Diesel non starting

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Jaba
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Diesel non starting

Post by Jaba »

All my 3 BXs have slightly strange problems at the moment. They are all livable with but in the long run do need fixing. So I am preparing my plan of action slowly to start fixing in the spring.

I will post about them one at a time to avoid running with too many threads.

My TD hatch has been off the road for about 9 months now. I have been fitting ABS to it - this is now completed as well as changing doors and interior bits. During the ABS conversion I often had to start the engine to pump the suspension up to remove /replace bits while on jacks or axle stands and/or bleed the pipework new and old.

I had drama one day when the engine refused to start. This car is ALWAYS a perfect starter. It spent last winter in the Alps with me and would always start first time even in temperatures of -20. It had done 367 miles on a full tank so I reckoned it had used 36 litres and therefore had 25 to 30 litres left. I was able to hand pump the fuel until there was resistance and removing the supply pipe from the injection pump and turning the engine or hand pumping gave me plenty of fuel. So it was not a fuel starvation problem. But still would not start. The glowplugs were checked and are almost new anyway. The cold start device was working.

So I left it for a few days and got on with my life. I thought about what to do next and spoke to one or two people about it and as I recall there had been postings about this and blocked fuel pickups. This did not square with the facts though. The tank was only just under half full and had not been on the road for many months so any muck would have settled to the bottom of the tank or be floating on the top of the fuel.

I decided to put more diesel in. In went 5 litres and it then started first time!!ff - and it has done ever since while still under renovation.

So what does anyone think is going on here ? When in use the car never failed and the last three fillups were of 51, 47 and 55 litres. But when left off the road in the garage it refused to start one day without more fuel being put in.

All contributions gratefully received.
The Joy of BX with just one Citroën BX to my name now. Will I sing Bye Bye to my GTI or will it be Till death us do part.
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Oscar
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Post by Oscar »

Sunspots? A nightmare? Feeling neglected?

But if it was off the road for 9 months, was the battery ok?
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Stewart (oily!)
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Post by Stewart (oily!) »

possibly a small air leak somewhere, how about a small crack in the fuel pickup? or a loose hose clip, either that or its sulking :?
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Jaba
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Post by Jaba »

Yes Stuart could be. Is it possible do you know to replace the usually rusty fuel supply pipe from the tank to the front of the car with rubber fuel pipe to avoid further rusting issues.
Or are the turns too tight and would lead to the pipe kinking ?
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Post by jeremy »

Why not use the proper stuff - ie steel. Its probably taken 15 years for the original to rust through - how likely are you to have the car in 15 years time? How long will fuel tube last? - and if you're really that bothered regular painting/preserving will be necessary to keep the whole car alive that long anyway.

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Jaba
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Post by Jaba »

OK Jeremy I accept the wisdom of your reply. My question, however was about the possibility of doing this NOT the desirability.
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Vanny
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Post by Vanny »

certainly putting replacement pipes in is very easy, and like jeremy says they dont just disolve infact when you think of what environmennt there subject to, coupled with how thin the pipes are they last an incredibly long time!.

I'm not sure replacing with rubber would be at all easy, i suspect that to maintain the same ID the OD of the rubber pipe would be rather large so wouldn't fit into the clips. You'd need to find another way of cliping it into place but as a length of flexible tubing it would move a huge amount and inevitably rub through the pipe. You'd have to make double sure it didn't droop and if it doent look like it came on the car out of the factory, its likely the MOT man wont like it one little bit!
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ken newbold
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Post by ken newbold »

Cavmad's "new" estate has got orange plastic pipes on, I fitted them from one I broke up before he got it. Both pipes seemed the correct size and fitted in the rubber tubes nicely.

While my Mums Auto has got copper pipes on, again taken from another car, these were a very tight fit on to the rubbers, but I though " I'm not likely to be changing them again"

I fitted new steel ones to the MK1 but painted them before fitting and then coated them with hypoid & diesel once fitted which I refresh everytime I used to be under there. Result, as good as the day they were fitted, 6 years ago :D
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Jaba
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Post by Jaba »

OK, thanks to all. This post seems to have come to the conclusion that airleaks/rusty pipes/cracked pickup could be the culprits.
When I get under the car and after I have done the work I will update the thread with the result.
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Post by Stewart (oily!) »

Over recent weeks my TZD has been misfiring and smoking after a cold start, after a few seconds it settles to its normal self, i put it down to a heater plug, then i noticed the wet patch on the floor, yes the fuel line is leaking, I followed sleepys advice about tying string to the sender unit ends of them and pulling them down under the car to make fitting them easier, my local caravan place had copper pipe in the right diameters, rummage for a few hose clips and a happy hour later all is repaired, there is a slight difference in internal diameter so i will look out for symptoms of fuel starvation under conditions of high demand, the pipe cost well under a tenner and was easy to form into the right shape by hand.
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Jaba
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Post by Jaba »

I followed sleepys advice about tying string to the sender unit ends of them and pulling them down under the car to make fitting them easier, my local caravan place had copper pipe in the right diameters, rummage for a few hose clips and a happy hour later all is repaired
Stuart, I presume you are describing changing the supply pipe from the tank to the front of the car as far as where it meets a rubber pipe to continue its journey to the fuel filter. You used presumably 10mm copper which is easily bent to almost any shape? If so, then this is yet another option for me to consider for my car - whenever I decide to do it.
The Joy of BX with just one Citroën BX to my name now. Will I sing Bye Bye to my GTI or will it be Till death us do part.
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Post by Stewart (oily!) »

Yes, the main feed pipe is 10mm diameter, the return is 8mm, I bought 2 metres of each and the job was easy, mine was probably more comfortable because I burn biodeisel which does not stink like the fossil stuff.
Stewart
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