Fuel pump not priming??

tried my relays in my mate gti this morning and 1 was fine and primed the other didn't and gave the same problems i'm seeing with my car. going to try in my car in a mo. keep you posted. :wink:

ok 1 relay does nothing, the other starts the car, but it still cuts out. and seems to prime once its cut out. going to check my coil and ignition switch unit.

Hi 79-85

what exactly is happening to your gti….from the beginning please

o.k from the top…hadn't been running in years, had to replace fuel pump, accumulator and pipes. managed to get it up and running and was sweet, never had it out on the road just in my garage.

 then it just stopped ticking over. would burst into life and then die. thought i had worked out the problem when i found a tar like substance in the tank, so new tank another new fuel pump and its still the same. starts and dies. i thought i was loosing spark but im not sure. i have this afternon removed all my injectors and they haven't been squirting as they should if at all. so i have now cleaned and replaced all of them and they are squirting correctly now, but i have to charge my battery before i see if the problem is solved.

as regards to it not priming, you turn the ignition to position 1 and it doesn't prime,then position 2 the engine starts and dies then the pump seems to prime once back in position 1. however if you keep the ignition in position 2 turning the engine over with the starter the engine dies and wort start again. it also won't start again for a couple of minutes.
hope this make sense :dontknow:

did you replace the fuel pump etc yourself …check the fuel pipes havent got any slight kinks or twists in them which could reduce the fuel pressure…
If they have a slight kink it can hold the pressure so as to start but then restrict the full pressure needed to run




have you renewed the fuel filter as these can cause most problems and are the cheapest to replace

ok checked pipes and such, no kinks.put the original metering head back on start but stops after a few seconds.

You dont say if you have changed the fuel filter…before you go too far id check this…you could try your mates one if he dont mind as there is a really good chance this is your problem


have you messed about with the mixture screw on the metering head…

its a 3mm allen key …clockwise increases the fuel mixture and it only needs turning in small amounts
BE CAREFUL not to push down on it when turning and make a note of how much you turn it so you can always put it back to where it was

increase the fuel mixture a bit at a time and see if it runs it may be your fuel mixture is too weak

Hi
chaps

Can i just get 1 point accross
If the fuel pump isnt priming on ignition this will not cause major starting problems when cold , the car will still start no probs it will just take a few more turns of the starter.My pump didnt prime in the past , but the car still started no probs , just not immediatly
cheers
baz

bazmk1 said

Hi
chaps

Can i just get 1 point accross
If the fuel pump isnt priming on ignition this will not cause major starting problems when cold , the car will still start no probs it will just take a few more turns of the starter.My pump didnt prime in the past , but the car still started no probs , just not immediatly
cheers
baz

mine starts just fine but wont stay started lol… would still like it to prime as it should, just can't work out why it doesn't

the priming problem as been forgotten for a min just trying to find why its not running

can deal with priming later

:redfaced:  :redfaced:  :redfaced:  :redfaced:
all a little embarrassing but it would appear that when fitting a new tank, a fivers worth of petrol just isn't enough. chucked in another tenner and away we go….sounds sweet too.

pretty chuffed now. so on to the priming problem. did all gti's prime? and whats makes it prime?

seemed to of high jacked this post, sorry :roll:

LOL LOL …im glad youve solved the problem

 knew it was a fuel starvation problem but didnt think it would be lack of any fuel lol lol

im not to sure if all gti golfs prime as its a slightly different set on the tintops but cabs do…

if its working then dont worry as they say

" if it aint broke dont fix it "

lagger said

LOL LOL …im glad youve solved the problem

 knew it was a fuel starvation problem but didnt think it would be lack of any fuel lol lol

im not to sure if all gti golfs prime as its a slightly different set on the tintops but cabs do…

if its working then dont worry as they say

" if it aint broke dont fix it "

just wanted everything working as they should, all the mk1 gti i have owned have always primed before starting, as does my mates. :dontknow:

as above not all gtis prime, and irt makes no difference either way if they do or not. the pump will kick in as soon as the starter is turning the engine over and it will take next to no time for this to perform the same job as whatever priming the pump did.

if its not starting for ages till you press the pedal its nothing whatsoever to do with fuel pump, priming or the relay. if any of those things were effecting your car then putting your foot down wouldn't help either!

requiring a bit of pedal to start is more likely to be a faulty 5th injector or leaky injectors. might possibly be a dodgy fuel accumulator or non-return valve in the pump. try disconnecting the 5th injector, if that helps this points to leaky injectors

thanks john, i think a new set of injectors may be on the cards. :wink:

hi ive got a gti 8v spotline  its got a in tank pump and your normall pump and mine primes for about 2-3 seconds once i turn the ignition on ,it wont do it every time i start it only i think when it knows it needs to but certainly when cold … pete

hey sorry to hi jack but im having the very same problem and i ended up running a wire from the fuel pump positive straight to the battery positive and from doing so the pump kicks in (you hear it prime)i have someone in the car to swing the car well i put the wire on to the positive of the battery and there problem fix for now    then once you take it off it still runs sometimes…

but i cant find out why the pump doesn't prime sometimes when i start the car then i do the cable move    because for me if you dont hear it prime then its not pumping… i drive around with a cable in the car now…  

so anyway like i said it starts sometimes when i hear it prime i know its going to start but when i don't i do my dodge move or i wait a hour for it to start if im lucky any idea i think its the WUR or relay but got no idea :dontknow:  

but i think its got something to do with power to the pump or whatever controls the pump at start up ignition???

sometimes it works 70% of the time sometimes not 30% of the time

ignore if it primes, its irrelivant. what you need to listen for, is does the pump run all the time the car is cranking on the starter motor. if it doesnt, the relay or rev counter signal from coil is the problem, or wiring between the relay/fusebox and the pump