Altransit wrote:What exactly is it doing? Does it turn over but not fire, or is it just dead?
Not many electrics on an old school diesel to worry about, probably only the ignition switch, and maybe an electric solenoid which either shuts off the fuel, or lets air in, to stop the engine when running. Apart from this, a diesel only needs fuel and compression to fire up
Thanks Altransit.
I think there's been an after market immobiliser fitted, but it's just a switch on the dashboard that needs to be flicked, there's no indication of which position is which. The van used to run when I first got it but I disconnected the battery to get welding on it and chucked the battery on a trickle charger in the workshop. I've come back to fit the battery and there's a couple of wires I hadn't realised where connected to the terminals as well as the main connections, I've tried the wires on either polarity and with the switch on the dash in either position and the van sounds like it's trying to turn over but then doesn't which is what is making me wonder if it's an aftermarket immobiliser issue. Can I chuck a multimeter on the connectors (of the immobiliser switch in the dash (I think it's an immobiliser) to figure out if it's a thing or not?
TBH because the van is 51 yrs old, there could be all sorts of weird and wonderful "modifications" to it, although it does seem very straightforward in comparison to my C-Max or the wife's CC.
I think once I'm done teaching today I'm going to wrap up (It's snowing) and have another look. If I can get it started then I can get it moved to where I want it to be on the drive and once I've done that I can start welding up a temporary garage out of the old steel scaffold and tarps I've got and then I can start playing with it every night in the dry even if it''s a bit cold.
At the moment I'm in all weather conditions and it's a bit miserable.