dse 1999 air in fuel line.

hi very new 2 this site. so any help is welcomed.
right the fault.
car is a 1999 bmw engine p38. car ran fine no problems. then 1 day refused 2 start. strange reaiiy. as i had just filled it up. drove 3 miles and stopped off 4 20 mins or so. went to start it, nothing at all. turned over but nothing. checked for fuel in the fuel line. could see air. so tried 2 bleed at the injectors. nothing. but fuel tried to flow back 2 the fuel filter. but noticed once the fuel relay timed out fuel returned back 2 the tank. checked out loads of blogs. found most had fun with the in tank pump. i could just about hear mine. but could not be happy with it. so tank out new pump fitted. changed the fuel shut off valve. installed new heater plugs and all the return pipes. then tried again. still had air returning back 2 the tank. so checked bango on return pipe. nothing great coming out of return pipe. so remove the complete bango including the whole bolt. fuel flowed really well. so installed bango bolt with no pipes connected. next to nothing flowing. so i removed the fuel shut off valve and the fuel flowed lovely. so i put ever thing back together and still no fuel at the injectors. also still had air running back towards the tank. so now im stuck.
any help would really help.
dave.

:welcome2:Sorry to hear that mate hopefully some one usefull will come along in a minute!Good user name too

We had a P38 DSE in our local 4x4 workshop with a problem like yours and we cured it by putting a one way valve in between the filter and injector pump fuel line, i see you've replaced the leak off pipes on the injectors as they will cause the problem you are having

just been reading up on the comms side of all the electrics on my beast. has anyone had any problems with the alarm holding off the fuel going through the fip. as im getting nothing on the output side of the pump other that taking off the return pipe completly. i was certain it was the fuel shut off valve which was activated by the immobilzer. sorry spelling not much cop. brain in overdrive, as it has been 4 weeks since the car last ran.
missing the old girl.

fitted a second pump on the ouput side of the fuel filter to try and force more fuel into the fip. i had this wired up constant. the pump was the old 1 from the fuel tank. which was not fault after fitting a new 1. so the psi of the pump was not to great. still no joy. will now source a none return valve and give that a try.
thanks to everyone so far for the info. it will live again.

Tank pump only used to pump fuel to injector pump when not enough gravity. That means, if your fuel tank is 1/4 to near empty that could be the fault.
However you found out that the harder way. (pump will go someday)

So, air in fuel line. Sometimes you can help bleed it by crimping the injector runoff lines. Start at no 1 then move down. (Those pipes are the the ones that connect each injector to the next one). If 1999, they are probably brittle so you might bust them if you crimp too hard.

However, the injector banjo bolts open up just slightly.
Let fuel dribble out. You will need a strong battery keep cranking. It will take a few minutes. You probably gave up too early.

I know all this after repalcing my cyl head.

Good luck.

is there power at the solinoid valve? i would try taking the solinoid back out and take the plunger out of it then put it back in, that way you know the solinoid is not holding up the fuel. if the problem is still there then i would say the problem may be with nose seal on the pump, check the engine oil for diesel.

hi.
cheers everyone for all your input. i did remove plunger and spring. but still no joy. replaced all the pipes on the return side of the injectors a few months ago. but 1 thing i have not done is connect the feed pipes back onto the tops of the injectors after trying different things. was waiting 2 see if fuel flowed. but now im thinking this might not be helping me. so i will install everything back and retest. but any more info would be of help.
really stuck now. hope 2 find someone with a testbook or t4 or what ever i need 2 read data. im in the midlands. if anyone out there can help.
thanks again.

What is the 'fuel shut off valve' you talk about? Are you sure you have connected the pipes to the in-tank pump the correct way around?

the fuel shut of valve is a 12v solinoid that is situated at the back of the diesel pump on the feed side of the fuel, when the ignition is on the solinoid pulls a valve/plunger up inside allowing diesel to pass through. when you turn the ignition off the plunger drops a blocks the fuel supply there by stopping the engine.

thanks everyone for the input on this matter.
deciding to take it 1 step further.
as things are leading to a faulty becm unit.
so was hoping for a tried and tested repair place 2 send it.
happy 2 send becm ecu and key if needed.
but at the same time have a new key and fob done.
so if anyone can point me in the right direction it would be a help.
would be nice if i can find some where local.
in birmingham.