General HELP !!!

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General HELP !!!

Joined
Dec 6, 2024
Messages
63
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Location
lincolnshire
Yes a rather dramatic title, I need the wisdom of the forum please
2001 Ducato badged as a Peugeot , On the log book it is listed as a Fiat
Recently purchased this camper via e bay with the following description

Araballa 5 berth 6 seat belt motorhome for sale for spares or repair ,2001 diesel 5 berth 6 seat belt 2001 diesel motorhome for sale , ultral low 25k miles and the body is rock solid and no rust anywhere, I brought this motorhome around 6 months ago from elderly couple that had it in dry storage for 7 years due to ill heath , I got it started and drove it home on trade plates and it drove like a brand new van , unfortunately on the way home the turbo seals went and the turbo packed in , so the engine was taken out and a new turbo fitted , at the same time I fitted 4 new injectors and glow plugs , all new belts , new oil and filters and fuel filter and changed gearbox oil , upon completion the motorhome started up and ran perfect , I then got the rest of the motorhome ready for mot , it needed hardly anything just bulbs and minor bits , I then left it a week waiting for mot slot , on mot day I went to it and it wouldn't start for some reason , I have been let down now by 3 mobile mechanics and lost interest and bought another motorhome so it needs to go , it must be an easy fix for someone as it ran sweet a week before , its a roller team arabella 5 berth with 6 seat belts , 1.9 td , its fully wax oiled and like new underneath , there is no damp whatsoever anywhere , it has truma blow air heating and truma ultrastore water heater , also has a large rear bathroom with separate shower , it has onboard water and waste tanks and a large fiamma awning , everything works in the motorhome and It has 12v and 240v , it also has electric step , its only covered 25k miles from new and not been used for 7 years if you check mot history you will see, there is no rust anywhere on this van its rock solid , it will need to be collected from my house in Hednesford Staffordshire by recover truck or trailer , with an mot and running again it will be around 13 - 15 grand but I just need the space now , it will make some family a great little motorhome, its 3.4 tonne so young family can drive it , I have the guarantee for the turbo as well, a good mechanic if you can find one that will show up should get it running again in no time as they're simple to work on with no ecu or electronics , I've been told it may be a dodgy fuel filter or a dodgy stop solenoid to the pump as there is definitely nothing wrong with the engine and the clutch and gearbox are perfect , once running again it will make someone the best motorhome ever for very little money as these are the best and strongest reliable van you can get, there is no other work to be done apart from getting it running and it can go straight for mot and be enjoyed, please only bid if you can buy it and get it picked up from Hednesford Staffordshire ws12 within a week , any questions ill answer ASAP and viewings welcome before end of auction, cash on collection, good luck

After a £420 recovery I now have it at home and trying to find the fault , It was a bit slow cranking over so I put the battery on charge over night , It the cranked faster , It occasionally tried to start with the odd cough , but did not start, I cracked the injector pipes and gave it a good crank standing by the drivers door so I could not see if any or how much fuel had sprayed out , When around the front it was a bit wet but not whet I was expecting , Did this twice until the battery was low again so stopped trying , This model does not have a key fob just a std metal key so I assume no electronics ? . I was a mechanic for 25 years but that was 30 years ago and I only did petrol engines, Anyone remember Hometune ? That was me with 3 vans covering east London and some parts of Essex , I hope to see out my remaining years with some time away travelling the UK but not in a van that won't run, So HEEEEELP :oops:😂 and I will even say Please 😉

54183576623_f789bedb27_z.jpgIMG_0004 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150639903@N08/, on Flickr
54183300116_e86a0d18db_z.jpgIMG_0005 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150639903@N08/, on Flickr
 
So are you saying that you have never actually heard it running?
A photo of engine and injector pump may help clarify what version, plus engine Series number from Vin plate.
I assume there is plenty of diesel in the tank?
What type of fuel filter and primer does it have?
 
I'm with Mike, but will add make sure fuel can be drawn from the fuel tank to the engine bay. Fingers crossed it is the Peugeot engine, plus has a squeeze bulb fuel primer.
Photos of engine, fuel filter etc please
 
No primer bulb that I can see / find :(
From a quick look at the photos, it looks like the Peugeot 1.9 XUD engine often used in things like 305s etc.
Like you I can't see a primer bulb in photos. Many of that model had a push button type primer on top of filter housing, if not the squeeze outboard motor tank type, both were prone to sucking in air and causing breakdowns as they age.
If you are sure there is no manual primer, is there an electric pump in fuel tank when you turn ignition on can you hear a buzz for a few seconds until it builds up pressure?
If you are still getting poor fuel delivery to the fuel filter it is possible to buy an aftermarket primer kit which you fit inline before the filter from accessory shop , motor factors or eBay as they are commonly used on modern hard to prime filter systems. Make sure no air leaks though!
If you want to undo the connections at the filter , it looks like you press the white plastic square on the white connector and gentle wriggle it off, there is an O ring seal inside so try not to damage by pushing on dry etc. It should have arrows on the filter so it will tell you which is flow in and out.
On the earlier 305s there was a simple 12 volt electric solenoid valve on top of injector pump, so unless yours has extra security arrangements that I can't see in photos? I did have a customer many years ago whose 305 van broke down and it was that solenoid not opening and what I did while waiting for new part was took the solenoid off and carefully removed the magnetic pintle valve inside so he could start and use the vehicle, not ideal as it meant stalling it on purpose when he wanted to stop engine, but he was emphatic he had to use it!:(
Once you are sure there is clean air free fuel getting to the injector pump it may have a small bleeder on pump housing which with ignition on and maybe priming at the same time you can slacken to bleed the injector pump. Note they are prone to snap as very small so be gentle!
Solenoid on pump is roughly under where large inlet pipe is crossed by small rubber pipe in photo no, 3.
If all this is OK but getting white smoke from exhaust on cranking then it may be worth check heater plugs.
A good strong fully charged battery is essential!
 
The weather has been really bad up here and again today , Tomorrow hospital AM , Need a few decent day to do some more investigation.
Does anyone know where the fuel pump is on a 2001 Y reg 1.9 Fiat Ducato ?, This would be the pump that gets the diesel from the fuel tank through the fuel filter then up to the diesel pressure pump on the front of the engine ????
I can not find a bulb ( outboard motor type ) or a button primer on top of the diesel filter housing , On a process of elimination am I correct in assuming it would be inside the fuel tank ?.
Thanks.
 
Does anyone know where the fuel pump is on a 2001 Y reg 1.9 Fiat Ducato ?, This would be the pump that gets the diesel from the fuel tank through the fuel filter then up to the diesel pressure pump on the front of the engine ????
I can not find a bulb ( outboard motor type ) or a button primer on top of the diesel filter housing , On a process of elimination am I correct in assuming it would be inside the fuel tank ?.
Thanks.
Just had a thought, some years ago I had an 03 Fiat Doblo 1.9 that used a Lucas Epic fuel injector pump, it was bought cheap due to non running etc.
The point being it used it's "Epic" injector pump to draw the fuel from the tank so there was no manual or electrical method to move fuel to the injector pump apart from vacuum created by the pump. In desperation I mounted a can on the wing and allowed the injector pump to suck that directly and the engine then started. Hooray, success, note I bought for £300 from a garage as they had failed to find the problem.:)
I traced the problem to an air leak at the plastic fuel pipe connector on the fuel tank/sender unit.
So if you can find no method of drawing the fuel to the injector pump it may be worth checking that side as a test.
 
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Just had a thought, some years ago I had an 03 Fiat Doblo 1.9 that used a Lucas Epic fuel injector pump, it was bought cheap due to non running etc.
The point being it used it's "Epic" injector pump to draw the fuel from the tank so there was no manual or electrical method to move fuel to the injector pump apart from vacuum created by the pump. In desperation I mounted a can on the wing and allowed the injector pump to suck that directly and the engine then started. Hooray, success, note I bought for £300 from a garage as they had failed to find the problem.:)
I traced the problem to an air leak at the plastic connector on the fuel tank/sender unit.
So if you can find no method of drawing the fuel to the injector pump it may be worth checking that side as a test.
OK thanks for the suggestion , Back in the day I had what was called a mityvac ( hand operated vacuum pump )
 
OK thanks for the suggestion , Back in the day I had what was called a mityvac ( hand operated vacuum pump )
Yes I still have them and very handy for lots of stuff.
Further to injector pump type, according to my Diesel AutoData Manual, it would seem to indicate that the 1.9 Turbo Ducato around the age of yours has a Bosch Verso Rotary injection pump.If this is the case then I would expect some form of low pressure pump to supply the Bosch type injection pump.
If then depending on whether or not it has some form of immobiliser, it will either have a clearly obvious fuel cut off solenoid similar to this photo of solenoid above the four outlet pipes to the injectors and just have a 12 volt supply to open the fuel to the pump, or it will have a metal shroud over it which will make life a lot harder as they are known to fail with age and are a sod to access to repair. Basically it involves cutting off the metal shroud without damaging the electronics etc. inside. However once that is successfully overcome it is possible to simply bypass and provide a straight ignition 12volt supply to the solenoid as earlier models.
Re your earlier mention of Hometune, a friend of mine left the Navy and took up a Hometune franchise, I used to do his cambelt jobs for him until he became more familiar with that side of things.:)
 

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Some more time today having a dig around
Found the fuse box hidden in the glove box
54194656252_f9438bdb21_z.jpgIMG_0014 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150639903@N08/, on Flickr
All except one fuze tested good, The blown one looks to be for heated mirrors
54195817494_bafc642d94_z.jpgIMG_0015 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150639903@N08/, on Flickr

9 blown fuzes in the glove box loose floating around and 8 that tested good, looks like I may have some issues to sort later.
Still wondering if a fuel pump is inside the fuel tank ? then as I was getting out of the van I noticed this access panel in the floor
54195991025_741c853c6e_z.jpgIMG_0016 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150639903@N08/, on Flickr

Held down by 4 fixings , At this point I gave up as I was feeling the cold , Cramp in my feet and fluid dripping out of my nose , 😕

I HOPE the access panel is over the fuel tank, how wonderful would that be :) , Time will tell tomorrow. ( IF it is not raining )
 
Yes I still have them and very handy for lots of stuff.
Further to injector pump type, according to my Diesel AutoData Manual, it would seem to indicate that the 1.9 Turbo Ducato around the age of yours has a Bosch Verso Rotary injection pump.If this is the case then I would expect some form of low pressure pump to supply the Bosch type injection pump.
If then depending on whether or not it has some form of immobiliser, it will either have a clearly obvious fuel cut off solenoid similar to this photo of solenoid above the four outlet pipes to the injectors and just have a 12 volt supply to open the fuel to the pump, or it will have a metal shroud over it which will make life a lot harder as they are known to fail with age and are a sod to access to repair. Basically it involves cutting off the metal shroud without damaging the electronics etc. inside. However once that is successfully overcome it is possible to simply bypass and provide a straight ignition 12volt supply to the solenoid as earlier models.
Re your earlier mention of Hometune, a friend of mine left the Navy and took up a Hometune franchise, I used to do his cambelt jobs for him until he became more familiar with that side of things.:)
Thanks for your comments.
 
Today I have investigate the panel in the floor , I removed it , Then had to remove the sound deadening panel , Then the floor pan panel and found this,
54197450981_beb9525cdb_z.jpgIMG_0018 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150639903@N08/, on Flickr

Yay I thought , I have found the pump.

Err No
it is a pick up and return along with the fuel tank sender unit

54197883350_f30316b0b4_z.jpgIMG_0019 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150639903@N08/, on Flickr

The pick up pipe filter is 4 sided , Two sides completely blocked and the other two 20% blocked with sh-t

54197450991_4fb0742dfb_z.jpgIMG_0020 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150639903@N08/, on Flickr

54197450961_609e8c8cc2_z.jpgIMG_0021 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150639903@N08/, on Flickr

Combined this is around 65% blocked ,
When I had the unit out of the tank I had a look inside using a torch and it looks like red diesel , A distinct red colour, Normal diesel is not that colour .
Looks like I need to see if I ca buy a long handled flexible bottle brush and give it a good scrub and swish around the pump it out , I do have a rather good transfer pump from ny boating days .

More work, Upwards and onwards :)
 
Great news to find blocked strainer.
Get that sorted and move on to next checks (-:
I hope your hospital visit went well?
 
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