[Engine] 2005 1.6 HDi not starting after injector seal and fuel filter replacement.

[ThomasTheTMC]

Hello folks. Really stumped here so any help would be massively appreciated.

I was basically gifted my current Berlingo which had been parked up for quite some time. It had a few obvious issues such as horrible noise on start up and was pulling back slightly when being driven. Lexia stated I had an EGR and Injector problem also.

Upon inspection, we replaced the EGR valve as well as the tension wheel and a new drive belt which fixed the weird noise when starting and the car still started and drove but was still pulling back slightly.

We noticed a leak on top of the Injectors so removed them to replace the black seal and the small copper seal. Once they were out they were a real mess, lots of horrible black stuff and one of the injectors had some rust.

We cleaned both the injectors and the bore holes (I'm hoping that's the right word lol) thoroughly before replacing the seals. The fuel pipe that connects to the injectors was also replaced by one from ebay as it literally broke in two when we handled it. Because of all the black dirt inside of where the injectors are we also put on a new fuel filter.

I must note that due to weather there was a point where I had to wait a week to finish these jobs so probably let a lot of air into the system.

Now the car refuses to start, it simply turns and turns. I've bleeded the system using the hand pump on top of the engine but had no luck whatsoever. Firing some easy start in starts the engine but it immediately runs off as if there is no fuel Being fed to the injectors.

Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution?  I'm running out of ideas and am definitely down about it. I'm based in Yorkshire and would be happy to pay for someone who knows their stuff when it comes to this problem with Berlingos to get it running as I am not great with mechanics and was simply trying to save some money in getting the car running nice.

Cheers all.

[Sol]

You say you have Lexia, have you used it for live data to see the cranking fuel pressure and are there any fault codes remaining? It should be storing up codes when it won't start.

Idle pressure on the fuel rail is about 290 bar, so while cranking it will be a wee bit less but I'd expect well over 100 even then.

Diagbox / Lexia will show expected fuel pressure vs actual in the function tests section. You can pick several things to monitor, I'd add airflow and inlet air temperature too. See what they're reading when cranking, or even when trying to keep it running on bradex / easystart.

If you have no fuel pressure then it will never start, and you fault find that issue. Checking pipework, leak-off pipes between injectors, fuel filter casing for letting air in (notorious if not sealed correctly), fuel pressure regulator, and lines from tank to engine.

If there is air in the system it can be a complete bugger to bleed out. Try using up a few cans of easystart and try to keep it running till it runs on its own. You could be giving up too quick on the easystart before it's bled itself out. Air in a diesel line moves very very slowly.

[ThomasTheTMC]

You say you have Lexia, have you used it for live data to see the cranking fuel pressure and are there any fault codes remaining? It should be storing up codes when it won't start.

Idle pressure on the fuel rail is about 290 bar, so while cranking it will be a wee bit less but I'd expect well over 100 even then.

Diagbox / Lexia will show expected fuel pressure vs actual in the function tests section. You can pick several things to monitor, I'd add airflow and inlet air temperature too. See what they're reading when cranking, or even when trying to keep it running on bradex / easystart.

If you have no fuel pressure then it will never start, and you fault find that issue. Checking pipework, leak-off pipes between injectors, fuel filter casing for letting air in (notorious if not sealed correctly), fuel pressure regulator, and lines from tank to engine.

If there is air in the system it can be a complete bugger to bleed out. Try using up a few cans of easystart and try to keep it running till it runs on its own. You could be giving up too quick on the easystart before it's bled itself out. Air in a diesel line moves very very slowly.

I've not used the lexia for live data just global tests, to be honest it's one of the cheap ones from Ebay and It can be extremely temperamental.

Currently just trying to bleed the system repeatedly. I wasn't sure if using way too much easy start would damage the engine

[Sol]

No it will be fine. There used to be a myth about engines getting to "like" easystart but I  don't buy that for a minute.

Make sure you have sealed the fuel filter casing up as it is notorious for letting air in after being messed with and if so, it will never start until sealed / closed properly.

If air can get in then the pump cannot pressurise the fuel rail so no start until it does.

[ThomasTheTMC]

No it will be fine. There used to be a myth about engines getting to "like" easystart but I  don't buy that for a minute.

Make sure you have sealed the fuel filter casing up as it is notorious for letting air in after being messed with and if so, it will never start until sealed / closed properly.

If air can get in then the pump cannot pressurise the fuel rail so no start until it does.

Finally got fuel to the injectors by using easy start but it's not firing up yet. checking Lexia it states there's a cam shaft sensor problem now which wasn't there before so I'm wondering if we've knocked it when changing either injectors or the drive belt. Got a new one ordered

[Sol]

Ahhh yes it needs cam/crank sync to start. Sounds like that's what you've done.