C4 1.4 HDi - replaced fuel filter & now won't start

[PhilAtkinson]

I've purchased a C1 1.4 HDi for my Ukrainian guest to learn to drive on. It's MOT is due at the end of the month so I thought I'd service it.

I've replaced the fuel filter & the car started & then promptly stopped. I thought that the electrical connections for the fuel filter weren't good so I double checked them & repeated every step.

The car started once, for about 5 seconds & now fails to start. It sounds like everything is ready to start but the engine is not firing.

It's obviously a fuel supply problem but I have no idea what to do. I've checked the fuel pump primer, pumping it many many times until the bulb feels hard. It fails to start & I have done this with the ignition off as well as on.

I've connected my OBDBII reader to the port & it has a P1351 error but I have no idea if this has always been there or not. I'm out of my depth now.

Being honest, I am now really struggling. I've been back to fill up the fuel filter with diesel, which I have done, I think But the car still fails to start after priming the system.

Any help for things to do would be very much appreciated.

Apparently this is a common issue but I have no idea how to resolve it. Yours hopefully Phil

[wheeler]

Have you kept on pumping it while someone is turning the engine over?
You ideally want to suck the diesel through the filter with an external hand primer. Get some jump leads on it so its turning over nice & fast.
If all else fails its not ideal but some easy start should get it going & hopefully get the fuel drawn through. just dont go nuts with it.

[PhilAtkinson]

No I haven't tried pumping whilst starting because there's only myself dealing with this. The Ukrainian now thinks that I'm a complete moron for messing up her beautiful car.

I'll have to get my dad to pop over when he's available to try your pump whilst starting scenario.

I think the P1351 fault code is a red herring but after 3 days of no start, I'm left wondering.

How does the east start work & where would I spray it? You say not to use a lot but I didn't know that this would work for diesel cars?

Do you have experience of doing this?

[Hell Razor5543]

You can ignore the P1351 error. Most HDi engines seem to have this fault, but (unless the temperature is very cold) the HDi engines don't need to warm up the engine when it is starting.

[PhilAtkinson]

Ok ,thanks.

It's good confirmation as I just wasn't sure; I've tested the pre-heater being wired or not, which makes no difference & I've taken the Glow Plug relay off ready to test, although am not too sure how to do this so I'll put it back tomorrow.

I can't afford to just replace these parts, if there is no need to, so I am very grateful for this confirmation.

Now I just need to get this car started, so I'll try the method stated above which involves 2 people; fingers crossed.

[Hell Razor5543]

Just a couple of thoughts. You are certain it is the right filter for THAT car? I had a supplier sell me one filter, but it turned out there were two possible options, and my car used the other one! If you still have the old filter I would compare it against the new one. The other thought is; Are the pipes connected the right way around? I have heard of occasions when the 'feed' and the 'return' pipes were crossed, so there was no fuel getting to the engine!

[PhilAtkinson]

Thanks for this.

The filter I have taken out, looks to be very similar if not exactly the same as the new one. In addition, all the connecting pipes & bolt / screw holes all line up perfectly.

Regarding the fuel pipes, I don't think that they could have become swapped as they neatly align up with the new filter & I don't think that it'll be possible to swap them.

However, at this stage I'll try anything so I'll have a look tomorrow to make sure that they couldn't have been swapped. It does make sense that the feed & return pipes are swapped so I'll definitely check this; that would be a really simple solution for me.

I'll let you know, once I have checked this out tomorrow.

[PhilAtkinson]

Well, today I checked the fuel leads & there is no-way these could have been mixed up.

I also tried to replace the file filter with the original one, all to no avail.

My father came round so I tried the 2 person approach with him cranking the car & myself pumping the fuel.

The conclusion I have is that there is no fuel getting to the glow plugs at all & pumping makes seems to make no difference.

What could be causing this lack of fuel. Does anybody know how I can bleed the fuel system, to make sure that it is full of fuel. This is the problem & pumping the manual pump seems to make no difference.

I couldn't get any Easy Start today, so I'll get some tomorrow but I don't know if this will replace the complete lack of fuel.

Does anybody have any ideas as to what I can try next?

[PhilAtkinson]

Well I purchase some Easy Start, ready to try this. Unfortunately, this is a 2 person job, so I needed a 2nd person & he couldn't come until Sunday.

When he arrived, I went through the main problem, which is a lack of fuel. I showed him the Pump & the return fuel pipe, so that we could see if fuel was flowing; it wasn't

I suggested that we needed a syringe to force the fuel through the pipe work & then my friend had a brain wave. Just to suck on the return fuel pipe.

I did this, whilst he continued to pump the fuel & it starter to flow. Hey presto, a few pumps later & we were able to start the car. Why I didn't think about sucking the fuel pipe, I just don't know, but it's the simplest of solutions to my problem.

So the east start can go back to the place I purchased it from & I can continue changing the oil tomorrow.

Many thanks to all those that made suggestions to me; it was very much appreciated.