Advice Please: Replacing the Fuel Pressure Regulator on a 1.3 Multijet Diesel.

[Matt Quinn]

My questions here arise from previous threads in the Qubo forum surrounding the problems/damage caused by having a tank of summer fuel sitting in the car when the first heavy cold-snap of the year struck.

Gelled Diesel - LP pump now sounds like a coffee grinder! | FIAT Qubo

So... Monday (the 27th of November) and all was well. Temp hovering about/above 0c - no real issues starting. By Friday the 1st we'd had a couple of nights circa -5c. My 2013 Qubo (Diesel) isn't used much; the last time it was fuelled up (from about 1/3rd of a tank to full) was October 14th...

www.fiatforum.com

1.3 Diesel - P0089 and the fuel filter of doom... | FIAT Qubo

So... following on from previous misadventure as detailed here - https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/gelled-diesel-lp-pump-now-sounds-like-a-coffee-grinder.504962/ My lift/low pressure pump has now been changed. Problems persist though. It was - 5°C at one point last night... about +2°C by...

www.fiatforum.com

So... I now have a Fuel Pressure Regulator (FPR) to replace on what is a fairly common engine across the Fiat and other ranges, for which there seems to be almost no information out there. Personally; I haven't been able to find so much as a diagram let alone a tutorial on the subject. - It looks easy enough to do; three bolts and a connector... but is it? - Just blazing in strikes me as ill-advised; and I'd appreciate any help or guidance - particularly from those who have done the job and know of the stumbling points.

Firstly - tools and access... the three bolts aren't easy to see (without a mirror). They look like T25? - Are They? Do they require some sort of long/slim driver or will a 'normal' 3/8" bit T25 do the job? - I'm not sure if I love or hate these things; and I'm wondering if this is a potential head-shearing battle with Devil-set fastenings-from-Hell that round-off just for pleasure. - Or the civilised release of some carefully-selected well-engineering which yield to the ratchet with moderate force.

The next thing I'm wondering concerns a gasket - or rather the lack of one with the replacement FRP I have sitting here. Is there supposed to be one? Will the old one be fine? Should some form of sealant be used on the mating faces? If so, what? And ought the 'o' rings on the new FPR be lubricated with something - spot of diesel? Some light oil?

Is there anything one ought to be cleaning or otherwise lubricating while the FRP is out? Or do we keep our fingers, swabs and other implements well out from the finely honed precision orifice?

Just How do you change the Fuel Pressure Regulator on a 1.3 Multijet??

 

[jackwhoo]

Clean clean and clean again before removing current part. Cleanliness is essential . Do not get any dirt into the pump.

 

[Matt Quinn]

Clean clean and clean again before removing current part. Cleanliness is essential . Do not get any dirt into the pump.

...Well, yes, indeed quite so. We might take that as a given.

 

[AndyRKett]

Would more than likely be covered in the Haynes manual.

For the 1.3 multijet you need to get the panda/500 manual

 

[Matt Quinn]

There is no Haynes (or, apparently any other) manual to speak of for the particular car in question; I can't actually remember when I last saw a Haynes Manual that was worth buying - they're not what they were. I have actually seen the Haynes Autofix 'thing' for the particular car in question; which I can only describe as superficial tripe for which they would have a cheek asking £2.70 never mind twenty-seven quid!

I seem to recall that Haynes had a habit (at one time) of publishing separate manuals for Diesel engines. - Does the Panda Manual fully cover the engine in question? - And does it cover the version with that pump and regulator; earlier versions had theirs on the HP rail I'm led to believe.

Besides which; my questions are 'generic' in the sense that this same engine appears in many vehicles. - And I was rather hoping to elicit responses that would be of wider benefit to others facing the same issues in future.

I'm actually being quite specific in the things I'm asking... Other than washing the thing down before starting, undoing three bolts and a cable then 'reversing the process' - what do we need to be looking out for?

 

[AndyRKett]

Besides which; my questions are 'generic' in the sense that this same engine appears in many vehicles. - And I was rather hoping to elicit responses that would be of wider benefit to others facing the same issues in future.

The problem you have here is that you're right in saying this engine appears in many vehicles, but it is also a very reliable engine which actually doesn't tend to cause to many problems. The main problem if you are really unlucky is the timing chain snapping before it is supposed to.

Now I had the haynes for the Panda/500 when I had my 1.3 multijet, and literally never needed it. Because other than a set of glow plugs which I got a garage to do because they tend to snap. There was nothing else at all went wrong with the engine. you could search the forum using the search feature but I have been here a lot of years and changing this part has almost never come up, you may even be the first ?

 

[Matt Quinn]

OK... So you're suggesting that no-one on this forum has had to replace a Fuel Pressure Regulator on a 1.3 JTD engine - fitted with the LP type pump-mounted device (as opposed to the rail mounted HP version).

I have - of course - searched both the forum using the search facility and the wider internet. Unfortunately search engines (like Haynes Manuals) aren't what they once were - and produce mainly adverts for the part. - Which is surprisingly widely available for something nobody ever has to change.

As I suggested previously... I was looking for responses (from people with relevant knowledge and experience) which might not only help me muddle through this little challenge - but would stand others in good stead should they at some point in the future suffer something similar.

Any such input - i.e. addressing the specific points raised - would be most welcome.