative to motor yesterday and that helped abit but still throwing out codes and cranking longer then it should.

Tacho jumping around as you crank?

 

[howdy96]

Tacho jumping around as you crank?

Sure is mate. I rolled it down a hill the other day to test her and she push starts fine. I have cleaned and replaced all the earths, replaced the battery terminals and changed the fuel filter (primer getting hard after 2 squuezes). Thinking it could be the starter? Really hoping its not my fuel pump haha

 

[Boogieboots]

Yeah sounds like the starter, or at least very close to my symptoms. The fact that I was getting a crank angle fault, but it ran fine once started proved it was not the sensor. I had never realised the tacho was stationary while cranking until I replaced the starter.

I bought a new one from repco using my stepsons RAC card to get 20% off rather than trying to buy one off eBay. I figured if it ***** itself on me under warranty there are plenty of stores around to get a replacement
And to get it out I took the front wheel off for access. Much easier, but still like one of those ring puzzles to manoeuvre it out and in

 

[howdy96]

Yeah nice mate, I will replace the starter next week and report back on how it goes.

 

[ianoz]

Sorry guys , Body no longer bends like it used to. On struggle street trying to get the last engine mount bolt out .