Hi there.

Just bought a 2000 1.8 D van with 175k miles on it. Not a bad wee thing for it's age tbh. I have three issues, the first of which is this:

No matter which petrol station I try, or at which angle I hold the nozzle, I can't get any more than around 10 quid's worth of diesel to go into the tank. No, it's not full already, it's just on the top of the red on the gauge, and the fuel spills out from the filler tube with the nozzle clicking off all the time.

A visual inspection of the tank doesn't give any clues, it's not damaged that I can see.

I can't run the van any distance and can't spend all day stopping and trying to get fuel in the thing every 80 miles, and I don't like the thought of all the crap of the day getting sucked up out the bottom of the tank. The other thought is that until I get some fuel in I don't know if the gauge is actually working...

Any ideas? Is there a vent or a return blocked somewhere?

Thanks for any help offered. I couldn't see anything like this on here already. I'll check out the other two issues on here before I post about those, they might already be answered.

Cheers
D

Have you tried feeding diesel in with a funnel attached to eighteen inches of clear vinyl tubing?

It's well possible the sender unit is stuck or wrong. You need to drop the tank to access the sender, from memory. A three-way gripping tool sold for sender unit lockrings, is highly advised for this job.

(04-05-2013, 06:27 AM)addo Wrote:  ....................

It's well possible the sender unit is stuck or wrong..............

Agreed. Sounds like a 'Sender' or 'Gauge' problem.

(04-05-2013, 06:42 AM)MudFT Wrote:  

(04-05-2013, 06:27 AM)addo Wrote:  ....................

It's well possible the sender unit is stuck or wrong..............

Agreed. Sounds like a 'Sender' or 'Gauge' problem.

Is the nozzle getting past an antisyphon device-when mine was suffering newness it was really quite a struggle '

(04-05-2013, 06:27 AM)addo Wrote:  Have you tried feeding diesel in with a funnel attached to eighteen inches of clear vinyl tubing?

It's well possible the sender unit is stuck or wrong. You need to drop the tank to access the sender, from memory. A three-way gripping tool sold for sender unit lockrings, is highly advised for this job.

Thanks very much.

Before trying to find tubing to buy or dropping the tank I tried filling from my diesel can. It has a long flexi filler tube. Can't get the fuel out of the can into the tank, the can isn't getting any air in so can't pour the fuel out. Beginning to sound like the tank is full already... or flat with half a gallon in it... lol

The gauge jumps from absolute bottom to just below the red when I turn on the ignition, then creeps up to the top of the red after a few seconds.

Looks like you guys might just be right. I'll see if I can buy some tubing today from somewhere to check it out properly then go from there.

Thanks again, I'll keep you posted on the results.

Cheers
D

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(04-05-2013, 07:29 AM)evdama Wrote:  Is the nozzle getting past an antisyphon device-when mine was suffering newness it was really quite a struggle '

I thought of this at the pump and made sure the diesel filler nozzle was in to the hilt. Then tried various depths of insertion and different angles (this now reads like an adult novel) but no difference, it just spits fuel back out.

In truth I suppose there's no way of knowing the answer to your question, I can only hope that the standard petrol station nozzles are fit for the job else I'll have to source a mobile x-ray machine LOL

Thanks again

Cheers
D

Wow, we made it to the innuendo without Ron's assistance.

If you wanted to get technical, you could always hook up a small pump to the infeed line of your injection pump, and start filling jerry cans to see how much came out.

(04-05-2013, 07:29 AM)BigDunkyWunky Wrote:  The gauge jumps from absolute bottom to just below the red when I turn on the ignition, then creeps up to the top of the red after a few seconds.

Sounds like the gauge on my previous Berlingo.
(That was a 1.4L gasoline model, but still)
Of course there the needle never went below the 1/4 mark when the ignition was on.
Have you ever run out of fuel inside a tunnel?

Sure, we have 'emergency areas' to stop at every 500meters in modern tunnels, but pushing a Berlingo half that distance is a good day's workout.
After that I learned to never trust gauges, and also to keep a can of fuel in the back.
(I began to reset the trip counter after refuelling and 'guesstimating' the remaining fuel. Was to cheap to replace the sender. Bl**dy bugger to get to, anyway)

If it wasn't for the fact that you have a Diesel, I'd suggest bringing a spare can of fuel and see how far you get before it stops...

Hello again

Apologies for the delay I've been flat out at work.

Anyway, the problem is to do with the gauge or the sender or it's electrical connection. I decided to take the logical decision that it must be full of diesel, so I ran the van for 250 miles and it never missed a beat. I then managed to get diesel into it.

Now it's simply a question of filling up every 250 miles or so and I can live with that. Good on fuel, innit?! I reckon it'll do over 300 miles on a tank. Dunno if I'm brave enuff to test the theory though... heheh!

Funny story, that means that the guy I bought the van from gave me a full tank of diesel. Not bad, eh

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. Much appreciated.

Cheers
D

(04-05-2013, 05:36 AM)BigDunkyWunky Wrote:  Hi there.

Just bought a 2000 1.8 D van with 175k miles on it. Not a bad wee thing for it's age tbh. I have three issues, the first of which is this:

No matter which petrol station I try, or at which angle I hold the nozzle, I can't get any more than around 10 quid's worth of diesel to go into the tank. No, it's not full already, it's just on the top of the red on the gauge, and the fuel spills out from the filler tube with the nozzle clicking off all the time.

A visual inspection of the tank doesn't give any clues, it's not damaged that I can see.

I can't run the van any distance and can't spend all day stopping and trying to get fuel in the thing every 80 miles, and I don't like the thought of all the crap of the day getting sucked up out the bottom of the tank. The other thought is that until I get some fuel in I don't know if the gauge is actually working...

Any ideas? Is there a vent or a return blocked somewhere?

Thanks for any help offered. I couldn't see anything like this on here already. I'll check out the other two issues on here before I post about those, they might already be answered.

Cheers
D