ford focus 06 tdci won't start unless full of fuel

[jetex]

Some systems have pumps in the tank, and others do not, depending on the type of system i.e: Siemens, Bosch etc. If there is a rubber bulb in the engine compartment to prime the system, then the car will not have a pump in the tank. Obviously, no rubber bulb = pump in tank. The in-tank pumps are part of the float (sender) mechanism, and it would be fairly obvious that there was a pump on the sender unit. Sometimes it's difficult to diagnose a problem without seing the vehicle, so a diesel specialist may be the way to go in this circumstance.

 

[Jo1172confused]

Some systems have pumps in the tank, and others do not, depending on the type of system i.e: Siemens, Bosch etc. If there is a rubber bulb in the engine compartment to prime the system, then the car will not have a pump in the tank. Obviously, no rubber bulb = pump in tank. The in-tank pumps are part of the float (sender) mechanism, and it would be fairly obvious that there was a pump on the sender unit. Sometimes it's difficult to diagnose a problem without seing the vehicle, so a diesel specialist may be the way to go in this circumstance.

There's no hand prime pump on the fuel system and the fuel sender on this car doesn't have a pump either, we opened the bottom of it and there's nothing there. The other give away clue is the fact that the wires that come from it aren't substantial enough to run any pump. Someone at Ford who knew their stuff confirmed that there was only one pump. That's why it's such a sod when it comes to a filter change, very poor design.

 

[Belle427]

Some systems have pumps in the tank, and others do not, depending on the type of system i.e: Siemens, Bosch etc. If there is a rubber bulb in the engine compartment to prime the system, then the car will not have a pump in the tank. Obviously, no rubber bulb = pump in tank. The in-tank pumps are part of the float (sender) mechanism, and it would be fairly obvious that there was a pump on the sender unit. Sometimes it's difficult to diagnose a problem without seing the vehicle, so a diesel specialist may be the way to go in this circumstance.

There's no hand prime pump on the fuel system and the fuel sender on this car doesn't have a pump either, we opened the bottom of it and there's nothing there. The other give away clue is the fact that the wires that come from it aren't substantial enough to run any pump. Someone at Ford who knew their stuff confirmed that there was only one pump. That's why it's such a s** when it comes to a filter change, very poor design.

you dont need huge cables to run a small electrical pump

 

[Spark123]

Obviously, no rubber bulb = pump in tank.

Unless it's a ford, where there is no rubber bulb and no pump in the tank

 

[Jo1172confused]

Some systems have pumps in the tank, and others do not, depending on the type of system i.e: Siemens, Bosch etc. If there is a rubber bulb in the engine compartment to prime the system, then the car will not have a pump in the tank. Obviously, no rubber bulb = pump in tank. The in-tank pumps are part of the float (sender) mechanism, and it would be fairly obvious that there was a pump on the sender unit. Sometimes it's difficult to diagnose a problem without seing the vehicle, so a diesel specialist may be the way to go in this circumstance.

There's no hand prime pump on the fuel system and the fuel sender on this car doesn't have a pump either, we opened the bottom of it and there's nothing there. The other give away clue is the fact that the wires that come from it aren't substantial enough to run any pump. Someone at Ford who knew their stuff confirmed that there was only one pump. That's why it's such a s** when it comes to a filter change, very poor design.

you dont need huge cables to run a small electrical pump

Maybe not but these where tiny. The thing is though that ultimately the parts department in ford don't know what they're selling. When a customer mechanic or do it yourself asks if there is a low pressure pump from tank to high pressure tank once he has my reg should be able to advise that there isn't one!

 

[sskippy]

I have a focus tdci 1.8 06 plate done about 178000 miles. 3 jan it felt a bit sluggish coming onto dual carriageway so went home and changed fuel filter. Yes we had the same problem that everyone seems to experience with it being a pig to start afterwards. Towed it to local garage and even he struggled, when he got it started it ran for 20 secs and then died Finally got it going drove it home but next morning it took lots of cranking to get it started. It ran all day being switched on and off (its a driving school car). Next morning wouldn't start first time took about 6 attempts. Finally found pattern that if it was left for more than 2 and half hours it wouldn't start one solution to this seemed to be leave it full of fuel every night and problem kind off solved. Did forget one night and it wouldn't start till we filled it to brim then started straight off. Did have it plugged into the garage computer and code suggested the fuel pressure regulator but the car was driving fine, so not sure!
if youve fitted a new fuel filter make sure that you give the banjo type fitting on the top a little tap to make sure its seated properly as i had this problem with my inlaws focus tdci and after i did this it seems to have solved the problem

Now over a month later the car died whilst driving around a roundabout, luckily a mini one. Wouldn't restart so AA plugged it into his computer and no faults showed so towed us to garage who dealt with it in first place. He seemed to think it was lift pump so got on phone to ford and finally got what we thought was one turned out they actually gave us a fuel sender not what i asked for at all Guy in garage can't find lift pump, does it have one or is it part of the high pressure pump? Can anyone shed some light on the problem as we're scratching our heads, could it be the pump or something else.