fuel leak location

[JoergM]

Originally Posted by OffroadSpike

Now that I look at it, your filter is a bit weird. Mine has total of three hoses at the top and one drain plug. One conects to the fuel tank, second to the low pressure pump, third to the return line from the common rail (I think) that is connected to a valve that sits on top, when temperature is exceeded it returns fuel back to the fuel tank, otherwise it returns it back to the fuel filter.


The fuel filter also has a hole at the bottom where the water in fuel sensor sits.

Thanks for the information. The fuel filter was installed when I got the car about 18 months ago. It could be that it was installed by an unqualified mechanic or by one of the previous owners and they did not know what to do. I have a new fuel filter which has (as far as I can see) 3 outlets as well as a primer pump (I think it is a Toyota filter which should fit, got it recommended by one of my contacts in Melbourne).
The dribbling is getting now really bad so that I might look into that pretty soon.

[JoergM]

So my fuel leak fix is getting accelerated. Was out last Wednesday and suddenly on the way back Jeep would not start. I had this now a couple of times where the starter motor was not engaging but only had a kind of scratching / grinding noise. Typically after a couple of times it came around and I was able to start the car. But not this time. I guess the constant fuel leak was gunking this thing up and caused it to fail. I actually recall that it started once I realized the fuel leak.
I feel just sorry by looking at it, almost pitch black.

Anyhow, tried to take it out today (of course did not happen) and Jason and Adrian were right when they said you need a lot of extensions. The lower screw was no issue but for the upper one, I am not even getting my hands in. But help is on the way and I am sure sooner or later it will come out. I will then decide if there is actual damage on the gears (hope it is not the fly wheel) or if I can simply clean it up and put it back in. Just not looking forward to that part.

Since I am working there I actually wanted to fix the fuel leak and the engine mount too. I realized that there is a massive wire (block) running thru the intake manifold which seems to be holding the plugs for the injector and and other wires on the other side of the engine (see attached pictures. Do I have that all off to be able to remove the manifold? It looks like it is a lot of extra work which I would like to avoid if possible.
Or is there is a secret magic spell I can cast to get this thing out without removing the harness?

[OffroadSpike]

In my opinion you should fix one stuff at a time. I wouldn't remove the intake manifold just yet until you've fixed the vehicle hard to start.

1) Where is the gunk you're describing and where do you think it's coming from? If the gunk you're describing is under the intake manifold, it is probably oil leaking through the swirl flap seals, not fuel.

2) Are there bubbles in the fuel lines before you start the car? Check every hose, specially the one on top of the fuel filter. Replace hose orings.

3) Does the starter motor crank? For how long until the engine starts?

4) Can you see air in the fuel hoses once the car has started?

As I already said, your filter is not right for this vehicle, I don't know which technician did it but he didn't do a good job. I would start by placing the correct fuel filter, MAHLE ORIGINAL KL 188 is OEM spec and I confirm it works on this vehicle.



- The bent pipe is the entry point from the fuel tank.
- The hole in the middle is the output point to the low pressure fuel pump
- The other hole with the two brackets is the return point from the common rail. There is a valve that fits there (A6110780249), my understanding is the valve returns the diesel to the fuel filter until a certain temperature has been archieved, after that it returns the diesel to the fuel tank.
- The plug is a bleed plug.
- There's a plug at the side/bottom of the filter, that's for removing water in case of WIF light ON.
- There's a hole at the bottom of the filter to fit the water in fuel sensor.

Be sure to replace ALL orings in the fuel filter by NEW ones if the new fuel filter doesn't come with new ones.

Once you have the new fuel filter installed, follow the steps to prime it:

https://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum...26#post1694326

PS: or I could be completely wrong and you guys in Australia got a completely different kind of filter.

[JeanLuke]

We have the same fuel filter. I personally use and recommend the Mann WK842/18.

You can also prime the engine by filling the filter through the bleed hole with a syringe, then cranking for a few seconds. I personally do mine by sucking on the vacuum priming port with a squeeze-bulb pump, the way it is supposed to be done. I keep it under the back seat wrapped in a sealed plastic bag just in case I have one of those "it won't start" moments.

[JoergM]

Originally Posted by OffroadSpike

In my opinion you should fix one stuff at a time. I wouldn't remove the intake manifold just yet until you've fixed the vehicle hard to start.
...

Thanks for the detailed response. I am certainly not doing all at once. However, since I have things apart it would be not sensible to at least eliminate those issues once I have access to them. The alternative would be to put all together just to take them apart right away.

I am pretty sure that it is a fuel leak btw. I saw it dribbling when I had the engine running and it smells like diesel, no doubt about it. The start was just black due to accumulated dirt and debris which stuck to the housing.

And the starting issue is related to the starter motor since I hear a kind of grinding noise when I turn the key. The car does not even crank over. I had it in the past where I had a couple of air bubbles in the fuel lines so I know how this sounds and how different this is.

I took the starter motor out (thanks to Adrian and Jason for the recommendation with the extension which is really necessary, I had almost 75cm so can reach the upper bolt.). The first pic below is how the gear wheel was positioned. I can see where the fly wheel typically gets engaged (the rather silver area from the screwdriver onwards). what strikes me is the overall position of the gear wheel. Typically the gear wheel pops out once the motor starts to spin.



Once the motor engages there is very little movement of the gear wheel itself as you can see below.
On the flywheel I can see some grind marks on the teeth where the starter motor was positioned, but only on the edge towards the starter motor. The overall teeth of the flywheel are still intact.



What I also realised is that I can push the gear wheel back into the housing if I am using a screw driver.
So I wonder what is the overall issue. Gut feeling tells me that the small gear wheel does too little movement OR I recall that RTB wanted to buy a new starter motor and he realised that there are motors with different amount of teeth on the small gear wheel and that I have the wrong one. However, I guess this would mean that this would never ever work.



Looking at this pic I rather thing it is more my gut feeling rather than the number of teeth.



Any hint?

[Deezelweazel]

https://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum...11a9d359cd.png

Stay away from the Mahle fuel filter. As much as I like Mahle stuff the fuel filter has an improper diameter at the clean fuel exit.
The opening is to wide, causing a bad fit of the O-Ring. Air can enter at this point. Tried a couple of batches - all of them had the same problem.

Mann Hummel is okay.

[OffroadSpike]

Originally Posted by JoergM

Thanks for the detailed response. I am certainly not doing all at once. However, since I have things apart it would be not sensible to at least eliminate those issues once I have access to them. The alternative would be to put all together just to take them apart right away.

...

Any hint?

No hints. Did you get it resolved?

Do you by any chance hear some rattling when going uphill? That could mean the loose gear is making contact with the flex plate and grinding itself while you're moving.

In any case, if you're going to replace the starter, you can fit in any of the Mercedes 270 cdi line with automatic 722.6 gearbox since it's the same motor and trans. ML270, and E 270, C 270 class and Sprinter T1N from the same age