Newbie re: Classic 3.5 1988 E reg

[mucdup3.5]

I recently bought a 1988 3.5 drove round town/block fine then went to pick up a trailer 54 miles up the M6 it cutout. RAC man came and started looking at the fuel pump connections. He put a meter on the pump circuit and I turned engine over and there was voltage, but no pumping. He undid all the fuel lines said it looked like the fuel return pipe looked kinked. Decided to recover me home.

I rang the previous owner the next day, and he said it is unlikely to be the fuel pump as he put a new one on with the new fuel tank. He said try it again today. I did and it started first time.

Is this a common problem with rrclassics, and can anybody suggest a reason for what happened and if this is likely to happen again how to cure it?

Many thanks,

Paul

aka: mucdup3.5

[Bull Bar Cowboy]

With the 86 - 88 model flapper injection there is a whole load of reasons why the FP may not run……………. bad contacts on AFM flap or FP Relay goosed……are the most common.

Turn on the ignition and disconnect the air inlet pipe to the AFM ………. Then open the flap manually and you should hear the FP run………..

Ian

[steve_d]

I drove mine for some months having to occasionally lay underneath and give the tank a thump with my shoe. It finally gave up and stopped responding to this treatment so I put a new pump in.

Just so you are aware, the pump does not have power to it until the airflow meter is open a crack i.e. the engine is turning over.

I levered the cover of the meter so I could prop the valve open with a lolly stick whilst abusing the tank and listening for the pump to fire up. I keep the cover in place with a tywrap.

Steve

[SteveRK]

If your pump is the same as the later 1991> system then the fuel pump earth wire is a spade connector pushed onto a welded spade on the top of the fuel pump. Access is via the removable panel in the boot. Easy to check the conection is clean and tight.

The fact that Voltage was found at the pump indicates either a faulty pump or bad earth ?

[steve_d]

My 87 did not have an inspection panel in the boot floor so I don't know when that change came in.

Steve

[mucdup3.5]

Hi Everybody,

Thanks for the replies. Yes it does seem like it may have been a combination of bad connections although I discovered something new when I was looking at the gearbox console yesterday. I noticed that the range selector gearstick was not properly in the high range position and on moving it found it to be somwhat near the neutral position. Although it seemed to be moving through the gears ok. I have now moved it into the high position where it should be for normal driving. Could this have contributed to the pump stalling?

I am renewing the flexible fuel lines as the RAC man undid the jubilees and now they all leak and I do not like the state of them. I do not think the pipe is proper injector fuel pipe.

I had to order the fuel return pipe which hs a u bend in it from a land rover dealer (£9.74 it's about 6" long) as the one I bought off eba never arrived. I will go over the connections thoroughly including the earth side.

Unfortunately the earlier (than 89) rrs' didn't have access through the boot floor as the RAC man and I looked for this and I read this later in another forum. The fact that there was voltage at the pump when the engine was turned over indicates I think that there is not a relay fault per se, but from my experience with other cars with ECU's almost any situation can be induced by one thing not being quite right.

Thanks a lot

Paul

aka: mucdup3.5