Thread: 2010 TDCI 2.4 Puma sucking air in fuel system?

Hi there,

I've been having air in the system problems for quite a while now ever since my truck drowned in a flash flood. Unfortunately for me, the flood water it was in was corrosive to rubber. I've already replaced a few fuel lines that were suspect but a few months ago, I've had issues where the truck would die and require re-priming of the fuel system until I can get fuel back in. This would happen once the gauge reaches the 3/4 tank mark. It is suspected that the hoses on the fuel pick up assembly are compromised and would require replacement. Since there are no replacement bits for just these small hoses, it is now time for me to drop the tank and replace the whole assembly. Looking at the parts manual, there are also 3 seals that go with it so I'll be on the safe side and order the 3 seals plus the pick up assembly. It was recommended that an original pick up is used as the replacement parts apparently do not last long for some reason.

Here are the part numbers I've got for your reference:

ESR3808, Ring-Locking
WQB100440.LRC, Pump-Fuel
WGQ500020, Gasket
ESR3807, Adaptor-Fuel

My truck is also a 2011 2.4 Puma so we should use the same parts. While it says Pump-Fuel, there is no pump in the assembly and it is just a pick up and level sender. Our pump is the high pressure pump on the engine and this being the case, we have to ensure that there is no air in the system and that it is properly primed. My parts are already on order and am now waiting for the supplier to ship them. Given the current situation with COVID-19, the shipments aren't as prompt as they used to be.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you do.

Thanks for the reply, sounds like we have the same problem! I wish I knew the cause in my case though.
I will toddle into the local Land Rover agent during the week and get a price on all the bits, be a fun experience going by my past dealings with them.... The part numbers will be very useful.
Good luck with your new pickup, hope it fixes your problem.
Rich.

When my old girlfriend and I bought our new Puma back in 2008, we took it straight from the dealer to get the after market kit put on it - LR fuel tank, barwork, etc. Not long after collecting it after its fit out, we started having fuel starvation problems. To cut a long story short, after many trials and tribulations, it turns out some plastic swarf from the original fuel tank got stuck in the fuel hose resulting in some rough running. A clear plastic fuel hose in the engine bay showed cavitation/bubbles coming through and they finally figured it out. It's probably a long shot, but you may have picked up some grit somewhere.

Have you changed the fuel filter lately ? Your could have a leak at the fuel filter Oring.

Ian
Bittern

cripesamighty - re blocked fuel line. Had this problem with other vehicles, but in this case I think that as the vehicle will (and will only) start after the fuel level is increased to 1/2 a tank probably negates this. Am I ruling it out?? No.

Ian, fuel filter was not old, clean and had good "O" rings, but replaced, just in case, last month with no change.


Should point out that all injectors were replaced 10 months (6000kms) ago. The starting issues prior to that was only apparent when parked on a reasonable incline.
Rich.

Funny thing about the fuel filter, when the engine hiccups started happening, I replaced the lines first but still had the problem. Eventually, a friend of mine suggested to check the fuel filter again. While it was on there tight, you could wobble it from side to side! Ordered a new, different OEM brand and it fit perfect with no movement and seemed to solve the issue for a few months before the hiccups started to manifest themselves into the issue I still live with today. Hopefully I can hear back from the UK soon regarding my order so we can solve the problem, hopefully, once and for all.

Okaaaay... Land Rover agent price - Fuel sender/pickup $955, gasket $73. GST was not discussed, so could be 10%more. Available overnight.
Desk person was not able to say if there is still a pump in the unit, but did confirm that the part number is the same as the TD5 Defender.
This begs the question, if the unit has a pump in it, can we not use it for bleeding the system?

Short term solution is to keep pumping over from the auxiliary tank when ever the fuel drops to half, and keep an eye out for an affordable unit, which probably depends on the easing of international restrictions.
Rich.

Originally Posted by FV1601

Okaaaay... Land Rover agent price - Fuel sender/pickup $955, gasket $73. GST was not discussed, so could be 10%more. Available overnight.
Desk person was not able to say if there is still a pump in the unit, but did confirm that the part number is the same as the TD5 Defender.
This begs the question, if the unit has a pump in it, can we not use it for bleeding the system?

Short term solution is to keep pumping over from the auxiliary tank when ever the fuel drops to half, and keep an eye out for an affordable unit, which probably depends on the easing of international restrictions.
Rich.

Not sure if this will help u or not... but I had something similar happen to my '09 Puma but mine was more to filling up at a Servo where a Tanker was filling the Servo tanks up and (imho) must have stirred up all the crap in the tank which then flowed to the browsers when filling up your vehicles tank... This became evident 30kms down the road when the engine started missing, etc. Upon replacing the Fuel Filter I noticed a lot of crap coming out when I drained the fuel filter. Once a new filter was in place I thought the problem was solved until I found that when the tank dropped below a certain level, it would start to play up again to the point where it would stop the engine...(this happened in the middle of the desert which was a bit concerning)... From ruling out various issues, it was determined that the crud in the tank would end up blocking the fuel pick up when the fuel level would drop to a certain level - to get around this for where we were we just ensured that the tank wouldn't drop below a certain level and this got us the some 2000kms home w/o further issues.
Upon getting home the tank was removed and cleaned (our assumptions turned out correct in the way the fuel is sucked up through the sender unit.) out and I ended up having to get new Fuel lines between tank and OEM filter + a new Sender unit. The price of the sender unit certainly wasn't anywhere near the $955 mark (sender unit w/o pump) but I'd have to find the receipt to confirm actual $$. I've since installed a Aux Fuel Filter (which has a inbuilt primer) under the bonnet to solve any future problems.... hopefully