Good morning, or not so in my case. Staying at a friends house who has a very sloping drive way. Go to start the car this morning it fired up fine but cut out after 3 or so seconds. tried to start again, wouldnt fire up although turning over fine but tried the jump start it just to rule out battery. Nothing. Tow the car to the top of the drive where its a bit flatter, after a while of turning over it fired up for a few seconds and although i was giving it some throttle it died again.

My thoughts are the fuel has drained from being on a slope, but its a 4x4, surly slopes cant hurt it. Desprate for advise now, were 150 miles from home and we need to get it going.

Do any experts out there have any thoughts, advise or knowledge that can help me?

Thank you

Hi,

Lift the bonnet and pump the primer bulb attached to the fuel filter. You more than likely have an air ingress issue which has caused the fuel in the pipes to flow back to the tank. Pump the primer until the bulb goes firm (hopefully it will go and stay firm) and then try starting.

Kind Regards,

Eoin

next time reverse up, and see if it starts ok, you have an air leak on the suction side,

that's why you do not see the leak,

Agree with both posts. Check for air leak allowing fuel to drain back to tank

You guys are amazing. I'm sorry I havnt got back to you earlier. We went into town (into a diffrent car) and just got back. Located the said pump, and after only 5 or so squeezes it went firm, turned car over for less than 3 turns after and it fired up, pulled straight onto the road, took it for a drive and and have now parked back on the drive nose down the slope.

Should I try locate the air leak?? If so how shall I go about it?

Once again, massive thank you. You may each have a drink on me.

Hi,

IMO you should find it as it will cause you more starting and running issues down the line, especially if you intend remap it.

When was the fuel filter last changed? The 2.0 dCi and older diesels like high quality filters, so stick with OEM, Mahle or Mann.

The primer bulb rubber can perish and allow air in. You can visually inspect, or remove, block one end, put it in water and force air in with a bicycle pump to check for bubbles.

The clips and o rings on the filter, or fuel lines are also a source or air ingress. A clear inline filter will show bubbles if this is the case.


Kind Regards,

Eoin

Thanks Epon.

Another question, i just stalled the car in the supermarket carpark and it wouldnt start again, so popped bonnet and pumped it again, started fine. i think whilst engines running its okay, its when it stops its not happy.

So my question is, should the bulb pump stay really firm whilst engines running, cause once its started it goes very squeeshy, very quickly.

Hi,

Once the engine is running, the pump is able to draw fuel from the tank. Your issue is that fuel is running back to the tank, so you have no fuel in the line, or a large amount of air and the engine won't start. The bulb should remain firm. As suggested, try the simple checks above

Air ingress and poor filter can a lot of running and starting problems.

Kind Regards,

Eoin

Thought id update my problem.

The starting issue escalated really quickly. So that after a week of it initially not starting because of being on a slope, it wouldn't start no matt where it was parked, unless I pumped the hand bulk pump first. So I used it for a couple of weeks like that, with me just having to pop the bonnet and hand pump it first, with one morning in pertiular very difficult to get it to start, as soon as I pumped it firm, id turn the key and it would instantly go flat, I guess that's the high pressure of the fuel system doing that.

Anyway, finally ordered a Mann fuel filter (£36) and fitted three days ago, and hey presto it works absolutely fine now. We think it was the original on the fuel filter that were letting in air, as there was a small amount of diesel on top of the filter around that inlet.