Xantia won't start after changing fuel filter

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » 16 May 2010, 12:45

Help!

After I thought everything was going well, the car won't start. Battery is going flat now.

I shave squeezed that little rubber balloon under the bonnet to not effect.

What should I do, chaps?

Post by **Peter.N.** » 16 May 2010, 12:51

Is the primer (that little baloon thing under the bonnet) going hard when you pump it? if not it must be drawing air in from somewhere, slacken the connection on the pump or filter and see if its actually pumping fuel out. I suppose you do have plenty of fuel in the tank?

Peter

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » 16 May 2010, 13:16

Yes, the balloon is hard, and plenty of fuel in the tank.

I've read in the Book of Lies to open the drain plug on the pump, but there isn't one, just a union.

Is there a bleed screw elsewhere?

I've just about flattened the battery now. So will have to jump lead it later.

Post by **CitroJim** » 16 May 2010, 13:19

Tim,

Sorry to hear this. I've had same and it could be the lid of the fuel filtyter is not fitted properly and is admitting loads of air.

One time, the filer was duff in that it would not seal in the housing. Did you fit the O ring around the top of the filter?

No need for bleed nipples on the Bosch as it's an "open" pump that self-bleeds.

A few pumps on the bulb should be sufficient.

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » 16 May 2010, 13:30

Jim, I can re-check the lid on the filter housing, but it looked pretty secure to me, and no sign of fuel leak from there.

I fitted the o-ring ok.

So pump the bulb a few times and go for it? No need to crack the union on the pipe from the filter to the Bosch?

Post by **admiral51** » 16 May 2010, 13:35

Daft question but when you checked the in tank filter you did put the pipes back the right way

Not sure how far down the into the tank the return line reaches

Colin

Post by **CitroJim** » 16 May 2010, 13:37

Napoleon wrote: So pump the bulb a few times and go for it? No need to crack the union on the pipe from the filter to the Bosch?

No, none at all Tim. Pumping the bulb should pump fuel through the pump and down the return line on account of the "open" nature of the pump.

Lucas pumps on the other hand are "closed" and need the bleed nipples as a result. They must be primed with the ignition on.

Try priming with the ignition on/immobiliser inactivated so that the stop solenoid is open... It may help a little.

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 16 May 2010, 13:37

It can take a lot of cranking to bleed all the air out - hopefully that's the problem and it'll eventually fire up once the battery's replenished. I intentionally ran out of fuel once and thought it wasn't going to restart for quite a while. Eventually it caught but immediately died again several times until it finally ran as normal.

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » 16 May 2010, 13:37

Hi Colin

Yes, the pipes are correct. In fact you can't get it wrong as they are of differing sizes.

I suppose I have introduced air into the system at two places - the pipes at the fuel tank end and at the filter end of things.

Post by **admiral51** » 16 May 2010, 13:39

Said it was a daft question

Colin

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » 16 May 2010, 14:01

No harm asking.

Now, the car has started a few times, but cuts out. The throttle becomes unresponsive and it dies.

It starts each time after pumping with the balloon.

What's going on? Is there tonnes of air in the system from the fuel tank gauze checking procedure?

Xantidote · Post by **Xantidote** » 16 May 2010, 14:16

Seems you've a load of air in the system, but at least it's firing up now.

Unless you've still got air from changing the filter, and checking the fuel tank filter, then maybe in doing this work, you've bent an old fuel pipe more than it liked, and it's now got a tiny crack in it, so that the injection pump is drawing more air in?

KevMayer · Post by **KevMayer** » 16 May 2010, 14:19

Why not try the old method of cracking the fuel pipe unions ontop of the injectors.

Get someone to crank the engine and then see if 'fuel' (maybe from Tesco ) is coming out of each pipe. Tighten while cranking, then you'll know there's no air trapped in the injector feeds.

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » 16 May 2010, 14:49

It's done!

Thanks for the replies guys, you're brilliant as usual. The fault lies with me.

Sure enough there was air in the system. When I pumped the balloon, I could just detect air bubbles coming from in between the filter housing and lid.

So, Jim, you were right about the o-ring.

But how, exactly?

I should have observed, back when I removed the old filter, that the o-ring was 'fixed' in some way to the metal casing of the filter. When I replaced the filter, the o-ring was loose in the box and I'd assumed (silly me!) that the ring sat on top of the filter and then you put the lid on and tightened everything up.

Not so. The o-ring actually has a tiny slit in it all the way around, inside its circumference. This slit needs to go ver the metal, or my GSF part's case, of the filter casing.

As I had not done this, the seal was rubbish and admitted air. So a burst on the balloon got it going, but only until the next batch of air came along.

What a learning curve! Car is running fine now, although it does hunt somewhat on SVO, but that's another story.

As usual, my thanks for those who came forward with ideas about what might have been causing the trouble. It turned out to be me!

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » 16 May 2010, 14:51

CitroJim wrote:Tim,

Did you fit the O ring around the top of the filter?

And this is EXACTLY the line I'd missed when reading, Jim. I'd assumed on top of the filter.

Many thanks.