WG CRD 2003 fuel bleed valve faulty?

[indie]

I've been chasing air in my fuel lines for a while now - noticed it first during very cold mornings (well Sydney winter cold mornings anyway) when a couple of cranks became necessary and a bit of rough idle followed starting but only for 10 seconds or so. Having replaced fuel line o-rings into the low pressure pump I thought I had it sussed as the existing o-rings were relatively new looking but the wrong size.

That didn't fix it and my partner got stuck endlessly cranking on an incline after stopping for an hour and a half.

At any rate this is when I noticed the fuel bleed valve collet was pretty much stuck fast and took a great deal of force to pop the dust cap out so I could start priming. Got going again on the first crank but I've noticed that as soon as the dust cap is removed from the bleed valve air is sucked in (large amounts - not even large bubbles just a straight drop in the line) and endless cranking is the result.

Anyone know if the dust cap is actually integral to valve sealing or is mine likely stuffed? Oh I also accidentally cranked once without the valve cap in and this results in diesel pumping out past the valve.

Cheers, Martin.

[piper]

had a similar problem with air in the fuel line, found it came from the lift pump seal, had to machine the housing and insert a new seal.
I made new fuel lines because the bleed valve was no good to use. The pump is easy to take off to check, here is a picture with the pump apart with the seal.

[indie]

Thanks piper, I was just about to look at service kits for the fuel pumps when I started thinking about the bleed valve.

I take it you bypassed the bleed valve completely with new fuel line? I'm not sure if I want to do that myself - would probably prefer to replace it if it is sucking air. Mine does bleed properly with a cheap hand vacuum pump.

[bodgie]

Hi Piper,

Which seal was causing grief?

I've also read others having issues with the return valve on the fuel filter causing problems. If you read the manual it knows if air is in the fuel and returns this to the tank. These can go faulty and return fuel to the filter and back into the fuel rail.

Been meaning to replace mine for a while now.

Jason

[piper]

yes i replaced all the fuel lines, from the fuel filter to the injector pump including the bleed valve which i replaced with a half inch ball valve, which makes it extremely easy to purge. I considered all the original lines to be rubbish.
After fixing all my lines i still found some air in the lines, if you don't use the car for a couple of days it looses its fuel pressure then hard to start.
Then i found the seal in the lift pump to be worn, and there is no replaceable parts for it, a $1000 for a new one, or $7 for a new seal, but the housing needs machining.
It pays not to ride the starter motor too much, as you can turn them blue with heat on the inside, also no replaceable parts.

[indie]

Out of interest piper what type of half inch ball valve did you go with?

[piper]

took a couple of pic's of an added fuel filter which has a glass bottom so you can obviously see if there is any crap in it, and a pic of the half inch valve i used. The valve came from Enzed Hydraulics and guaranteed to me to take fuel.