TD4 fuel leak

Hi All,

I know this is a well worn topic !! Went away in the Freelander this weekend and for once parked overnight on a smooth tarmac drive rather than the gravel at our place. When I stated it up in the morning, I noticed a big patch of growing diesel on the wet tarmac coming from the holes in the engine undertray. There was quite a regular drip, probably 2 drips per second if you get my drift !

I had a 200 mile drive home, so switched my Ronbox to economy hoping it might drop the fuel pressure in the pump (not sure if it does affect that or not) The car got home no problem and didn't use a huge amount more fuel than normal.

Started it up this morning cold again to run it onto my ramps and get the undertray off. It dripped a lot again. Only ran for 2 or 3 mins so not warm.

left it an couple of hours as it was raining and then took the tray off, wiped dry all the oil and diesel I could and then started it up again. Bugger me it's bone dry. Left it running for 15 mins, put the Ronbox back to max and absolutely nowt !!

It's really awkward to see the pump clearly as all the other compressors and oil filter housing etc are in the way so I can't bee 100% certain it's not a leaky pipe - I'm assuming the worst (going on past experience).

So, is it normal the leaks stop when the car is only very slightly warm ?
Is there an easy way to see where the leak's coming from ?

I need the car all the time and haven't got time to do the job myself, but as we live in france and the mechanics here are thieving sods when they hear a foreign accent any info to point me in the right direction would be a big help before I go to the Bosch service center (and bend over) and cough up for a new fitted pump !

Cheers for now and thanks for any help,

Injector leak off pipes are common

Hi Redwood,
Thanks for the reply. When you say the injector pipes, do you mean the ones that are under the plastic engine cover running to the cylinder head ? There are also a couple of stainless steel pipes with rubber pipes attached which seem to come from the injection pump and are bolted with a bracket to the power steering pump body - are these high pressure pipes do you know, as they look a bit weedy if they are ? The problem is, by the time you can see where the leak is coming from, you've had to remove so many bits that the car won't run to see where the leaks coming from !!
My cars 10 years old now, so I suppose some of the rubber bits will be starting to perish. I already changed the turbo hoses and all the brake flexibles which were shot.

Yes they are the little pipes that are connected to all the injectors, you can run the engine with that cover off

Hi Redwood,

Thanks again. I had another look this morning with the engine cover removed and the car completely cold. Fired it up and the diesel started to leak as far as I can see from the cover held in place by 4 torx screws on the top of the pump. Do you know if there is a gasket under this cover, or is the leak more likely to be that the seals are shot inside ?
This is going to test my french vocab at the garage !
Thanks...........

Hi,
Just had a search on the internet for an exploded drawing of the pump. I can see that there are a number of O ring type seals under each of the pump chamber covers, so I'm guessing these are perished or worn. Looks like the whole lot's going to have to come out and be replaced if the garage have any say in it, or repaired if I can find the time !

I'll see how much the garage want to sting me for and make a big decision - I already hinted to the wife that our joint Christmas present might be a Bosch fuel pump. She didn't seem to see the funny side..........

At least you found the problem. Now you just have to decide on fix or replace.

Personally, I'd try fixing first as divorce is quite expensive