starter turning over but engine wont fire up and run

[Steve68]

Hi

I am new to this forum and hope someone can help me. My LJ70 suddenly failed to start yesterday. The battery is good and the starter motor is fine. The fuses are all good. It has an almost new filter which is clean as a whistle. It tries to turn over but fails. I manually primed the fuel pump and it started, but as soon as the fuel ran out it stopped again.

Does anyone have an idea what could be causing this. I use the car only on my land as a mini tractor to tow a trailer and have looked for fuel pumps but they come up around £80 to £250 depending on age or if new. I do not want to buy one if it is not the problem. Help. Thanks a lot.

 

[Shayne]

Put fuel from a can direct to your pump and if it runs you know the problem is elsewhere , if not its your pump .

 

[StarCruiser]

Possibly a leaky fuel pipe by the sound of it. Also check your new filter is fully seated. Also drain any water out of the bottom of the filter (unlikely).

 

[Iwan]

Generally with these old 70's. . The fuel cap vent blocks and after a long time the fuel filter head gives in. The diaphragm in the primer pump lets air in. Some of the ones will play up when not started for a week. Others just go over night.

But one lj70 that I had had did have a fuel pump fault that it would only run when the primer pump was pressured up. Similar to what you say. I personally would get the pump reconditioned if this is the case. As a second hand pump may be close to the same situation. . Better the devil you know!

 

[alexy]

Iwan is right. My filter cap would bring lots of air in.
Put two transparent fuel hoses before and after the filter. then you can see where air bubbles come from, if thats teh case.
On my truck loads of air would come first from the tank pipes they corode and than air comes in.
Tank pipes replaced air would only show on the hose between injection pump and fuel filter, so attention went there.

set a hose and at least you kind of know where the problem might be.
mind you, pipes in the tank can get clogged as well, even if they are fitted with a basic filter at the end of the pipes.