Injector pump tips and tricks

[bobenns]

Hi all,

I've been doing a lot of research into my leaky pump and learning a lot.. Even pulled the top off it to replace the seal. Once that is done I'll post pics and instructions.

The main seal on the top cover of the pump is the culprit. It was quite hard. This is the most common one to leak on the pump. The other O rings don't leak as often and most are dead easy to replace. Going inside the pump is not for the faint of heart. However it can be fixed without going in. This I find out after days of torment.

Here are a couple of things I learned, one that might have saved me many hours over several days.

Engine oil stop leak.
This stuff has seal softener in it. When added to engine oil, it works by softening hardened seals in engines so that they seal again. It was mentioned on one of the UK sites to add some to the fuel tank and it will soften hardened seals in the pump, probably add a can to a full tank of fuel when needed, or a couple of times a year for maintenance, put it in before filling up so it gets mixed into the fuel well.

Automatic transmission seal softener would work too. The fuel is oil, these products are petroleum based and will mix in.

Cold starting, hard starting, stalling after starting problems.
This is often related to the lift pump not being able to deliver fuel pressure when cold (bad seals), but works good when warm. This from a fellow on one of the UK groups. He installed a used inline electric fuel pump from a car near the fuel tank in his Deli. It is wired direct to come on with the ignition switch and delivers instant fuel pressure for sure starting.

Here is a link to his post http://www.mdocuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopi ... 20ed1e1b5b

Be sure to enjoy the colourful UK accent.

Edit I put this little write up on the Delica Wiki https://www.socialtext.net/delica/injec ... eak_repair

Bob in Kelowna

[GREENME@U]

Wow that cool but i just got my pump rebuild,good easy way out! u must of did some reading eh?

[bobenns]

Well I've been reading a lot about the pumps. I was quite alarmed by the amount of fuel mine was leaking, but it would stop leaking after warming up. Seems the story is the same on all the groups, Europe, Australia and here. The low sulfur diesel has caused an epidemic of leaking pumps on all diesels not just ours. VW Jetta diesels have the same pump we do (ours is just a licensed copy of the Bosch pump) and they all started leaking when the sulfur was reduced.

A rebuild is usually just a tear down and seals replaced. 90% of rebuilds are just seal kits. These pumps are not known for a lot of mechanical failure. The main seal that leaks is the large one on the top part. While this seal can be changed without having to touch any of the pump settings it is far simpler to just add something to the fuel that will make it soft again. It is not an O ring but a gasket really, but made of the same material as the O rings. O rings are usually compressed between two parts and a lot less likely to leak, even when hardened with age. Most of the rest of the seals on the pump are O rings.

A rebuild isn't really necessary if the culprit seal can be replaced or softened easily. Some people are being quoted up to 1,000 pounds in the UK to have a leaky pump rebuilt. Taking it out and putting it back in is a major job of many hours on top of the so called rebuild.

Seeing as the only local place I could send the pump to wanted $900 to rebuild it (install a kit), and I would have to remove the pump put it back in and time it myself on top of that, I decided to keep reading and see if I couldn't fix it myself.

The other serious leak is if it leaks at the drive seal, into the timing cover and onto the timing belt. That is much more serious and a complete tear down is required to fix it. At that point one should also do timing belts and tensioners. ANy time the pump has to come out one should consider doing the timing belts.

Air leaking into the pump when cold causing stalling and difficult restart after a short distance is another problem a little less common than fuel leaks that can be remedied by softening the seals.

The solution is to keep the seals soft and supple by using whatever additives it takes. There are plenty of products out there. The engine oil stop leak added to the fuel should very well stop most pesky leaks on older pumps without having to rebuild.

I hope this helps some folks avoid a costly repair bill because of a pesky leak.

Bob in Kelowna

[GREENME@U]

Wow thks so did it work for u? I payed 660$ to get mine rebuilt yesterday plus $200 to get pulled out then put back in......But hey the guy said that he stocks the rebuild kit for 20!$ and i phoned around and there up to 130$ else where! so if u need one i have no problem sending u one,get back to me thks


Marty

[BadgeStar]

....Cold starting, hard starting, stalling after starting problems.
This is often related to the lift pump not being able to deliver fuel pressure when cold (bad seals), but works good when warm. This from a fellow on one of the UK groups. He installed a used inline electric fuel pump from a car near the fuel tank in his Deli. It is wired direct to come on with the ignition switch and delivers instant fuel pressure for sure starting.

Here is a link to his post http://www.mdocuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopi ... 20ed1e1b5b
....

Pease note this post is referring to the L400 !
I don't think the L300 suffers with this particular problem.

Barry.

[bobenns]

....Cold starting, hard starting, stalling after starting problems.
This is often related to the lift pump not being able to deliver fuel pressure when cold (bad seals), but works good when warm. This from a fellow on one of the UK groups. He installed a used inline electric fuel pump from a car near the fuel tank in his Deli. It is wired direct to come on with the ignition switch and delivers instant fuel pressure for sure starting.

Here is a link to his post http://www.mdocuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopi ... 20ed1e1b5b
....

Pease note this post is referring to the L400 !
I don't think the L300 suffers with this particular problem.

Barry.

May be an l400 at that, he doesn't seem to say. The UK site has separate L300 and L400 discussion but they seem to cross over quite a bit. By "lift pump" I assume he means "fuel pump" as opposed to "injector pump". I have read a number of posts here and elsewhere about starting problems and cold weather starting where owners talk about having to use various heaters and/or prime every time they want to start the engine after it sits. Seems like an inline fuel pump at the tank would guarantee fuel being available for starting.

[bobenns]

Wow thks so did it work for u? I payed 660$ to get mine rebuilt yesterday plus $200 to get pulled out then put back in......But hey the guy said that he stocks the rebuild kit for 20!$ and i phoned around and there up to 130$ else where! so if u need one i have no problem sending u one,get back to me thks


Marty

Right on Marty. I repaired the governor seal with Permatex Anaerobic Gasket Maker, it resists fuel, oil, water and solvents. It should last for a while. It's running fine with no leaks now. I will post pics and a description of what I did shortly. Too bad I learned about the seal softener idea a little too late, like after I had it all apart and couldn't get it back together and had to find more info. Funny, the solution to my problem came from a British Pajero owner who is in Bosnia. He had to fix his on the side of the road.

Another idea that they claimed would work is putting a few liters of petrol (gasoline) in the tank and letting it run through. Not sure if I'd try that myself, although I know if you put a gallon of diesel in the gas tank of a car and fill the rest with gas it cleans the carbon completely out of your gas engine. I know that one works, but this was the first I ever heard about gas in a diesel engine.

I am going to run some seal softener through with the fuel though, just for good measure. And probably put some in the motor oil too, I see my turbo is leaking a little.

But I will take you up on that rebuild kit one of these days. Down the road I will want to replace that governor seal. Most of the rest are just O rings one can pick up easily. As I said we have nobody in the area to supply parts or do special work on these vehicles (they are all into the big bucks American hardware). If I can't fix it myself, then it's not much good to me.

How can you tell how honest your mechanic is? By the size of his boat!

Bob in Kelowna

[BadgeStar]

May be an l400 at that, he doesn't seem to say. The UK site has separate L300 and L400 discussion but they seem to cross over quite a bit.

If you look above the post it says 'L400 Technical Forum'!

Barry.

[bobenns]

Don't try this at home.

Notice the top is different from ours but the body is the same, including the rectangular governor seal. In a pinch you can get parts from a VW Jetta diesel. I'm going to check the Jettas next time I'm at Pick n Pull and grab one of these puppies for $20 to play with. No loss if I destroy it.

Our pumps are labeled Zexel, just a Jap copy of the Bosch. Came across these excellent diagrams after I no longer needed them.

These might help someone in the future.

Bob in Kelowna

[bobenns]

May be an l400 at that, he doesn't seem to say. The UK site has separate L300 and L400 discussion but they seem to cross over quite a bit.

If you look above the post it says 'L400 Technical Forum'!

Barry.

Barry,

Your comments are coming across as nitpicking and somewhat condescending. This is a forum where people try to help one another in friendly manner.

The Spacegear is based on the Pajero, but the Starwagon has a lot in common with both of them, including similar engines (2.5TD is one of the engines available in the Spacegear) and injector pumps. Bad seals can let fuel leak out and air leak in. I'm interested in any solution to a similar problem if it doesn't involve writing a cheque for $1000 at a shop every time I have a little problem. A lot of our members have been paying huge dollars to fix these leaks because they don't know any better. Not all mechanics are crooks, but there are some out there. I was quoted any where from $560 to well over $1000 to have this fuel leak fixed when the problem is with a seal worth about $2. A lot of people have been paying this.

You may have noticed we also have quite a few people who have converted to veggy oil for fuel, either to try to save money or to be enviro friendly. They are having many more problems with leaks etc. and paying out big dollars for ridiculous repairs.

These vehicles are rather exotic here in Canada. They are 15 years and older, in Japan they sell for $400 to $2000 at auction depending on the condition. They are basically worthless over there, but can be good value to us if they don't require a lot of expensive repairs. I bought mine in Japan from an exporter. The shipping alone was more than the price of the vehicle. All told it cost me 3 times the selling price to land it here. I can double or triple my money stripping it and selling the parts, which I would do in a heartbeat before paying $1000 to fix a $2 seal.

The post by your fellow countryman about the inline electric pump certainly has relevance to those who find they have to prime the fuel system every time they want to start the engine, regardless of what vehicle it's on.

I was just reading where a Toyota Land Cruiser owner has fitted a Delica injection pump because it is so far superior to the original one. He gets much more power and better fuel economy with the Delica pump. Some of his mates in the Land Cruiser world are screaming heresy.

Whatever works - works!

Bob

[GREENME@U]

well put bob
cheers

Marty

[bae146]

Hey Bob, well said. There are a couple people on this site that are quick to criticize. All I hope to do on this site, is help out my fellow diesel owners, and gain some information. Where did you get that awesome exploded view of the pump? Now is that our pump from the 4D56? If so do you know where one could get that seal kit? Heck I could reseal that pump. I also am going to go to pick apart and get one just to practice on!!!!!!!!

[asorensen]

I got a seal kit from Action Injection in Naniamo. It cost $15 quite a bit less than other prices I had found around $100+! Almost all seal problems that I have heard of L300 or L400 have been from the top seal.

Andy

[bobenns]

Those are Volkswagen pumps, the diagram came from a VW related web site. Ours pumps have very subtle differences. All are the Bosch VE type. The biggest difference in all of them is between the turbo and naturally aspirated engines. The tops are very different. The top seal is the same in all of them though. The rectangular looking seal. It fits in a channel in the top and is supposed to protrude slightly from the channel so that it makes good firm contact with the machined surface on the base when bolted down. Mine didn't show outside the channel at all. It seems to dry out and get hard, shrinks a little and doesn't make tight contact with the surfaces. It's a little tricky getting the top back on right without changing the volume adjustment screw, but there is a way without changing any adjustments as I finally found out. After doing it over and over again it seems so simple now. Moving that volume adjustment screw just a quarter turn makes significant changes in the way the engine runs. Now I know why they said not to touch it.

I'm suffering from a horrible cold the last couple of days, but I have pics of what I did and will post with all the other information I found as well.

Bob in Kelowna

[BadgeStar]

Barry,

Your comments are coming across as nitpicking and somewhat condescending. This is a forum where people try to help one another in friendly manner.

Bob

Bob, I am and quite at your response as I was only trying to help in (what I thought was) a friendly manner.
I apologise if it has come across as 'nitpicking' and 'condescending' but this certainly was not my intention.
I was not out to 'criticise' anybody, the only reason I pointed out that your link appertained to the L400 was because some L400's suffer with a problem of being hard to start due to bad fuel delivery and also after starting the engine cutting out or stalling after a few hundred yards and not starting again.
The L300 does not (to my knowledge) suffer with this same problem. The reason (I think} is because the L400 has a completely different engine and injection pump to the L300. (I am talking about the 2.8 L400's of which the majority in the UK are. The 2.5 2WD L400's are few and far between).
I hope this clears things up.
If you check out the few posts I have made on Delica Canada you will see I have been trying to help with only the best intentions.
Once again I apologise if there has been a misunderstanding.

Barry.