16v died... fuel issue?

[Skiing]

Hi all,

Car died with my parents in it near Coventry last night - just lost all power. Managed to persuade the AA to relay parents home after several hours on hold but car now sadly sitting at home. 

Symptoms are - car will start and idle roughly for about 30 seconds before cutting out - or alternatively, if you put your foot on the accelerator once started it will die straight away - am thinking that it is low fuel pressure? however the in-tank pump was done recently and the main tank pump primes before start up (however it is quite noisy - so perhaps on its way out?) Also would an ancient fuel filter cause this, as just bought the car and it looks really old...? Or perhaps it is something electrical around the throttle switch?

Any ideas would be great as to what to try first?

Thanks,

Henry

[DarnPB]

Look at the simple things first or you will tangle yourself in knots. The fuel filter is an obvious start if it has not been changed in donkeys years. Make sure that sufficient fuel is getting through. (Have you run out of fuel lately?) But don't exclude your ignition. If all power suddenly went, then I would start with the ignition system first. A fuel filter problem will usually deteriorate gradually, not suddenly. Take a peak at your dizzy cap first and make sure that is up to speck.

[jezza16v]

Sounds like a massive vac leak to me....... check for splits in the hose from the metering head to the throttle body and all interconnecting hoses, also it could be a failure of the overrun cut off valve under the back of the airbox, if that fails or the elec supply to it fails then it breaks the vacuum. The pipe connections under there are iffy at their best, vibration may have shaken them loose. If you're unsure about the cut off valve, disconnect it underneath where the pipe goes into the main hose and block off the hole into the main hose and see if the engine runs. The engine does not need this unit connected, it just stops overrun when the engine is hot.

[rubjonny]

disconnect the plug from the main pump under the car, turn key 1 click. you should hear the in-tank pump prime, if not, thats why

[Skiing]

Thanks all, am going on a rescue mission this weekend to fix it - will change the fuel filter anyway and then go over the car to try and work out what it is - have a gsf nearby so can pick up the appropriate parts.. wish me luck!

[Skiing]

NB I replaced the intank pump recently - so if it doesnt work, I will check connections intank etc. but could it also be the fuel relay?

[rubjonny]

possibly, if you dont hear the fuel pump prime then yea.  was the in-tank pump replaced due to a noisy main and/or failed lift? could be the m ain pump was under strain for a while and its finally packed in.  might also be a blocked fuel filter as said, though on mine it never cut out on me it just quit starting!

[Skiing]

I did the intank pump as the main pump is at times pretty noisy - so might well have died (however it still primes) - so is there a way of testing it?
(will do filter first and other stuff with pump as last resort (it's quite expensive...)

[rubjonny]

only real way to test it is with a fuel pressure mtest kit, though if after you do the filter you see fuel at the metwering head (crack a injector line) but non actually out of the injectors then its quite likely a pump issue.  way the aa man diagnosed fuel issue on mine was to spray a ton o easy start into the inlet, it ran for a bit on that but cut out when it was gone.  luckily for me i just needed a filter!

[Skiing]

Thanks so much for all your help - will have a go this weekend and let you know how I get on!