Does orange ACE light mean pump has failed?

[Dozer2]

Hi all,

Got the orange ACE light on the dash after a head gasket job. The pump isn't taking in fluid, and there is no movement in the reservoir. Tried to prime it with the outlet pipe cracked open but it didn't help.

Fluid is clean, having had the reservoir empty 4 times in 2 months for various engine jobs. Filter has been changed recently. Fuses are good. Cheap scanner doesn't show any codes. No leaks. Didn't open the ACE system anywhere else other than the pump and filter.

Has the pump failed?
If the pump had failed wouldn't it be a red not orange light since that would be a critical fault?

Shell

[twr7cx]

The orange light itself doesn’t mean a failed pump. It shows up once every year or two on mine, turning the car off and back on makes it disappear.

Maybe worth having it scanned on a Nanocom?

[sierrafery]

There are cases when it's hard to prime, remove completely the outlet banjo, start the engine and let it idle untill you get flow... if no flow in 10-15 seconds or if you get flow but no serious activity in the tank with outlet back then the pump is gone

[jwb]

Agree with the priming. I found that with the pump not mounted, do as RAVE directs. Hold the pump below the reservoir with the outlet up and wind by hand. A few gurgles and it fills up nicely.
Also make sure the inlet hose is not kinked closed. On the Td5 it has a sharp bend and is quite soft when warm.

[Dozer2]

Thanks for the quick replies everyone.

No access to a nanocom and now it cannot be driven to a landy mechanic for testing either.

Jwb, tried your idea first but no reaction from pump.

Sierrafery, did as you suggested. Barely a dribble out of the pump, no movement in the reservoir once back together, and now the red light and chimes are on. Pump gone or something else now that the light has changed from orange to red?

Shell

[sierrafery]

It seems that the pump is dead then

[Dozer2]

Thought so, though I was hoping for any other answer. New pump ordered.

Can I drive it while I wait if I take the relay out to make the chimes stop?

Shell

[sierrafery]

The chimes will not stop if you take the relay out, you'll have to unplug the ECU(behind the glovebox) and make a bridge as in the pic and let it so untill you fix it... i've seen one case when somebody clogged the feed pipe from the reservoir to the pump to stop a leak make sure that it's not the case for you.

150003

[gusthedog]

Bit left field but do you have a truspeed or speedometer healer? I seem to remember that when my truspeed malfunctioned the ace light went orange. It was a few years ago though.... unplugging the truspeed turned the light off

[Dozer2]

Thank you sierrafery for the detailed instructions. Luckily the new pump turned up the next day so I didn't need to disable the chimes. Will keep a print out with onboard spares in case of emergency. Definitely nothing blocking the hose as it empties quickly when disconnected from the inlet.

New pump is installed, primed easily by hand and I could see the fluid return to the reservoir. Red light and chimes are gone. Test drive successful. I was hopeful that my other ACE issue, a metal whirr sound every 10 seconds, would be gone but it is back even louder with the new pump but at least the ACE works.

Shell

[sierrafery]

That sound can be caused by the old feed pipe(between the pump and block) cos it has an atenuator in it which might not work anymore, from the workshop manual:

The flexible hose which supplies pressure from the pump to the supply pipe attached to the front cross member is fitted with an attenuator. The attenuator comprises a bullet shaped valve which is located between two spiral wound springs held at each end of the flexible hose. This valve operates as a restrictor to damp pressure waves of hydraulic fluid from the pump, reducing noise and strain on components downstream. The attenuator is integral with the supply hose and pipe and cannot be serviced separately.

[AK83]

..... Test drive successful. I was hopeful that my other ACE issue, a metal whirr sound every 10 seconds, would be gone but it is back even louder with the new pump but at least the ACE works.

Shell

Does it have SLS(air bag rear suspension?
If so, could it be the compressor keeping the airbags at correct level .. eg. if you have a wee little air leak?

[V8Ian]

What's this issue?
150081

[Dozer2]

Thank you sierrafery and Ak83 for the ideas, both are plausible. Really hope I don't need to replace those pipes though, then I'll be back to struggling to prime the ACE pump and bleed the system again.

Interestingly the noise is happening less frequently the more I drive it. No longer sounds like a loud robot cat purring, and I only heard it once on the last drive. Fingers crossed it goes away on its own.

Shell

[AK83]

"Loud robotic cat purring" sounds like SLS air compressor to me.
Compressor location is under the car, in a small box above the chassis, rail kind'a directly under the front passenger seat.
Obviously if it makes this loud robotic cat purring noise, means it's on .. filling rear air bags with air, ie. maintaining rear ride height.

Quick test:
On the centre console you have a switchblock, one switch which is raised suspension for off road mode. Should be near the hazard lights switch. picture on switch is rear raised suspesion with arrow pointing upwards.
If you have SLS, you also have this small switch.
Push that and it raises the rear suspension for more clearance at the back. To acheive this, the SLS compressor needs to run .. ie. "robotic cat purring noise"! :BigThumb:

easy test.

[Dozer2]

Thanks Arthur. Mine doesnt have the switch so I'm thinking the attenuators must be the issue, but since I can barely hear it now I'll leave it for a while so I can get back to driving my D2.

Shell