Help please, our 1987 Defender fuel pump stopped working...

Awkward said:

Hi Ratae, my AFM doesn’t have a flapper so hopefully it will start without having to trick the ECU... Fingers crossed

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You only need to prop the flap open when testing for power.

That’s what I did, set it at 6 degrees with the strobe then drove it got it running perfect with adjusting the dizzy and marked it with tipX. It reads 10 deg with strobe but I reckon the marks are out on pulley.

Done some investigation on the old interweb and the fuel pump issue not starting up on the 1st part of the turn of the key might be due to a bad connection from the negative side of the coil that tells the ECU to turn the fuel pump on. Can’t see how this would effect the pump but it’s a start...

Forget that, coil connection is ok. Anyone know what turns the fuel pump on to prime the fuel system at the first part of the turn of the ignition key.... ? The feed to the fuel pump is completely dead... Negative is ok and grounded to the chassis....

I've got a 90 with an ex Disco 1 3.5 hotwire and auto box. The fuel pump is in tank from a RRC. I had problems with a non-operating pump and it turned out to be the black connector that sits on top of the pump assembly not making good contact with the female underneath (red circle in photo); there are two small pins and they were loose. Tightened the female contacts with needle nose plier, a bit of vaseline and aok since.

Awkward said:

pump works fine on a separate battery, the earth cable to the fuel pump is grounded. The supply to the pump is completely dead...

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If you connected the pump to the spare battery via the round black connector on the end of the harness (red arrow in photo) that does rule out the tank-side connector being faulty.

Awkward said:

what turns the fuel pump on to prime the fuel system at the first part of the turn of the ignition key.... ? The feed to the fuel pump is completely dead... Negative is ok and grounded to the chassis....

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There should be relay somewhere, where depends on the conversion....how did you check the feed to the fuel pump? Probe the harness connector? If that's dead the next up is the relay I think? Sorry I can't help more, mine was a minor issue.
BTW depending on your tyre size, a 1.4 transfer box is good on a V8 esp the auto. I assume the 'airport box' is a 1.6?
Lovely combo, 90 + V8, even lovelier IMO is 90 + V8 + auto!!

Fuel pump works fine on a separate battery but something is stopping the fuel getting Into the cylinders... Plugs are completely dry even after hours of cranking... !!! There is a relay that clicks when I turn the ignition on and normally straight after the fuel pump will prime. Iv swapped the relays and it make no difference, tried everything there’s just no live feed to the fuel pump, wire loom is undamaged Iv put new connectors on the wire to the fuel pump, swapped over the stepper motor, ECU, MAFM, throttle sensor, checked the Neg of the coil to the ECU and the fuel pump still won’t start up on the first part of the turn on the key...

B4 this the landrover drove like a dream, been using it as a daily drive with no issues what’s so ever...

If the plugs are dry then the injectors aren't operating.
Yours is the hotwire so I can't make any suggestions as to what the issue might be.
Is there any sort of gizmo (inertia switch?) on that system that operates in the event of impact & turns the pump & injectors off that might have tripped?
Any sort of immobiliser?

Whilst I'm not a huge fan of the stuff if it tried to run on a whiff of Easy Start then it would help to rule out the ignition side of things.

ETA Bit of googling suggests that the Discos & later RRCs did have an inertia switch that cuts the fuel pump & a knock can trip it. Apparently you're looking for something that looks like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Land-Rover-DBC2022L/647809185?iid=140687519222

Going to try easy start tomorrow, just to see if it fires up... Got no immobiliser or secret switches, it’s as basic as it gets with fuel injection....