I have a 1994 L reg Ford Escort 1.8 diesel van.
Recently, I have been having some trouble starting it. It cranks for around 15 to 20 seconds then catches and the engine starts ok but over the last week, it cranks but now it will not start.
It won't start off a jump so tonight a mate of mine disconnected the diesel filter. There was no fuel in the filter and no fuel came out of the the supply pipe from the tank. It has a full tank of diesel in it BTW, before anyone asks
Anyway to cut a long story short we think there was air in the system and when we bled this out the van started
So how was the air getting in? I noticed a small 'spurt' of diesel coming out of one of the four......and here's where I get stuck cause I don't know a great deal about cars and even less about diesel vans......bolted housings, each with a pipe coming out of the top and pipes coming out of the sides. They are shown in the picture below of my engine bay
Yes, that is a cotton wool bud sticking out of one of them but I will explain this further on down
Below is a closer shot of the bolted housing on the right hand side when you look at the 1st picture. This is where the leak is coming from
and another shot closer again
Where the cotton wool bud is, there was like a black flexible rubber cover which had a small split in the top of it and this was where the diesel was escaping out from. Inside this cover, there is a small metal 'pipe' with a open hole in the end, hence the cotton wool bud, stripped of cotton wool and inserted into the hole to temporarily stop the diesel escaping and hopefully air getting in. Anyway as soon as we sealed the hole and bled the system, the van started with no problems, so I am assuming that this is what has caused my problem with starting.
I need to obtain some sort of plug or cap for the metal pipe with the hole in to both stop the diesel leak and stop air getting into the system. Is such a plug available or is there a simpler solution to this. If it is, where can I get one from and how much should I be paying.
Can anyone tell me what's the correct name for the four bolted housings shown in my photo and is there a name for the plug which I now need to replace
Also, while I'm on, my fuel gauge is also stuck in the same position and never moves. What's the likely cause of this and is it something I can have a go at fixing myself
Many thanks in advance for any responses.
Mr M
Recently, I have been having some trouble starting it. It cranks for around 15 to 20 seconds then catches and the engine starts ok but over the last week, it cranks but now it will not start.
It won't start off a jump so tonight a mate of mine disconnected the diesel filter. There was no fuel in the filter and no fuel came out of the the supply pipe from the tank. It has a full tank of diesel in it BTW, before anyone asks
Anyway to cut a long story short we think there was air in the system and when we bled this out the van started
So how was the air getting in? I noticed a small 'spurt' of diesel coming out of one of the four......and here's where I get stuck cause I don't know a great deal about cars and even less about diesel vans......bolted housings, each with a pipe coming out of the top and pipes coming out of the sides. They are shown in the picture below of my engine bay
Yes, that is a cotton wool bud sticking out of one of them but I will explain this further on down
Below is a closer shot of the bolted housing on the right hand side when you look at the 1st picture. This is where the leak is coming from
and another shot closer again
Where the cotton wool bud is, there was like a black flexible rubber cover which had a small split in the top of it and this was where the diesel was escaping out from. Inside this cover, there is a small metal 'pipe' with a open hole in the end, hence the cotton wool bud, stripped of cotton wool and inserted into the hole to temporarily stop the diesel escaping and hopefully air getting in. Anyway as soon as we sealed the hole and bled the system, the van started with no problems, so I am assuming that this is what has caused my problem with starting.
I need to obtain some sort of plug or cap for the metal pipe with the hole in to both stop the diesel leak and stop air getting into the system. Is such a plug available or is there a simpler solution to this. If it is, where can I get one from and how much should I be paying.
Can anyone tell me what's the correct name for the four bolted housings shown in my photo and is there a name for the plug which I now need to replace
Also, while I'm on, my fuel gauge is also stuck in the same position and never moves. What's the likely cause of this and is it something I can have a go at fixing myself
Many thanks in advance for any responses.
Mr M
