Range Rover - surging and poor starting

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Sun 22 Jul 2007 14:31
Range Rover - surging and poor starting - David Horn
Hiya,

My mum's 1996 Range Rover diesel has been a bit temperamental recently. Two weeks ago it wouldn't start, was trailered away to local independent who diagnosed the fuel pump and replaced it. We got it back last week, but it was still reluctant to start in the morning (taking 30 seconds usually), and the engine surged from time to time, but stopped if you switched it off and then started again.

It's back at the garage who now want to replace the injector pump. I don't think this is the problem, and given the price for the job we won't be happy if it doesn't solve the problem. The poor starting appears to be air in the fuel system, and I suspect that when they stripped it down to replace the fuel pump (which I don't deny was faulty), something wasn't tightened up properly.

What concerns me is that I can't see how replacing an injector pump will solve the issue, nor can I see what it has to do with the "surging" which leads me to suspect the MAF sensor.

Any suggestions?
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Sun 22 Jul 2007 14:36
Range Rover - surging and poor starting - bell boy
take it to someone that knows what they are doing
it sounds the classic symptom of pulling in air as you say
no wonder technicians come in for such bad press
a pump for one of these would be half your bodyparts
i would suggest all your problems came from a split pipe or even a pickup pipe in the tank
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Sun 22 Jul 2007 14:40
Range Rover - surging and poor starting - Number_Cruncher
>>Any suggestions?

When was the fuel filter last changed? Is the filter OK now - sometimes they can block upwith gunge very quickly.

What fuel has been used? Any cooking oil or chip fat?

When the fuel pump failed, how did it fail? Could it have either sent shards of metal into the fuel system, or will the injector pump have been running for a long time with a poor supply of fuel?

Rather than simply replacing the injector pump, perhaps a more cautios step would be to get the pump tested on a proper injector pump test rig? It may be worth asking the garage exactly why they think the injector pump needs to be replaced - what evidence do they have?

If you are concerned about air, replace some of the low pressure pipes to and from the filter and injector pump with clear pipe, and watch for bubbles.

Number_Cruncher
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