Fuel line draining

[swiss]

Hi guys.

Well, when I said the car started first time on Saturday, that wasn't strictly true...

Seems there's a wee leak in my fuel line and the fuel is draining back to the tank. Upshot, if I leave the car for any more than a day or two I have to prime the damn thing before it'll catch. Any suggestions on where to look for common culprits?

Ta dudes

[swiss]

*BUMP*


God dammit, this is pissing me the frakk off.

I've searched all through the bay, up and down the hoses, every clip, every union, all around the pump, filter and everyplace else for that matter and I cannot find this frigging hole.

I've repeated the search with the engine running in the hopes diesel might have come squirting out and betraying the problem, but noooo >.<

There's no puddles of fuel collecting under the car anywhere...

OK, so how about I replace all the nasty Pug crimp clips with proper jubilees? And if I were to actually do that, where's the best place to buy replacement hoses while I'm at it?

Another question, the 'bleed' screw on the (Bosch) injection pump... is that referring to the nut on top of the fuel inlet pipe banjo union to the starboard side of the pump?

Also, on top the pump there's a circular raised lip with a torx screw and a retaining nut in it... what's that do? Cos I fiddled with it today, mistakenly thinking it was the bleed screw, and now I'm worried I may have broken something ^^

[/rant][/arm waving][/car kicking]

Cheers d00ds

[Welly]

Also, on top the pump there's a circular raised lip with a torx screw and a retaining nut in it... what's that do?

That's the tuning port - your car will now default to 236 BHP

Diesel leaks are little buggers as they spread out all over. Have you looked closely at the spill pipes on the injectors? not sure if this will cause drain-back but they can weep even though they look fine.

[steve_earwig]

Air molecules are smaller than diesel ones, right? SO maybe the hole's big enough to let air through but too small for the diesel...

Not being familiar with the pump I can't advise what you've been messing with,if no-one else has any ideas maybe you could have a squint at some of the other Citroen and Peugeot forums where the engine is still common.

Changing the pipes seems a bit drastic, unless you mean the leak-off pipes from the injectors, in which case good idea, try your local factors who should be able to sell the stuff by the meter.

[swiss]

That's the tuning port - your car will now default to 236 BHP

Changing the pipes seems a bit drastic, unless you mean the leak-off pipes from the injectors, in which case good idea, try your local factors who should be able to sell the stuff by the meter.

Hmm, wonder when I'd find the time to try this... oh yeah - four day weekend! *dances*

Can you, like, PTF the unions on diesel systems? I mean TBH I'd probably do it at sea but then we're talking about antique old buckets owned by the MOD, so nae bugger'd really notice if it didn't work... God dammn it, I need a proper tool set. Torx keys, shifter and swiss (hah!) army knife are just not cutting it...

[mark21TD]

By the sounds of it you have a 1.9 td if so the fuel system can leak in many places,
1) the priming bulb somtimes perishes
2)the fuel filter housing has many places that can leak, the seal on the base, the thermostat (small wight bit on the left hand side about the size of a 1p), the top seal on the filter itself, and the the pipework that feed the filter housing.

Have a look on http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk and use the search to find a post by "Rotary-Motion" about "Hidden heat exchanger" he has a 405 but everything is the same.

You will not see any diesel leaking as it's not under presure it's sucked up by the injection pump.
To find which part of the system is leaking replace the pipes with clear ones and you will see the air going through them, then just work back to the last part before the bubbles started.

If you have bubbles going into the priming bulb then it's proberbly the pipes on the sender unit.

If none of these make a differance then it could be a seal on the injection pump it's self.


Hope this helps

Ps. if it's not a 1.9td then ignor all I have said.

[swiss]

Your spotting of my 1.9-edness is 100% ackrit Mark, and I salute your knowledge of all things 406 ^^

Will look in to the things you've mentioned. Thanks for info.


[EDIT] Having finished reading through the post, I think tomorrow I'll disassemble and remove the filter housing, renew the seals and grease everything up with silicon THAT I DIDN'T STEAL FROM THE SHIP :shiftyeyes:

[swiss]

Hey d00ds, perhaps you all know this site already but, if not, check it out. It's like porn for diesel users

Was wondering if p'raps I should install a check valve or two. Bob recommends popping them in after the filter so as not to fill the valve with crap. Now, I'm currently pointing an accusing finger at my filter housing as the prime suspect, but if I were to splice one of these babies in betwixt the filter and IP, it'd keep the pump primed (assuming of course that it's not the pump sucking air). In this case, if I fired up the engine and the filter was full of air, would it interrupt/damage/FUBAR the pump?

Also, one of my college instructors is offering me as many jubilee clips as I can stuff in my pockets. How does the wise man remove the Pug crimpy-clippy things without knackering whatever it is they clip together?

[mjb]

How does the wise man remove the Pug crimpy-clippy things without knackering whatever it is they clip together?

Pliers, screwdriver, swearing

[Doggy]

Don't know if the Pug ones are the same, but one of my predecessors at work decided to save money buy using crimped hose clips instead of jubilees.
They're mostly gone now, but are usually removed with a biggish, (say 6"), set of side cutters.

[swiss]

Right, 'tis finally in bits. Also, it decided to snow today. Not yesterday, or tomorrow (hopefully), but today, when I want to work on the motor.

God, give me a heated garage with a workbench and a kettle...

[EDIT] All back in one piece, half a tube of silicon holding it all together... engine runs, so it's certainly not any worse... tomorrow we'll see if the problem's solved. Doubtful however as I think I saw bubbles in the hose coming out of the filter

[Welly]

Hope it's worked Swissy - I like your entertaining posts btw

[swiss]

Well... success! I think...

Started the car this morning after two days standing cold... and it worked without me having to prime it by hand. Coughed and spluttered quite a bit, but then it always has upon first start of the day, so I'm not sure if it's still sucking a wee bit of atmosphere or it was just the usual struggling to start in the cold.

Guess I'll have to see if the seal holds over the next few days.

Meanwhile, woke up this morning to phone the college and see if classes were running. Yes, said receptionist, they were. So I set out in the snow and ice, sliding around and bumping off the kerbs like a pinball... got halfway there, crawling through the traffic in first, before getting a text from a classmate to say classes weren't running... zis is ze law of ze sod, yes?

[steve_earwig]

Stupid receptionist could have got you injured or even killed for nothing. Next time he/she alswers the phone ask for someone with a brain.

Fingers crossed for the air leak

[nipper76]

if its any help. when this happens to any of my cars, it tends to be the leak off / spill pipes.

just replace all the pipes connecting to the injectors