Hi all, since my last few cars have been fords and the last 2 I've needed a bit of help and advice with I figured I should join a Ford forum.... unfortunately it's for a bit of help. So please be gentle.

A friend bought a (mk6) transit last week, she was told that it had run out of fuel and that the previous owner could not get it started no matter what they tried, so over the last few days I've been trying to fix it myself (I do have some mechanical knowledge, but mostly on motorbikes).  Until today (yesterday now, or Friday) I've been getting nowhere.... and that's after reading several web pages of help.

 

I've bought a bleeding pump and cut the line going in to the fuel filter and fitted it, which has caused the first problem, after a few pumps the diesel is coming out the cap of the filter housing no matter how much I tighten it.... should there be some kind of washer inside the cap (2 parts).

 

Second problem, and the main one, getting the fuel pump to pressurise the fuel lines, I've tried cracking open one of the bolts on top of the injector and turning the engine over, but all I'm getting is a dribble of diesel and lots of air no matter how long I crank it over for.  Same if I loosen the bolt right off. After trying a can of easy start and getting nowhere, today I had some brake cleaner laying around and decided to try that: 

After a few minutes I asked a friend to drive it round the car park, and please don't stall it.... he stalled it after about a foot and couldn't get it started again.

So the question here is if the engine did actually run, does that mean the fuel pump must be working? If so, why isn't the pressure staying in the system... could this be down to the lack of pressure at the filter?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice

33 minutes ago, andy36586 said:

after a few pumps the diesel is coming out the cap of the filter housing no matter how much I tighten it.... should there be some kind of washer inside the cap

Absolutely!

There should be a rubber seal there.

Most of these diesels have no tank pump. The main pump sucks the fuel through the filter. But it can not suck air. Any air at the pump inlet will prevent starting. No filter seal would be a disaster!

Get a new fuel filter, it should come with a seal. Put it in. Partially release the filter outlet pipe (being very careful not to get any dirt whatsoever into the pump side of the filter), undo the filter air vent (if it has one), and use the priming pump to fill the filter. Once only fuel & no air comes out of the filter outlet port, re-connect it, and pump some more, quite hard. There must be no leaks from the filter. Then try starting.

(The high pressure side of the pump works at 1500Bar, or 22,000 PSI. This part is self priming, and should not really be touched at all. It is the low pressure side where the problems are.)