JaviCaido

Hi Everyone, I'm here today in need of your experience.

I own a 2000 Cherokee, with the 2.5TD engine in it and I'm having trouble starting it. It's been like this for a while, it cranks for like 10-15 seconds with random ignitions in the middle, and then it finally starts, afterwards, I feel some knocking but once started a bit of smoke comes out and then it works perfectly no problem while running, it just takes too long to crank.

I first thought the glowplugs were bad, but I checked them and they work perfectly. Then I started to have trouble with the battery, as I don't really keep it running for long most of the time I just take it out of the driveway, this is because I mainly use my other car, that's why I believe the battery doesn't fully charge, so I thought this was the problem, maybe it wasn't cranking fast enough, I ended replacing the battery.

Of course, the problem isn't fixed. I do believe I may have a problem with injectors but I'm not sure as I don't really have experience with diesel engines, I don't want to replace the injectors because here where I live Chrysler parts are stupidly expensive. I tried a while back some injector cleaner in the fuel tank but it hardly did anything. I really don't know what to do or where to look next.

I would appreciate any comments or thoughts.
Thanks

BlueRidgeMark

Welcome, Javi.

This is the wrong place for a technical question, but no worries. I reported it to a mod and someone will move it in the next day or so.

Well, I don't know that engine, but I do have a couple of diesels around the place, so I have some idea about them. Diesels need three things to start (not "crank". Yours is *cranking, it's just not starting right away):

1. Heat
2. Fuel
3. Air

So lets talk about heat for a minute:

The heat comes from the glow plugs (or a warm engine) AND rapid compression. If it's not cranking fast enough, it won't start. So, all testing should be done with a tested, fully charged battery. Otherwise you can chase your tail for a long time.

Now, there are the GPs. Can you tell us how you tested your GPs? Will they get to full heat rapidly and hold it?
Also, do you know that they are engaging for the full time that they should? Maybe they test fine if you apply power manually, but the electronics that control them are not doing their job. There might be a temp sensor that is bad, or the controller itself might be bad. Grounds are always suspect, and it never hurts to clean them up.

Then there's the fuel question. If your injectors are gunked up, running a few tanks of a fuel cleaner might fix the problem. Most of them aren't much good, but none of our most experienced people here highly recommends BG-44k for gas engines. Maybe the diesel version is equally effective. Another option is to replace the injectors. That's probably not a really difficult job.



Annnnnd maybe somebody who knows that engine will come along and give some better advice!