fuel leak

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citroen7
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fuel leak

Post by citroen7 »

morning chaps!
My diesel meteor has decided that because every other car on my drive is broken it should be the same :( Starting has always been a bit erratic but this week she has refused to idle and there appears to be a small fuel leak at the back left of the engine as you look at it.I did fit a different fuel filter and housing in the past but that made little diference and i fitted the original to a different car and it worked fine . could this be something to do with the fuel heater that jeremy mentioned on a post ? if someone could point me in the right direction i would be rather gratefull , as work should be able to start the rebuild of the pug td tonight and i really dont like working on two different projects alongside each other!
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DavidRutherford
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Post by DavidRutherford »

Either your fuel heater has gone porus (they all do that, sir) or one of the pipes to it has cracked and is leaking.

Good luck. Access to that area is fraut at best. What you need to do is bypass the heater (it's completely useless anyway) by running a nice new bit of fuel hose from before the heater (the line from the tank) up to the filter inlet.

Had this problem on every early XUD I've owned... and that's a fair few.
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citroen7
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Post by citroen7 »

thanks david have been out to have a look and i see what you mean!
i will go home and dig out my "et" hands from the tool box and hopefully that will sort it.
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Post by citroen7 »

Replaced fuel line last night and yes starting was easier but when left to idle after about 30secs she just died unless you primed the fuel filter .
so today i bought brand new hose and replaced the roto diesel head with a purflix one which was fine on the estate and guess what no change :cry: so what have i missed ? the car drives fine on the road but just will not idle for more than 30secs and being auto this is a bit of a pain.
any ideas however granny sucking eggs type would be welcome :)
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DavidRutherford
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Post by DavidRutherford »

Leak-off lines perhaps? or maybe return line? Depends what model of injection pump you have as to whether that will make a difference or not. I forget which way round it is. Either way, worth a check.

The other alternative is there's a bit of the fuel line towards the back of the tank which is known for corroding out. I don't know it myself, as I've never had a problem with one, but other members have had to change it in the past.
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citroen7
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Post by citroen7 »

its a bosch pump and i have replaced the return line as well! so i am not sure where to go from here . It gives you the impression that its fuel starvation as the engine gradually gets slower before stopping.
To be fair to the old girl this is the first real problem since she came into my possesion nearly 12 months ago so i really cannot complain.
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Post by jeremy »

poor leakoff pipes (and the end cap if there is one) will affect the startnig on engines with the BOSCH pump - Roto-diesels are immune from this problem and just leak diesel down the front of the engine when the pipes harden and start to leak.

You can probably fit new ones with a pair of longnosed pliers without doing any dismantling. I used small fuel tubing cut to length on our ZX 1.9D. Endcas are readily available from accessory shops along with the tube.
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Post by citroen7 »

i have had a good poke around but cannot see anything obvious the car runs fine when driving but just will not idle for more than 30secs i can take the leakoff pipes off the spare engine but i really cant see anything wrong with the ones fitted.
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DavidRutherford
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Post by DavidRutherford »

You never can see anything wrong with leak-off pipes until you give them a good poke. If they're more than 5 years old, they're probably well past their best. A length of 3.2mm hose to replace them all is about £1, so well worth it. The end cap is similarly cheap.

Other than that... err... err... not sure.

You may end up having to change the filter-to-injection-pump pipe for a bit of clear hose to see if there are bubbles of air in the fuel. Can be very revealing.
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citroen7
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Post by citroen7 »

i would not be suprised if mine were the originals! so thats the job tomorrow. i have some clear pipe somewhere in the garage so will try that as well.
Thanks again for the help. :D
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Post by citroen7 »

right line from filter to pump changed for clear pipe and no evidence of air getting in, also leak off lines changed , my local factor did a kit including the blank for £2.50 and guess what? no change will start a bit better but after 30secs she just stalls so where next??
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Post by Kevin B »

An approach that has worked for me in the past is to rig up a temporary supply from a can of diesel (obvouisly while the car is stationary), once you have it running in this configuration you can then re introduce progresively step by step parts of the supply and return fuel line.

This approach allowed me to find a cracked hose on the supply, that was the rubber pipe from the tank to the steel fuel line. This split fuel line could not be seen until it was removed from the car.

If this does not cure your problem (as you say you see no air bubbles in the section of clear hose you have fitted it does not sound like air leaks on your fuel lines) it is just possible the transfer pump on the end of your diesel pump is weak, as you say the car stalls when at tickover speed, this will be difficult to prove but you could get an idea by observing the flowrate of diesel returning from the pump to the tank.

Good luck.
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Post by citroen7 »

food for thought Kevin thanks very much :)
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Post by prm »

Stalling out after approx 30-60 seconds, I would have definitely gone with previous recommendations, on checking/replacing leak-off pipes and fuel lines.

It could possibly be??, reduced fuel pump pressure, or injector/s faulty. A pressure gauge fitted into the supply lines would verify pump output.

After a run and before stalling, crack each injector fuel supply union in turn, to see if the reduction in rpm is approximately the same on all cylinders.

Caution with any leakage/spray when released. Rags placed over the union helps to absorb any fuel,
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