Mazda Ute Range

This is a relatively simple diesel engine you’re dealing with here, so the first thing to check is the fuel supply. A dud or worn out fuel pump can mean the engine isn’t getting any fuel to the injectors, at which point it will never fire up. Even if you had a single injector playing up, you’d expect at least the odd cough from the engine as it tried to start on three cylinders, but from your description, there’s nothing going on under that bonnet.

The other common thing that stops a diesel starting is non-functioning glow plugs. These are designed to pre-heat the combustion chamber so that the fuel burns when it’s compressed by the pistons (a diesel has no spark plugs, remember). Without this pre-heating process, the fuel may refuse to ignite and the engine won’t fire. But don’t rule out the simple stuff like a blocked fuel filter that is preventing the fuel flowing from the tank to the injectors. A split or damaged fuel pick-up inside the tank can also lead to a lack of fuel at the engine, as can an air leak anywhere along the fuel line.

A squeak when taking off from rest could be anything from a brake problem to a wheel bearing fault, a noisy engine drive-belt, bent axle, a dry suspension bush, worn universal joint or just about a hundred other things, including the driveshaft you already suspect.

Of potentially greater concern is the cut-off exhaust system or, more correctly, the previous owner. Anybody who cuts up an exhaust to make more noise is also a likely candidate to have driven the vehicle hard. It might be better to find a vehicle that hasn’t been messed with and potentially abused.

A sawn-off exhaust system shouldn’t harm the turbocharger or engine, but it can make a difference to performance due to reduced back-pressure. It also makes me wonder what else has been changed of fiddled with in the name of more power. Sometimes the performance will actually be improved, but you also open a can of legal and insurance worms by changing things like factory exhaust systems in what is a fairly agricultural way.

A lot of modern transmissions don’t have a dipstick at all, particularly as manufacturers move towards transmissions that have very long service intervals and are considered sealed systems. Which is fine until it’s not. And that’s when you need to check the level and condition of the transmission fluid.

The good news is that the BT-50 in question does have a dipstick. The bad news is that’s mighty difficult to get to. You need to be under the car (so safety is the key here) and then locate a 19mm fitting on the driver’s side of the transmission. By unscrewing this fitting, you can withdraw the dipstick and check the level. The other catch is that you need to do this with the engine running (to get an accurate reading) and the dipstick is located close to what will therefore be a hot exhaust system.

All of this means it’s really a job for a specialist with a hoist and is a great example of a carmaker saving a few cents per car in production at the expense of the greater running costs for the owner over the life of the vehicle.