Transit filter problems

[greasemonkey]

Oh what a fun day.
Van started playing up on Thursday, lack of power and not revving out properly. By friday, I only just made it home. Found what looked like a loose pipe on the lift pump, so put it down to that.
Father was supposed to pick up some fuel hose for me this morning, He forgot......

After fiddling all afternoon, and suspecting every thing, I'm pretty sure air was getting in where the pipes join the fuel filter head. It wouldn't tick over this morning. Tried replacing various pipes, then ran diesel straight into the pump, via the return.........

Put the diesel into the inlet, and it ran fine. I've now changed the filter head for another transit one. I've driven it about 50 miles, and she is playing up again. The way the pipes seal into the filter head is rubbish, it's just designed to let air in, especially as the oil is pretty thick stuff.

Hopefully will get a new filter head tomorrow, and some new hose. Rip the whole lot off and start again.

Is standard clear braided fuel hose compatible with Bio? Not that I'm running bio, yet. Its what is going to go on anyway, but just wondering how long it should last.

[Rotary-Motion]

mate had same probs, 2 things pipe fitings to filter head and the the filter carts ar a biatch to get tight and not suck air...

get a sausage filter in her GM  i've done numerous 1000's of miles i lost count so has 6 other cars

[greasemonkey]

I've got to have something tomorrow any way, so it'll be getting whatever the motor factors has. I'm a bit concerned about using a sausage filter, my oil is not particularly well filtered and processed, and is often pretty gloopy. I wonder about how many micron the sausage filters are. If I had better oil, I would do it, no hesitation.

The filter cartridges are tools of things, possibly it was air getting in through the filter seal. I had to fiddle with it a few times to stop the fuel leaking out. I guess the thick oil has brought up an existing problem. Its been spot on up till now, but looking at it now, there are so many different places for air to get in, it seems futile trying to find which one is the culprit.
When she is cold, she runs ok, so I'm guessing as she gets warm, the rubber and plastic becomes softer, and starts letting in air. Chuck the whole lot in the gutter and have a fresh start I think. There is an outside possibility there may be a blocked tank strainer. I've blown back down the pipe, and there is good flow coming from the lift pump, but its futile trying anything till that filter head is sorted.

[Rotary-Motion]

on my first twin tank i had air problems, when cold all good, hot was bad for air, so when it was hot i did up every jubilee clip even tighter (easy when pipes hot) she was good to go then...

[greasemonkey]

Good tip, I'll remember that if I get problems. I'm thinking to put a smear of silicone around the pipes before I join them anyway, just as an extra precaution.

[greasemonkey]

Just out of curiosity, is there any reason why the return should go through the filter head?
The only reason I can think of is that it is for when there are two filters fitted, to balance out the flow between them both. Maybe that is it.

[knighty]

2.5di ?

did you use a ford filter ?

get a ford filter and try again.... surprising what a difference it makes!

[greasemonkey]

I've been using Marle filters. The whole lot is coming off anyway, providing I can get a replacement tomorrow. Thanks for the tip though. Never had a problem up until now though.

[knighty]

I know it sounds daft... but I had problems myself and someone told me to try a ford filter... I did out of an act of desperation and it worked...

I've seen the same thing loads of times on the transit forum too :-(

[greasemonkey]

In all fairness, I would try it. Its just that I need the thing going as soon a possible, and dont want to take the risk that the pipes going into the filter unit are leaking. I've got a chance tomorrow for someone else to pick the parts up for me, so I think I'll just go the whole hog and be done with it.
I wouldn't be surprised if half the problem is caused by thick veg, and the ford filter head just doesn't inspire me with confidence. Chucking some diesel in on top did help a little bit.

[Rotary-Motion]

Just out of curiosity, is there any reason why the return should go through the filter head?
The only reason I can think of is that it is for when there are two filters fitted, to balance out the flow between them both. Maybe that is it.

always wondered this? my view was it uses return fuel, less needed from main tank on sucking up, and maybe it uses heat from going through engne to warm fuel back in?

to me this causes probs as air goes back to filter head, adding more air to the other air being sucked in, just jion return pipes up and use feed in as normal, may cure all the probs?

[knighty]

wait.... does your engine not have a lift pump on the side ?

if the filter is leaking, it should be under pressure, so should be letting fuel out not air in ?

[greasemonkey]

wait.... does your engine not have a lift pump on the side ?

if the filter is leaking, it should be under pressure, so should be letting fuel out not air in ?

Yes, it does. Like you say, it should all be under pressure. I can't quite fathom that one myself. All I can say is when I put the fuel direct from the lift pump into the injection pump, it ran fine. As soon as I replumbed the filter, it wouldn't run at all. Now the replacement head and filter is playing up.

I can't see that it has for some reason started blocking filters solid in a few miles, it's never blocked a filter before. It's the third one on there now.

Bit of a mystery. You can't believe how much trouble it is to get a filter head with the unions. Must have called half a dozen places. Some of them don't even know what the unions are when you explain it to them.

Even if the pipe from the tank to the lift pump had cracked, surely it would have had the same effect when I by passed the filter.

[knighty]

could it be the feed or return line being blocked ?  could try blowing down them with an air line ?

the return line has a little float velve in it where it goes back through the filter... if there's fuel in it, it can duct back into the filter... if it's full or air it goes back down the return line


it could be the pump on the side of the engine... they only do about 50k miles before giving up... normally they just stop all together but it could keep going but low flow/pressure ?

you could take the pipe off it and have someone spin the engine while you look for fuel squirting out
(it should pulse... squirt, squirt, squirt etc..)


clear braided hose will go hard after a while on bio or veg, you could use it as a stop gap but proper rubber hose is better

you might be best off replacing all the fuel hoses for new just to make sure.... if you do... go with a bigger size too, it's surprising how much difference it makes

[greasemonkey]

I've blown back into the tank, that seems fine. There looks to be good feed coming out of the lift pump. As far as I know, it is the original pump, with 120K on it, so could be the next line of enquiry. Maybe it is loosing pressure when it gets hot.

I've now put black rubber hose from the lift pump, into a cheapo inline filter, and on into the injection pump. I've joined the returns with the same stuff. I'd just about got fuel to the injector pump, and the battery went flat...........

It's on charge now, so I'll try it in the morning.

It was running ok ish when I got home last night, went to start it this morning and it just died, so I gave up. I wonder is the lift pump letting the fuel drain back into the tank, when it is hot. Maybe it is dogged.
Cheers Knighty. I'll get there in the end.