Club 80-90 Forums

you should be able to hear the fuel cut off solonoid click! when the ignition is turned on.
even though you have power to it it may not be working ?
a good sign of air leaks will be an exsessive amount of bubbles in the clear fuel line.
it will be one or the other by the sounds of it .

right..... did you change the fuel line or just the filter? replace the ENTIRE LINE. the air leak maybe at any joint. but test it by filling a petrol can, and run a short pipe from it to your pump with nothing in between(preferably see through line), then try to start it a couple of times if it works, replace the line if it doesnt then the problem lies elsewhere ps....... make sure the fuel can is VERY clean and dont run it long without a filter

Okay, once more frozen and dark and had to give up - no change except the starter motor is now pretty much burnt out from all the repeated attempts to start her.

I only replaced the fuel filter, but since your last post have connected a brand new length of fuel line to a brand new canister containing brand new diesel. No change - still just churns and churns, no sign of starting.

I cannot hear the solenoid clicking but I am working unassisted so I am up the front turning the key, and with road noise etc I might well just be unable to hear it.

I am now utterly fed up.

oh bugger, ebay is the place for a new starter motor(£40) i got a new one for. and it looks like you might have to tow start it and take it to a diesel mechanic, at the end of the day all the advice in the world may be incorrect and work out expensive, a diesel machanic may even save you money let alone a nervous breakdown..

you can test the solenoid by pulling off and on the spade connector on the fuel pump with the ignition on - just make sure it is in neutral

ok m8 heres a foolproof way to tell if it's fuel starvation.
get a tin of bradex easy start (neat ether) and spray a small ammount into the air filter inlet whilst someone turns the engine over. if its fuel starvation the engine will start straight away then stop again once its burned the ether away (a few seconds)
if it doesnt start its something else,, if it starts and keeps running its something else.
if anyone tells you it will ruin your engine ask them why the americans fit it as standard to industrial diesels as the cold start device

yeah, i always wondered why people tell you using easystart will make your engine depend on it. is an engine capable of such addictions??

only wen it's that fooked it wont start without easy start

Sorry, I still think it sounds like a loose or broken wire somewhere. I'm no expert though

any news??

Greetings everyone, and Happy New Year.

I had to divert attention to my fleet of Triumph's over the last couple of days, as I had to perform a couple of engine changes, but that's another story.

Today I have spent another cold damp morning on the VW. One new starter motor later (courtesy of GSF - £140 quid - ouch!), plus cleaning all the wires to the fuel solenoid cut off, plus new fuel line, I am back inside in the warm.

The good news is that I have just driven twenty miles in the Camper after getting her going. She now starts on the button again and what limited performance there is, is now definitely delivered more smoothly. There also feels to be a bit more torque up hills, so all well and good.

I don't know which of the combination of things I have changed did the trick, but she is now behaving again (fingers crossed).

Thank you all for your help.

Thats brilliant news Martin - glad you got it sorted.

I often wonder how rubbish the starter motors are - mine too went after i had a similar problem.

£140 sounds a bit steep....

Ringo

glad you got it sorted - only thing I would say is, you haven't definately found out what the problem was, unless it was both fuel and starter (mine was a fuel line but the battery went because of draining by starting it too many times and an electrical fault a few weeks before.

£140 is very steep. I'm sure a rebuild would be a lot cheaper - I had mine rebuilt and a new solenoid put on last year, but I couldn't tell you how much it as the shop didn't charge (I'm still not sure why, might have something to do with a screw up they made a few years ago and thought they owed me one)

£140? jesus. fingers crossed eh, keep us up to date after about 2 weeks of use. hope you sorted it though, doesnt it really get you down to begin with?

happens to coincide with the cold freezy snap ending,,, hopefully its not just a fluke