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Old 28th August 2009, 11:36   #16
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Dear
Yes I have got the circuit checked & also Emulator has been changed to avoid any concern.

Thanks kamal
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Old 27th August 2013, 10:22   #17
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Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

Sunday evening was the usual fare. I was on my way to Thane to see my sister-in-law. Everything was going well when all of a sudden I notice engine losing power and then the car coming to a dead halt on Thane-Belapur road. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic, I was stuck in the fast lane. With the help of a kind soul (a biker who stopped to ask if I needed help), I managed to park the car to the leftmost side of the road thereby clearing the way for the traffic behind. After an hour or so, a flat-bed arrived and took the car to the Bhavna Ford service center.
Yesterday, I took a day off from work to go check what went wrong with the car. The battery, alternator and other electricals seemed alright. The service fella said its the fuel pump which has conked off and also a faulty O2 sensor.
My question is, what could possibly be the reason for a fuel pump failure? I was running low on fuel but still enough to drive around another 50-60 kms. Could less fuel be the reason for the pump to fail? Or some other electrical issue could have triggered it?
Appreciate responses.
Cheers.
-Subhash
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Old 27th August 2013, 11:06   #18
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Re: Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

Hi,
I had a similar issue and one workshop said it was the fuel pump issue. I took it to the ASC and asked them to check it. During this time I mentioned that the car was under warranty and I intend to claim it under that. Eventually The issue turned out to be a switch that sent the fuel to the pump had conked off. The reason the technician gave was that the switch shorted out when i started the car and it was probably water that caused the shorting.

My point is that the issue may be with something else that the fuel pump was not pushing the fuel through and a cursory check may not reveal it.

I am not so aware of the mechanics of the vehicle but IMO the fuel pump as such should not conk off that easily. The reason I say this is that Fuel pump is one of the items that every manufacturer gives a 3 year warranty.
Having said that every item in the car has a life and wear and tear will happen. So it could just be that the part had lived its life.
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Old 27th August 2013, 11:25   #19
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Re: Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

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Originally Posted by gandalf View Post
Hi,
I had a similar issue and one workshop said it was the fuel pump issue. I took it to the ASC and asked them to check it. During this time I mentioned that the car was under warranty and I intend to claim it under that. Eventually The issue turned out to be a switch that sent the fuel to the pump had conked off. The reason the technician gave was that the switch shorted out when i started the car and it was probably water that caused the shorting.

My point is that the issue may be with something else that the fuel pump was not pushing the fuel through and a cursory check may not reveal it.

I am not so aware of the mechanics of the vehicle but IMO the fuel pump as such should not conk off that easily. The reason I say this is that Fuel pump is one of the items that every manufacturer gives a 3 year warranty.
Having said that every item in the car has a life and wear and tear will happen. So it could just be that the part had lived its life.
Mine is a 2009 Fiesta 1.6 S. The mechanic at Ford A.S.S sounded confident that its the fuel pump itself that has conked off. Also the O2 sensor has malfunctioned/gone bad. I suppose, I'll just take it at face value rather than trying to dig into the details.
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Old 27th August 2013, 11:26   #20
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Re: Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

Let me tell you the experiances I had with my Fiat Siena, which had similar issues.
Modern cars come with an array of sensors connected to the ECU and the Fuel pump is the also a key factor.
Many fuel pumps fail due to electronics, wiring or simply the fuel pressure wont be sufficient to send enough fuel from the rear of the car.
And lastly, fuel pumps are extremely expensive.
My Fiat had a Industria Bresileira OEM fuel pump, which costs Rs.18000. Taiwanese and Chinese pumps are available for 6k onwards, but they are miserable.
So please check with Ford, the kind of Fuel pump they are going to replace and take an estimate of the cost.
Good Luck.
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Old 27th August 2013, 11:34   #21
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Re: Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

Fuel pump may wear off prematurely either due to running dry or due to lack of lubricity in fuel ( diesel ) when diesel adulterated with Kerosene is used.

Electronic fuel pumps are costly but good thing is that fuel pumps can be reconditioned if your vehicle uses Bosch or TVS Lucas fuel pump then find out at local garages both Bosch and TVS has service centres. If it is some other exotic brand then best of luck.

Mechanical wear and tear is possible years ago my Maruti 800 fuel pump conked off in 36K KM and car used to stall after driving some 25KM and then it used to work again after cooling off but since it was mechanical one replacement was cheap.
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Old 27th August 2013, 11:48   #22
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Re: Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

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Originally Posted by hillram View Post
.
So please check with Ford, the kind of Fuel pump they are going to replace and take an estimate of the cost.
Good Luck.
I've been quoted 5.5 k approx (fuel pump) + 2.5 k approx (O2 sensor) + labour. Does not look ridiculously expensive. Since, my car was due for service, I've asked the Ford A.S.S to add that as well. Total damages I'm looking at is in the region of 15k or thereabouts.
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Old 27th August 2013, 11:48   #23
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Re: Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

I believe there is already a detailed thread related to fuel pump failure, on the forum.

The fuel pump in my prev car (Santro, 2000) had similar issues at 84k kms. I took it to an independent mechanic (at Palika Bhawan, Delhi) who opened and inspected the pump. Issue was found to be due to the battery in the pump. Replaced it with a new one from the same market and the issue didnt resurface for the next 6k kms I had the car with me.
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Old 27th August 2013, 12:09   #24
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Re: Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

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Originally Posted by wanderlustindia View Post
I've been quoted 5.5 k approx (fuel pump) + 2.5 k approx (O2 sensor) + labour. Does not look ridiculously expensive. Since, my car was due for service, I've asked the Ford A.S.S to add that as well. Total damages I'm looking at is in the region of 15k or thereabouts.
Please check the make of the Fuel pump. At that price, only Chinese or Taiwanese pumps are available.
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Old 27th August 2013, 12:33   #25
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Re: Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

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Originally Posted by hillram View Post
Please check the make of the Fuel pump. At that price, only Chinese or Taiwanese pumps are available.
Yep. Will do. Thanks muchly.
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Old 27th August 2013, 20:29   #26
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Re: Fuel Pump Failure

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Originally Posted by rakowli View Post
Hey i have Ford Ikon Flair 2007 model with 9000kms on ODO. My fuel pump failed on Sunday. It is like the fuel flow is not continous it is very less. Just want to check that is it becoz of Fuel pump failure or Fuel filter getting clogged. I am suprised with fuel filter failure. PLease help. Anyhow i will be changed the fuel pump tommorrow but just want to know if anyone has faced this problem.
Fords do have a tendency to spoil their fuel pumps. Were you using it on LPG or CNG?

For LPG/CNG cars (especially old gen kits), it is recommended that you drive on petrol sometimes to keep the fuel pump healthy.
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Old 28th August 2013, 15:10   #27
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Re: Fuel Pump Failure

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Originally Posted by pahwa View Post
Fords do have a tendency to spoil their fuel pumps. Were you using it on LPG or CNG?

For LPG/CNG cars (especially old gen kits), it is recommended that you drive on petrol sometimes to keep the fuel pump healthy.
Hey thanks, but the issue is already solved. More than the fuel pump it was the fuel gauge issue which was faulty, which showed more than 1/4 of the fuel when there wasn't any. I had to change the whole fuel pump unit as the gauge is attached to the pump. but then till date there is no issue. Recently the same issue of fuel gauge has surfaced again but now atleast i know what to do.
I will check removing the fuel pump again and cleaning to properly and then fixing again and see if it is resolving. Or then will have to change the pump again.
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Old 29th August 2013, 08:58   #28
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Re: Fuel Pump Failure

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Originally Posted by rakowli View Post
More than the fuel pump it was the fuel gauge issue which was faulty, which showed more than 1/4 of the fuel when there wasn't any.
I've been told by Ford A.S.S that when I bought the car into the service center it barely had any fuel whereas the fuel gauge showed slightly above the red line. The DTE (which has always been suspect) also showed a good 80 kms to go. I suppose, in future I won't wait until the gauge shows red, will fill it up at the quarter level!
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Old 29th August 2013, 10:37   #29
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Re: Fuel Pump Failure

Maybe a little O/T, here's something funny/serious that happened to our Ford. It ran normally till it was parked near our house for two days, without moving. Sunday morning we decided to go shopping and the whole family got in. However something was wrong. The car wouldn't pickup speed when the revs climbed up above 1500rpm. The engine stalled, and finally another guy and me pushed the car and it started. The engine came close to stalling many times again and finally when we reached the shopping place, I asked my bro to pull up the handbrake, shift to neutral and rev the engine at different levels to see if there was a problem. We could notice vibrations as soon as the revs climbed up. Couldn't diagnose it though.

On the return journey I took the wheel and experienced the same phenomenon. As soon as the revs climbed up the engine decided to seize up and stall. It's only by early upshifts and careful driving we reached home. I switched off the engine and tried switching it on, but it wouldn't come on. The engine cranked but didn't start. Finally after several attempts it started and I nurtured it to the parking spot.

In the afternoon we decided to take it to the neighbourhood garage, where incidentally we had to drop it for painting anyway. Again the car wouldn't start. My initial suspicion was a blown fuel pump as I suspected the fuel supply was becoming irregular. However that was not the cause. Per chance my bro asked to open the bonnet and check things inside. I remarked it wouldn't help because we wouldn't know what's wrong anyway, but decided to go ahead and popped the hood open.

Again by sheer chance we decided to check the oil level. The dipstick was dry! I opened the oil reservoir cap and peeped inside. I could see bare metal! We had a 500ml sealed oil can in the boot, and it was emptied into the reservoir. Now the engine came to life in one crank, like normal. So the cause was lack of oil.

We slowly took the car out to the garage, stopping en route at the petrol pump and buying another litre of oil which went into the reservoir. At the garage the mechanic inspected the underside and found the oil filter had developed some hairline cracks and was leaking oil as the engine started. Something that explains why we didn't notice oil spillage under the car.
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Old 29th August 2013, 10:45   #30
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Re: Car stalled! Fuel pump, the culprit!

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Originally Posted by hillram View Post
Please check the make of the Fuel pump. At that price, only Chinese or Taiwanese pumps are available.
Ford used MotorKraft parts so the fuel pump is going to be MotorKraft branded (OEM for Ford). I think even their battery is branded MotorKraft and many other parts. This is for the knowledge of the wider audience who have Fords.
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