Poor starting and stalling on XM

reblack68 · Post by **reblack68** » 12 Sep 2007, 19:03

One of my colleagues has just bought 2.1 Diesel XM Estate.

It takes forever to start and keeps cutting out when it is cold. He claims that it runs better once it's warmed up. It sounded to me like it needed primed and, sure enough, the priming button was too easy to pump. It started better once it was primed but stalled after a few minutes idling. After I'd primed it again it started quite easily, the owner said it usually takes much longer to start after it has stalled.

My first instinct would be to replace the filter head, am I right in thinking this is the most likely culprit?

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 12 Sep 2007, 20:24

Is it a 97+ year model with a Lucas EPIC pump?

The fuel line between my grenade bulb primer and the fuel filter was perishing letting in air (that pump does not like air).
It looked like someone had had a go before at patching it with either blue chewing gum or loctite.

Replaced it with clear piping and it made a big difference.

reblack68 · Post by **reblack68** » 13 Sep 2007, 06:34

I can't remember what age it is but I think it's the mechanical pump. The primer is the button type. The owner is getting it looked at this weekend, I'll tell him to have a good look at the fuel pipes.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 13 Sep 2007, 08:32

Check and see if it has a fuel heater on the gearbox end of the cylinder head, these go pourous for a pastime and let air in. They are not really needed with the fuel we have now and can safely be bypassed. The inlet pipe may reach the filter, in which case just disconnect it from the heater and connect directly to the filter, if not, just connect the ends together with a suitable piece of tube.

reblack68 · Post by **reblack68** » 21 Sep 2007, 21:23

It looks like the fuel heater was the culprit. The owner took it to a garage to no avail so he washed his hands of it and sold it to my friend. We bypassed the fuel heater and it's running sweet as a nut now.

Thanks for the responses. I've a feeling it won't be my last XM related question.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 23 Sep 2007, 06:53

Hi Richard

A very satisfying outcome! There is a wealth of XM information on 'club-xm.com' you may have to persevere in connecting to it (anti spam measures) but I am sue you will find it useful.

reblack68 · Post by **reblack68** » 23 Sep 2007, 09:42

The car started fine the next morning so I think we can call that a success.

Next job is the O/S strut top. I see you're after one too, have you had any luck yet?

Post by **Peter.N.** » 23 Sep 2007, 18:52

I eventually had to change the whole strut as there seem to be several different tops, and I couldn't get one to match mine. It hadn't rusted, the rubber had seperated from the metal.

Peter.