Mondeo diesel with flashing glow plug light

[bengasman]

Mondeo diesel 2002 130hp engine.
Was low on diesel but thought I would make it to the garage. Car stalled twice but restarted. Third time stalled and wouldn't start again. Added 12 litres of diesel and tried again with help of battery pack and "easy start spray".
Engine catches but won't keep going without the easy start spray. Engine ran for about 20 seconds, twice so between half a minute and a minute in total. When I start it this way, the glow plug light flashes.
What can this be?

 

[HERTS P&D]

Ben try the site below:

http://fordtransit.org/forum/index.php

Andy

Or let me know and I can post it for you.

 

[Spark123]

If it is similar to mine (2005 tdci) the only pump for the fuel is on the front of the engine, there is no fuel lift pump. The whole system needs to be manually primed to get fuel to the pump which is a right pain as the car does not have a manual hand pump.
I managed to get mine going by robbing a bulb type hand pump from a scrap car and temporarily patching it into the system, and my experience was only from changing the filter!

 

[bengasman]

Two things that make me worried.
1. I drained the battery and then tried again with start spray, and it did catch, ran it at 2000 revs for at least half a minute but it keeps cutting out.
2. When it caught on the starter spray, the glow plug light was flashing. I don't know if that means something expensive has gone wrong, or just because it didn't go through the normal starting cycle.

If I managed to drain the tank completely, how long does it take to get it going with a battery pack and starter spray?

 

[bengasman]

Ben try the site below:
http://fordtransit.org/forum/index.php
Andy

Cheers mate, I've just signed up and see if the tranny boys are willing to answer a Mondeo question.

 

[HERTS P&D]

See Below

http://fordtransit.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=101946

Andy

 

[bengasman]

Thanks Andy, hope the tip works. I can do without another big bill as I already have one for about a grand due to some scumbag crashing into it whilst I was parked, and drove off. Graet living in London.

 

[Belle427]

take the fuel filter off and check if its got diesel in it, you may have to re fill it or it may never prime

 

[bengasman]

take the fuel filter off and check if its got diesel in it, you may have to re fill it or it may never prime

I'll have a try at that tomorrow; fingers crossed and whatever else I can think of before doing it.
Do you have any idea whether an empty line+filter can take that long to refill if the tank has been drained completely? I must have done the "start for 15 seconds/wait for a minute routine" at least 10 times, followed by at least half a dozen long starts supported by battery pack and starter spray.

Please say: "yes" , but only if it is true.

 

[bengasman]

I managed to get the guys from the local garage to come out and prime it with a hand pump. Never seen so much air come out of a fuel line.
Why oh why did Ford remove the manual priming pump from the car like it had on the previous model?

Many thanks for the help.

 

[Spark123]

Same as mine
The fuel pump on the front of the engine isn't up to the job of pulling the air through the system to pull the fuel through.
I was suprised too, it is pathetic to have this in a modernish car! I suppose it goes back to ford saving money, it will be a few £s cheaper to make one without a priming pump
The filter will also need to be filled hence the amount of air in the system.

 

[bengasman]

Might even be worse than saving a couple of quid on the pump ( doubt if it cost more than £1 any way ). No primer = garage call if you empty tank.

 

[Spark123]

Yep, but that doesn't cost mr ford anything on production.
Luckily mine was in a mates garage at the time when I changed the filter. Next time I must remember to fill the new filter with diesel first!