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Technical Help:Punto diesel wont start

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Technical Help:Punto diesel wont start

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euro

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Jul 21, 2002
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Lincoln
My car was fine until today.. the day i sold it (almost) .. the person who bought it had taken it for a test drive just fine.. went to start it again and it stalled and then would not start. turns over fine but not a glimmer of firing there at all..

I called out the breakdown people and they tried all sorts.

The fuel cut off switch is fine
There is fuel to the high pressure pump.
engine turns over fine
mechanic sprayed ether in the air intake and it then tried to start when turned over.
No fuel to the injectors

he seems to think it might be the cut off solenoid but couldn't get access to it

Any suggestions or help greatly appreciated. its a 94 Punto 1.7D by the way
 
euro said:
My car was fine until today.. the day i sold it (almost) .. the person who bought it had taken it for a test drive just fine.. went to start it again and it stalled and then would not start. turns over fine but not a glimmer of firing there at all..

I called out the breakdown people and they tried all sorts.

The fuel cut off switch is fine
There is fuel to the high pressure pump.
engine turns over fine
mechanic sprayed ether in the air intake and it then tried to start when turned over.
No fuel to the injectors

he seems to think it might be the cut off solenoid but couldn't get access to it

Any suggestions or help greatly appreciated. its a 94 Punto 1.7D by the way
Click to expand...

if the code light is working normally and you find live down to the cut off switch then that's all it can be

they are quite a common failure cheap and easy to replace
 
Thanks for the reply.

Having spent the weekend on it I have now isolated it to the fuel filter assembly.

I removed the fuel pipe from the fuel filter outlet and placed it straight into a container of diesel.

After bleeding from the injectors for about 2 mins (seems the pump was full of air) the engine struck up and ran happily from the container of diesel. This ruled out the high pressure pump and also the cut off solenoid, it think it will have also ruled out the immobiliser as I am 'assuming' this would not allow the shut off solenoid to open (Anyone able to confirm this?)

As soon as i connected back to the fuel filter it would not run.
The fuel draw pump for these engines is in the high pressure pump so its very difficult to test between the fuel filter outlet and back to the fuel tank so i removed the fuel outlet pipe from the fuel tank sender and blew down it. I could hear the fuel bubbling in the fuel filter. I also blew back from the fuel filter to the tank and could hear bubbling in the fuel tank so I think I can rule out the pipe between the tank and the filter.

The fuel filter has been replaced recently but i replaced it again just to be sure.

I have still got the fault so I am now suspicious of the filter housing and its electrical connections. There is one on the top of the housing and also one on the water trap at the bottom of the filter. Does anyone know if either of these could shut off the fuel if they had a problem? Also be good to know what the connections on the top of the filter housing do.

Thanks
 
euro said:
Thanks for the reply.

Having spent the weekend on it I have now isolated it to the fuel filter assembly.

I removed the fuel pipe from the fuel filter outlet and placed it straight into a container of diesel.

After bleeding from the injectors for about 2 mins (seems the pump was full of air) the engine struck up and ran happily from the container of diesel. This ruled out the high pressure pump and also the cut off solenoid, it think it will have also ruled out the immobiliser as I am 'assuming' this would not allow the shut off solenoid to open (Anyone able to confirm this?)

As soon as i connected back to the fuel filter it would not run.
The fuel draw pump for these engines is in the high pressure pump so its very difficult to test between the fuel filter outlet and back to the fuel tank so i removed the fuel outlet pipe from the fuel tank sender and blew down it. I could hear the fuel bubbling in the fuel filter. I also blew back from the fuel filter to the tank and could hear bubbling in the fuel tank so I think I can rule out the pipe between the tank and the filter.

The fuel filter has been replaced recently but i replaced it again just to be sure.

I have still got the fault so I am now suspicious of the filter housing and its electrical connections. There is one on the top of the housing and also one on the water trap at the bottom of the filter. Does anyone know if either of these could shut off the fuel if they had a problem? Also be good to know what the connections on the top of the filter housing do.

Thanks
Click to expand...

imobiliser confirmed yes it would shut it off at the pump

conections on the filter are iirc just water sensor and temp sensor maybe not sure on the older cars but they are not any sort of cut off

you may have some duff fuel in the car blocking the new filter or petrol posibly

otherwise maybe you just need to bleed it again with another new filter in place

other things that can happen as the car has been worked on are air leaks letting air into the pump can you see any fuel leeks that could let air back in as the pump draws on the pipes
 
If it runs ok feeding from a can of fuel, obviously there must be an air leak between tank and engine somewhere. Just because you hear bubbles in tank when blowing down pipe it doesn't mean pipes are air tight lol. The wires on filter housing are only water sensor and fuel heater as far as I am aware. There is no fuel cut off valve in filter housing. Has filter been correctly located? Make sure O ring from old filter isn't still lodged in housing.
Has it got a proper Diesel fuel cap on the tank? These are vented, the petrol ones are not which can cause major fuel problems if someone has put the wrong cap on the car.
 
Have you tried drawing fuel from tank through filter housing using a vacuum pump or you can also use an empty washing up liquid bottle, put a clear pipe on it and suck fuel through with it to see whether it's free of air bubbles.
 
greasemonkey said:
Have you tried drawing fuel from tank through filter housing using a vacuum pump or you can also use an empty washing up liquid bottle, put a clear pipe on it and suck fuel through with it to see whether it's free of air bubbles.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, tried that and there did seem to be some air about. I have removed the fuel filter mounting from the bulkhead and given it a good clean. New filter fitted so I will try it again this morning. Hopefully thats sorted it. If not I guess its time to look between the filter and the tank.

Fuel cap looks to be original. Should the engine run with the cap off?
 
Yes, will run ok with fuel cap off. If it ran alright with that cap before then it's probably ok.
 
greasemonkey said:
Yes, will run ok with fuel cap off. If it ran alright with that cap before then it's probably ok.
Click to expand...

Finally sorted it!! I think it was a combination of a blocked fuel filter and a leak in the fuel pipe between the filter outlet and the high pressure pump inlet. Anyway, new pipe and 2nd new filter seem to have finally sorted it.

Thanks for the help!
 
euro said:
Finally sorted it!! I think it was a combination of a blocked fuel filter and a leak in the fuel pipe between the filter outlet and the high pressure pump inlet. Anyway, new pipe and 2nd new filter seem to have finally sorted it.

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

good


petrol caps will not fit a diesel car full stop they just wont lol
 
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