Fuel Problem I Think

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Anyone know best place other then ebay ect and having to wait until delivery
to get some Clear Plastic Tubing, to test for air bubbles, between Filter and Lift Pump think its about 6 mil diameter ?
Amazon might be quicker than the bay, otherwise anywhere that deals with fish tanks or garden ponds. :)
Your local friendly garage might oblige o_O
 
Managed to get some Clear pipe on. from filter to lift pump. Not sure what Im looking for but it looks like theres air in there, Is this normal ?? When turned off the fuel runs back and settles about half way down the Tube.


 
Not normal IME - looks like you have a leak - letting ai
So does this mean that my lift pump Is working OK, but pushing Air through from somewhere ??

Essentially yes - the LP is sucking in air, OR air is getting in after switch off - check the spill pipes for the latter, and all the unions for the former - I can't remember which tank this has.... but the tank unions can be a PITA when they reach a certain age - e.g. on the D1's - connections on the tank go super crusty - it's that sort of thing you're looking for....
 
Not normal IME - looks like you have a leak - letting ai


Essentially yes - the LP is sucking in air, OR air is getting in after switch off - check the spill pipes for the latter, and all the unions for the former - I can't remember which tank this has.... but the tank unions can be a PITA when they reach a certain age - e.g. on the D1's - connections on the tank go super crusty - it's that sort of thing you're looking for....
Was just thinking about when I fitted Tank, It is Brand new but cant remember how I fitted pipes to it, I do have pics somewhere but cant find the bloody things.
Im now thinking it could have something to do with that.
Will post pics when I find them .
Thanks Mate
 
Was just thinking about when I fitted Tank, It is Brand new but cant remember how I fitted pipes to it, I do have pics somewhere but cant find the bloody things.
Im now thinking it could have something to do with that.
Will post pics when I find them .
Thanks Mate

That is taking air in from somewhere, but that could be from the pickup pipe in the tank, or any join in your fuel lines, or the fuel lift pump connections.

I went back through some of your older threads, did you join the fuel lines together, as in this thread?
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/joining-fuel-lines.350609/

Did you use second hand fuel lines as in this thread?
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/fuel-lines.344334/

Personally, I think you need to either start again with new fuel lines, I would advise rubber, from the tank to lift pump, and lift pump to fuel filter, or start moving the clear plastic pipe around the fuel system to diagnose where air maybe getting in.

Putting the clear pipe right at the end of the system is only confirming what you already suspected, air is getting into the fuel system. In its current location, it can be multiple places. Start at the pickup pipe and see if you have air there, then move to the lift pump feed, see what you get from them two tests.
 
That is taking air in from somewhere, but that could be from the pickup pipe in the tank, or any join in your fuel lines, or the fuel lift pump connections.

I went back through some of your older threads, did you join the fuel lines together, as in this thread?
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/joining-fuel-lines.350609/

Did you use second hand fuel lines as in this thread?
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/fuel-lines.344334/

Personally, I think you need to either start again with new fuel lines, I would advise rubber, from the tank to lift pump, and lift pump to fuel filter, or start moving the clear plastic pipe around the fuel system to diagnose where air maybe getting in.

Putting the clear pipe right at the end of the system is only confirming what you already suspected, air is getting into the fuel system. In its current location, it can be multiple places. Start at the pickup pipe and see if you have air there, then move to the lift pump feed, see what you get from them two tests.
Hello Mick, how did you find them I've been looking for them pic's for ages. I'm now thinking it could be something to do with Tank end. The pic's on there of how l connected Pipes to tank. Not sure if that's right, or I might not have tightened them up properly.
 
Hello Mick, how did you find them I've been looking for them pic's for ages. I'm now thinking it could be something to do with Tank end. The pic's on there of how l connected Pipes to tank. Not sure if that's right, or I might not have tightened them up properly.

If you press on your name, go to “profile page”, then to “postings”, scroll to the bottom, you will see “see all threads”. Press that and it will bring up every thread you have started.

Personally, I think your fighting a loosing battle by using the fuel lines you have at the minute. I think you should cut your losses, remove every unnecessary joint, and go with rubber from back to front. From your post about the connections, it looks like you have small rubber sections joining hard nylon pieces. Each of them joins is 2 places for air to enter. If you a rubber hose from tank to lift pump, you only have 2 places for air to enter. It’s so much easier to fault find on the system. I may be able to pop up and lend a hand, but it will probably be this afternoon, as I’m busy this weekend.
 
If you press on your name, go to “profile page”, then to “postings”, scroll to the bottom, you will see “see all threads”. Press that and it will bring up every thread you have started.

Personally, I think your fighting a loosing battle by using the fuel lines you have at the minute. I think you should cut your losses, remove every unnecessary joint, and go with rubber from back to front. From your post about the connections, it looks like you have small rubber sections joining hard nylon pieces. Each of them joins is 2 places for air to enter. If you a rubber hose from tank to lift pump, you only have 2 places for air to enter. It’s so much easier to fault find on the system. I may be able to pop up and lend a hand, but it will probably be this afternoon, as I’m busy this weekend.
. I'm at work till half 3 then I Will be at it again. Should have listened to you the first time ☹️. Is there anywhere local that has rubber pipe. Think ones 8 mil and the other 6 ,or might try nipping them up Tight first. Thanks for help mate
 
Was just thinking about when I fitted Tank, It is Brand new but cant remember how I fitted pipes to it, I do have pics somewhere but cant find the bloody things.
Im now thinking it could have something to do with that.
Will post pics when I find them .
Thanks Mate
lift pump or pipes,how did pick up/sender unit fit,ive had them sit so pick up is resting on tank bottom so restricting fuel
 
. I'm at work till half 3 then I Will be at it again. Should have listened to you the first time ☹️. Is there anywhere local that has rubber pipe. Think ones 8 mil and the other 6 ,or might try nipping them up Tight first. Thanks for help mate

Don’t worry about not listening, we all make mistakes. It’s best to sort out what is wrong now. I can come up this afternoon if you want a hand with it? Two heads are usually better than one. I have plenty of clear hose and bits of connectors that I can bring up to hopefully make things easier to test.

As for buying fuel hose, I bought 5/16 and used it for both flow and return. I don’t know of anywhere in/around Consett that would sell it. I got mine from Coulthards in bishop. I’m not sure if they are open again though.
 
. Sender unit was new , I used a guide from here somwhere to fit it not sure how it's sitting in there.

If the sender is new, then it shouldn’t have any air holes in it, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have any.

How tight were the unions on the lift pump? I remember having to do mine up so tight that I thought I would snap them.
 
. Sender unit was new , I used a guide from here somwhere to fit it not sure how it's sitting in there.
new bits are the bits that fit can be an issue with tolerances are large with some,but youve no choice,
air is getting in somewhere from the sender unit to lift pump
 
If the sender is new, then it shouldn’t have any air holes in it, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have any.

How tight were the unions on the lift pump? I remember having to do mine up so tight that I thought I would snap them.
Had lift pump off other day to test and it seems to be working ok, could give them another nip up tighter to try. I'll be up there around half 3 if you want to come up mate
 
Had lift pump off other day to test and it seems to be working ok, could give them another nip up tighter to try. I'll be up there around half 3 if you want to come up mate

Yeah I will pop up this afternoon. Hopefully we will get to the bottom of it. Drop me a PM with a postcode to use and I will bring some bits with me.
 
Just got back from @border

The fuel problem is still present. When I turned up, lift pump #2 was fitted. This had a piece of hard plastic nylon from the lift pump upto the fuel filter housing. It had signs of air in it, large bubbles as shown in the video uploaded earlier in the thread. I checked the unions on lift pump #2, these were slightly loose, so nipped them up. This appeared to fix the problem instantly. That was until we turned the engine off, and left it a few minutes, then started it, only to find as much air as before I nipped the unions.

At this point, I placed a piece of clear tube where the hard nylon one was, fearing the air could be brought in by the nylon having a less than perfect seal. This didn’t make any difference. I then placed a piece of clear pipe just next to the pickup pipe, this showed no signs of air. Next was to place a piece of clear tube on the inlet to the lift pump, this didn’t show any signs of air at this point.

So at this point in the diagnosis, clear plastic pipe was at 3 points, fuel pick up, lift pump inlet, and lift pump to fuel filter. Only the lift pump to fuel filter had air, so I suspected the lift pump to be faulty. Off we go to a local motor factors to purchase a new lift pump, a Bearmach branded pump, lift pump #3.

Fitted lift pump #3, same as before, only this lift pump was struggling to draw fuel from the fuel tank. It wasn’t drawing air into the fuel line, as the clear pipe at the pickup was full of fuel and no air was present. It was trying to push fuel out as you could see bits spluttering up the clear plastic to the fuel filter housing. Wondering if this was caused by an airlock inside the lift pump, we removed the clear plastic from the lift pump output and placed it into a Jerry can. This ran the engine perfectly, fuel was drawn from the tank upto and out of the lift pump spurting towards the bulkhead. Quickly moved the fuel line from the jerrycan and back onto the lift pump, started the engine again, same as before. Struggling to draw fuel from the tank.

At this point I realised the fuel line from the filter to the FIP had a join in it, so replaced that piece for clear plastic. This didn’t do anything to the fault.

The final trial was to put the fuel lift pump pickup pipe into the Jerry can to see if it could draw from that. It didn’t draw any fuel through that pipe.

The original lift pump, #1, was old and showed no signs of pumping at all, this was replaced before I arrived. Lift pump #2 & #3 both show signs of pumping when off the vehicle. If you pump the lever and cover the inlet, it sucks and appears to work as it should. Apart from replacing the lift pump again, I’m out of ideas.
 
Just got back from @border

The fuel problem is still present. When I turned up, lift pump #2 was fitted. This had a piece of hard plastic nylon from the lift pump upto the fuel filter housing. It had signs of air in it, large bubbles as shown in the video uploaded earlier in the thread. I checked the unions on lift pump #2, these were slightly loose, so nipped them up. This appeared to fix the problem instantly. That was until we turned the engine off, and left it a few minutes, then started it, only to find as much air as before I nipped the unions.

At this point, I placed a piece of clear tube where the hard nylon one was, fearing the air could be brought in by the nylon having a less than perfect seal. This didn’t make any difference. I then placed a piece of clear pipe just next to the pickup pipe, this showed no signs of air. Next was to place a piece of clear tube on the inlet to the lift pump, this didn’t show any signs of air at this point.

So at this point in the diagnosis, clear plastic pipe was at 3 points, fuel pick up, lift pump inlet, and lift pump to fuel filter. Only the lift pump to fuel filter had air, so I suspected the lift pump to be faulty. Off we go to a local motor factors to purchase a new lift pump, a Bearmach branded pump, lift pump #3.

Fitted lift pump #3, same as before, only this lift pump was struggling to draw fuel from the fuel tank. It wasn’t drawing air into the fuel line, as the clear pipe at the pickup was full of fuel and no air was present. It was trying to push fuel out as you could see bits spluttering up the clear plastic to the fuel filter housing. Wondering if this was caused by an airlock inside the lift pump, we removed the clear plastic from the lift pump output and placed it into a Jerry can. This ran the engine perfectly, fuel was drawn from the tank upto and out of the lift pump spurting towards the bulkhead. Quickly moved the fuel line from the jerrycan and back onto the lift pump, started the engine again, same as before. Struggling to draw fuel from the tank.

At this point I realised the fuel line from the filter to the FIP had a join in it, so replaced that piece for clear plastic. This didn’t do anything to the fault.

The final trial was to put the fuel lift pump pickup pipe into the Jerry can to see if it could draw from that. It didn’t draw any fuel through that pipe.

The original lift pump, #1, was old and showed no signs of pumping at all, this was replaced before I arrived. Lift pump #2 & #3 both show signs of pumping when off the vehicle. If you pump the lever and cover the inlet, it sucks and appears to work as it should. Apart from replacing the lift pump again, I’m out of ideas.


was there a spacer between the lift pump and the block?

Cheers
 
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