CaptainHair
Member
Ah that actually makes sense, explains a bit as to how some peoples goes on for ages without the lift pump and no problem, yet some have immediate problems. cheersif fuel squirts from lift pump connect it all up and leave the front banjo bolt pon injection pump loose,pump liftp pump till clean diesel appears,tighten banjo and try,pump will only suck up fuel once its full,it wont if it has air in it, hence once running and lift pump fails its often not noticed till system needs to be bled up after a filter change or similar
Well I've been out today with the multimeter and done alot of testing. The wire I had run directly from the battery had a 30a inline fuse fitted which at some point had blown and melted. This is the same wire however that I used for testing the solenoid when not fitted to the vehicle (everything worked) so I'm uncertain as to when the fuse blew. However I replaced the fuse and the landy now works even with the solenoid plunger and spring fitted.
This doesn't change the fact that when it first broke down at the side of the road, I tried starting it without the plunger in the solenoid and it wouldnt start.
Additionally, the proper wire for the shut off solenoid just fell off where it was connected to in the engine bay, so it can't have had a great connection to begin with. I'll have to figure out where I should run a new wire from so that the solenoid has power when they key is in running/starting positions to make it function correctly again.
As for the actual fault? I'm still not certain. I could blame it on poor wiring (that fell off) and the blown fuse (which was only on the new wire setup after the breakdown) but that still doesnt explain why it wouldn't initially start without the plunger when i broke down at the side of the road. Perhaps there was initially a fuelling issue which was remedied somewhere along the lines of me taking everything to bits and putting it back together, in conjunction with a wiring problem later on.
I'll drive cautiously and locally for a while, see how it goes. But I'll optimistically call this "fixed" I suppose. Thanks very much for all the help and suggestions, and my aplogies that its turned out (fingers crossed) to be such a boring answer to an interesting fault.
EDIT: Removed it once again and had a look in with a torch. Noticed there was some yellow coloured debris around the larger section of the hole the solenoid screws into. (so inside near where the fuel flows, but not in the smaller section of the hole where the plunger goes). Not sure if it means anything, but AFAIK there shouldnt be any debris in there at all. With it being yellow though, I wonder if its chrome plating from the FIP? I wonder if maybe theres been a slight blockage or enough to stop the plunger moving correctly when fitted. Either way, I've thoroughly cleaned it out and will check on it again in the future to see if any more has appeared.
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