New to the group, bought a fixer upper D22!

[Adelaided22]

Hi everyone,
I've just bought a 2003 d22 ZD30 and a day into ownership the injector pump dies! I've got another one ready to put into it but since I'm new to these engines I thought I'd get some ideas on how to keep these engines/pumps happy and working. From what I understand the vp44 pump needs good fuel pressure to keep the pump cool, has any one does any mods that assist that in particular? Eg an accesory lift pump or fuel pressure guage?

 

[tweak'e]

there is a few threads on lift pumps. often using carter or holley type pumps. don't need much pressure, the biggest thing is keeping air out of the lines. the suction setups tend to suck air in around the filter and cause problems.
also make sure its a injection pump failure. plenty of garages that will say its the pump when its not.

 

[Adelaided22]

there is a few threads on lift pumps. often using carter or holley type pumps. don't need much pressure, the biggest thing is keeping air out of the lines. the suction setups tend to suck air in around the filter and cause problems.
also make sure its a injection pump failure. plenty of garages that will say its the pump when its not.

Yea I've had a mobile mechanic come out and have a look, it wasnt starting easily, then it started stalling at idel,I turned it off and after that I couldn't get it started. It was acting like a lack of fuel supply but the lines are free and after bleeding any air out of it it still wouldn't start. And the fuel filter primer kept going soft. The engines compression was tested and was all good as well. The previous owner let the tank go almost empty so my guess is that it sucked up too much air, killed the pump and now here we are. I've attached a pic of the codes it was throwing out although I think some of those unrelated codes came up due to the pump not operating. In regards to an electric fuel pump, can they cause any damage to the injector pump and do they allow fuel to pass through if they aren't working properly?

 

[Damian m]

Hey,

If the fuel primer keeps going soft you definately have air in the fuel line.
I would look at the fuel lines from the tank to the primer and then the O rings in the fuel primer.
These things cost way less than a fuel pump and will almost certainly need to be replaced if they haven't been replaced in the last 5 or so years.

 

[tweak'e]

delete the codes and try again. you can pull up codes manually if you don't have a scan tool.

fit a bit of clear fuel line just after the filter. look for air bubbles in the fuel.
really common to have the primer or filter leak air in which will cause problems starting. especially as its also the one way valve so fuel can drain back to the tank.
i think i have a pic on here where i cut the primer off, welded a plate over it and then fitted an outboard motor style primer down by the tank.

 

[Adelaided22]

He didn't crack the injectors to bleed the air, does he need to do that? He was able to get it started for a second with brake cleaner, wouldn't that mean there's no air lock?

 

[tweak'e]

if you get to much air into the pump you will need to crack an injector to bleed at least one injector.
i've had to do it when i ran out of fuel once (faulty fuel gauge).

 

[Adelaided22]

So why can you get away with doing just one injector, I thought you would have had to open them all up. Him being able to start it with the brake cleaner made me think it might not be that, but Maby a check valve that has failed

 

[tweak'e]

bleeding one injector (by mem i think you can only get easy access to one), once it fires you can get enough rpm for it to push air out of the others. foot to the floor you need to push as much fuel down the pipes as you can.

 

[Adelaided22]

I just tried cracking the first injector and turning it over, their was diesel coming out the line but not at any significant pressure. It wouldn't start at all, and the hand primer kept going abit soft after trying

 

[Erick]

Ok. A bit of back to basics here. Mechanical pumps very rarely die suddenly due to mechanical failure. Maybe a broken shaft or something might do it. The pump u have is electro-mechanical. The electrics fail. If u cracked an injector line and fuel was coming out of it , that indicates ur pump is doing its job. Next step is remove an injector and bolt up to pump and look for the spray pattern NOTE. Do not get ur hands anywhere near the injector as it will inject diesel into ur hand. Hospital job and potentially loss of hand!!
On the low pressure side-tank to pump- install an electric pump, close to ur injector pump and connect with clear tubing to pump. Any air bubbles u will have to track backwards toward tank using more clear tubing. The electric pump can stay in line forever electrically disconnected. Had one in my ‘05 for over a year-just makes life easy if u need to diagnose fuel delivery. Those standard primer fuel filters are the cause of over half the troubles I have seen with bad starting. Get a standard diesel filter( CAV) or similar and an electric pump-which u will only need to use once if things are good.
Using Brake cleaner, aero start and a host of other aerosols simply means u have compression.
Knowing what’s involved both mechanically and financially, to take out and repair/replace an injector pump, spending the time to get any air out and hook up an injector to actually see what’s happening is way worth it.

 

[tweak'e]

I just tried cracking the first injector and turning it over, their was diesel coming out the line but not at any significant pressure. It wouldn't start at all, and the hand primer kept going abit soft after trying

if you have just loosened 1/4 turn or so and its coming out constantly rather than spraying a pulse then it looks like injection pump is not firing.
that is common with these when the pump ecu fails.
the other thing is check for codes.
also check for anything else thats wrong. especially check that the brakes lights are working. for some reason we have seen a few cases where blown brake light fuse stops the engine from starting.

 

[tweak'e]

On the low pressure side-tank to pump- install an electric pump, close to ur injector pump and connect with clear tubing to pump. Any air bubbles u will have to track backwards toward tank using more clear tubing. The electric pump can stay in line forever electrically disconnected. Had one in my ‘05 for over a year-just makes life easy if u need to diagnose fuel delivery. Those standard primer fuel filters are the cause of over half the troubles I have seen with bad starting. Get a standard diesel filter( CAV) or similar and an electric pump-which u will only need to use once if things are good.

you need to fit a one way valve as a bypass valve in parallel to the electric lift pump. they do cause a restriction if they are not working, which in turn can help suck air in any weak point.
do not use the typical CAV filters, they do not flow enough for these engines and cause a lot of restriction.