P38A Something Odd!!!

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O Bife

O Bife

Active Member
Posts
409
Location
Almada, Portugal
Right, I've just gone and bought a new battery for our 2.5DSE and hooked it up. Now something odd has happened, I went to fire her up and the dash came up with the "Engine blocked" sign. I find this odd as yesterday when I was removing the old battery all was well.

Another thing I can't seem to fathom is that she wouldn't open via the remote, but the key did the job without any alarm going off. I did notice that once the key was in the ignition, it's little red light didn't flash once, but many times. It just kept on winking at me.

Anyone know what could be going on (PLEASE)?
 
O Bife said:
Right, I've just gone and bought a new battery for our 2.5DSE and hooked it up. Now something odd has happened, I went to fire her up and the dash came up with the "Engine blocked" sign. I find this odd as yesterday when I was removing the old battery all was well.

Another thing I can't seem to fathom is that she wouldn't open via the remote, but the key did the job without any alarm going off. I did notice that once the key was in the ignition, it's little red light didn't flash once, but many times. It just kept on winking at me.

Anyone know what could be going on (PLEASE)?
Click to expand...

With the battery out that long, you have probably lost synch. Have you tried the EKA code?

G~
 
I find that odd as she was without a battery for about 3 weeks before I charged it up again and all was well. This time was for less that 24 hours. On top of that, yesterday when I opened her to remove the old battery, all was fine.
 
I've left mine with the battery off for weeks on end without any problems, as long as the car is unlocked/unalarmed when removing the battery. The only time I had a problem was when the battery died while it was locked and alarmed - that was an entirely different matter that made me glad to have a Nanocom. I'm assuming you swapped the battery because the old one was giving up the ghost - is it possible that it went flat overnight, giving a similar problem to the one I experienced.
 
Well, it's been sorted. I just disconnected the battery then re-connected it and all ok. BUT, now another gremlin raised it's head. Maybe it's me and not giving her enough time to draw fuel from the tank, but she wont fire up. I put in new glows the other week and just had to wait to get back to be able to do the rest, but nowt. She turns over sweetly, but nothing else happens. I got my better half to turn the key while I was watching the fuel line from the fuel filter to the injector pump and I could see fuel in there, but nothing more coming through. Nor did any of what was in the line seem to be getting into the engine.

Could it be that I need to give her time to draw through, or could it be something nasty. FYI, the sender pump in the tank is "new", by that I mean it was fitted last November, but since then she has only done 9km!
 
O Bife said:
Well, it's been sorted. I just disconnected the battery then re-connected it and all ok. BUT, now another gremlin raised it's head. Maybe it's me and not giving her enough time to draw fuel from the tank, but she wont fire up. I put in new glows the other week and just had to wait to get back to be able to do the rest, but nowt. She turns over sweetly, but nothing else happens. I got my better half to turn the key while I was watching the fuel line from the fuel filter to the injector pump and I could see fuel in there, but nothing more coming through. Nor did any of what was in the line seem to be getting into the engine.

Could it be that I need to give her time to draw through, or could it be something nasty. FYI, the sender pump in the tank is "new", by that I mean it was fitted last November, but since then she has only done 9km!
Click to expand...

Sounds like it is out of sync. You need diag to sort that.
 
Right, I got my wife to turn the engine over a few times while I watched the fuel pipe between the fuel filter and the FIP. What I saw was some fuel and air! I could not see any "more" fuel coming through.

Now, I do have a problem with the "new" sender pump, it sticks at 1/4 full (it shows everything above the 1/4 mark though) and during the problems I have been having I was running here for 15 to 20 mins a day, just to keep the now dead battery in check. So, with that in mind it might be a stupid simple case of empty tank. I am planning to put in just over 15lt tomorrow then see what it does.

My question is this, if it is just a case of no fuel in the tank, how long should it take to draw the fuel through into the engine etc and hopefully fire her up?

Also, I have been asked by a few friends if I have bled the fuel lines? DOH, how do I go about doing that and do I need to?

And the last question, I have also been asked, or I should say, told to "prime" her by means of manually drawing the fuel through. Do 2.5DSEs have some sort of way to do that and if so could someone tell me where this "priming" button can be found?

Sorry for firing all these questions.
 
On your year of car fuel lift pump should run. When glow lamps are lit. When cranked and when engine is running. I would suggest it has failed, although check fuse 39, 20 amp and relay 12 first of all. Incorrect reading may be caused by float arm being bent on fitment or as received. Cheap pumps are no good. Don't go for anything less than a VDO pump. You cold try putting an airline in the tank sealed with a rag and GENTLY blowing to slightly pressure tank as engine is cranked. But if lift pump is down you will get bad starts on a low tank and low power on hills.
 
Last edited:
O Bife said:
Wammers, silly question, but how does one check a relay to see if it is dead or not?
Click to expand...

You need a power supply and a multimeter. On the side of the relay it should show which pins are the pull circuit and which pins are the switched circuit. Put power across the pull circuit and you should get continuity on the multimeter across the switched circuit. On a four terminal relay 85 and 86 are pull circuit, 30 and 87 switch. On a five terminal relay with terminal 87a. 87a would be normally close when relay is not pulled. When relay is pulled 87a would be open and 87 closed. If you have not had the fuel system open no bleeding should be required.
 
Last edited:
O Bife said:
I do have a problem with the "new" sender pump, it sticks at 1/4 full (it shows everything above the 1/4 mark though) and during the problems I have been having I was running here for 15 to 20 mins a day, just to keep the now dead battery in check. So, with that in mind it might be a stupid simple case of empty tank. I am planning to put in just over 15lt tomorrow then see what it does.
Click to expand...

lol i bet its empty
 
O Bife said:
Nope, as I said in that post, I was going to put in some fuel and I did, in fact the tank is just over the half way mark now.

Still needing to know how and if I can bleed the fuel lines.
Click to expand...

Should be pretty much self-bleeding. You can slacken off the high-pressure pipes at the injectors, crank and then tighten as fuel comes out.
 
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