Disco 2 TD5 stopped today

When my wife was driving our disco today, it slowed down while climbing a hill and stopped. I checked out the fuel pump fuse, switched relays etc and it seems fine. Is it possible that the fuel pump would just suddenly die? I tried priming the fuel system but I couldn't hear the pump running. Everything I have ready about td5 fuel pumps seems to say that they gradually fail instead of just suddenly dying, so I dont want to buy a new one if that isn't the problem. It's being towed back to my house tomorrow when I will have more tools and time to inspect. Anything else I should check? Motor spins over fine on the starter. I renewed the fuel filter about 3 weeks ago, as it was leaking when it got a knock from parking offload! It had done many hours since then without issue and always started at the first turn of the key. Model 2003 TD5 HSE. If it is the fuel pump, will this ebay cheap version work or do I need to buy the VDO version which is nearly 6 times the price? It's an old bus now and I dont want to spend too much on it! Thanks, Paul

As long as you can't hear the pump the problem is on that path... check for voltage in it's connector across black and white/purple wires when you turn ignition on, if you get 12V the pump is certainly gone, if no voltage then it becomes more complicated... as long as that ebay pump has 3 year warranty it should be OK but maybe it will be more noisy than a genuine one

Thank you for your reply which makes sense. I will make this test tomorrow when I get the disco home.

I got the truck towed back home today and tested the volts at the pump. There is a good 12.4v at the pump head, so I assume it is dead. I made up a tool to remove the pump. New pump ordered from local supplier which should be here tomorrow.

Ok I managed to fix the truck yesterday and it's running fine, perhaps even better than before. For those amateur DIYrs like me, you might be interested to see what I did.

The new pump arrived, but it turns out they only supplied the pump itself not the complete assembly, so I had to remove the assembly and clean everything up, which is not a drama. First I found that removing the carpet as much as needed was not a big job, instead of cutting the carpet which some have recommended. My disco is the 7 seater hse model, so it has all the trim. Even so it was quick to remove enough carpet to get access.

Some YouTube videos said dont worry about breaking the pipe clips to the assembly and new ones come with the new assembly. Just as well I didn't take that advice, as the pump when sold on it's own comes with nothing. So save all the parts when removing if you plan to rebuild your pump.

I made up a small tool out of angle iron to remove the pump assembly. Dismantling the pump housing was a little trickier but I used a heat gun to warm everything up to avoid breaking the plastic, which has been sitting in diesel for 17 years!

There is a small nylon plastic (?) filter filter on the bottom of the pump which did not come with the new pump, so I soaked it and washed it out then used lots of compressed air and managed to clean it as I couldn't wait for 5 days for a replacement. But it cleaned out fine and wasn't especially dirty.

Reassembly was simple enough and helpful to have a crimping tool to reset the hose clamp, otherwise no special tools needed. I tried wiring up the old pump to a 12v battery but it was locked solid. So to answer my own opening question, yes the pump can fail without warning and lock solid!

Had I known that my local motorfactors was just supplying the inner pump and not the entire assembly, i probably would have passed, but now I can recommend that this is an easy diy job and you can buy a goog quality pump alone...mine cost €95

Paul French said:

Ok I managed to fix the truck yesterday and it's running fine, perhaps even better than before.

Click to expand...

Well done... it is running better cos maybe the old pump ran only on LP for a while before it died for good

Mine failed in the New Forest, one minute OK and conked at Lyndhurst

MJI said:

Mine failed in the New Forest, one minute OK and conked at Lyndhurst

Click to expand...

Decided it wanted to spend the night in posh surroundings for once!

Stanleysteamer said:

Decided it wanted to spend the night in posh surroundings for once!

Click to expand...

No I drove home with no full power and no idle

MJI said:

No I drove home with no full power and no idle

Click to expand...

You did well then! what a palaver!

Stanleysteamer said:

You did well then! what a palaver!

Click to expand...

Better than a complete fail.

No many Diesels could do that.