Thread: Series 1 Disco (Petrol) Just stopped

Looking for some expert opinion and fault finding support.

My wifes 1998 S1 SE7, has been a fairly reliable car.

Last week she was driving it and it just stopped, unusual it has never given us grief in the past.

Flat bed back to home and this is what I have established so far.

Imobiliser is not causing problem.

Power to coil (all good Multimeter) good spark into dissy cap and out to all plugs.

I have replaced the rotor button and cap as a routine.

Battery is good, 12+ when cranking.

Fuel?

Cannot hear pump in action on ignition on mode, gave a love tap and no change.

Suspect it is fuel but not sure.

How do I check?

Should I replace the pump and go from there?

Advice invited. PS We are keeping the car wife loves it.

The fuel pump is a likely failure, although a wearing out pump can cause problems with wiring connectors and the fuel pump relay and fuse. First off, you can check for fuel pressure by carefully depressing the schrader valve on the fuel rail around the inlet manifold. No squirt, no fuel pressure. Then remove the load space carpet, pop out the circle in the rubber mat and remove the pump access plate. Disconnect the pump wiring and connect a test lamp between the white/purple wire and the black earth wire.

If the test light comes on with cranking look no further, just remove the pump assembly from the tank. The fuel tank cap should be loosened first so there's no pressure in the tank. The pump can be replaced by a number of common aftermarket pumps, I've used VN Commodore ones and the local auto sparky uses Ford ones. The fuel outlet hose off the pump must not be damaged as you need the very flexy nature of it to work with the pump[ assembly.

Now on the off chance that no power appears at the pump connector, you need to look for dead connections and other similar things all the way to the front of the car The white/purple stripe wire colouring is constant through to the fuel pump relay. There is a loom connector above the rear most muffler that is a known trouble spot. You can hot wire a fuel pump to a 12V battery to see that it still works. Failed wiring connectors are usually a sign of a worn out pump drawing more amps than it should.