P38 Diesel Fuel Leak

Good evening everyone. Haven't been around for a while, mainly as the old girl has been behaving herself. Who ever said P38s were unreliable?

Anyway. Just got home and noticed a small patch of fuel leaking on to the drive from under the Range Rover. First inspection shows that the back of the fuel pump, the injector pipes and everything from the injectors upwards is bone dry. No fuel building up in the wells around the injectors either. The wetness appears to be coming from somewhere in the middle of the engine, on the fuel delivery side but below where the air intake manifold mates to the cylinder head.

Havent had a chance yet to strip it down and poke around but what is in the area that ive described that would leak fuel?

Spill pipes on the injectors or injector pump seals.
Clean the engine down with a Degreaser and run it and wait for the leak to show its face

Diesel return pipe from number one injector is at the back end of the diesel pump ,has been known to split

Cheers fellas, ill have a closer look but at the moment the injectors or the leak off pipes dont seem to the trouble. The engine is pretty much spotless (not quite as spotless as some ive seen, but its clean) and genuinely, the injectors or the spill rail don't appear to be the problem.

Do you reckon ill be alright to take the intake manifold off and run the engine? That'll give me a much better vista of the situation.

Spill pipes probably need renewing. If one is gone change the lot. 2meters is plenty should be less than a tenner at a motor factors. Fiddly job but doesn’t take long just chop it to size some use heatshrink or small cable ties over the ends for longevity.

They split like this

jimllshiftit said:

Do you reckon ill be alright to take the intake manifold off and run the engine? That'll give me a much better vista of the situation.

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yes but be VERY careful nothing gets sucked in. Don’t wear a tie. It sounds awesome with manifold off
As always if around the engine bay with anything running be careful not to lose fingers!

Sounds awesome with the manifold off? ......... ive not long fitted Longlife Stainless pipes which have made it sound awesome already, so this should be interesting.

Tie will be firmly tucked away inside my tweed shirt and overalls, but yes, I will be careful

is there any way of "blipping" the throttle from inside the engine bay?

Yes.
You have to have really long legs. Like 12ft long so you can reach around to the accelerator pedal.

(Or get a helper)

Personally if I got my head in the engine bay I don’t want anyone else there or near the controls. Use your left foot and peak over the open door as close as you’ll get. You’ll find the leak ticking over

If the spill are leaking fuel only pools on no 1 injector, it tends to run back towards the rear of the engine an is hard to see, so first port of call

jimllshiftit said:

is there any way of "blipping" the throttle from inside the engine bay?

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It is fly-by-wire. Pot on accelerator pedal.

Right oh, ill give it a shot over the weekend..... and itll give me a chance to ask that Russian bird down the road with the 12ft long legs to come and help me

jimllshiftit said:

Right oh, ill give it a shot over the weekend..... and itll give me a chance to ask that Russian bird down the road with the 12ft long legs to come and help me

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The things you say to enlist help,I'm on the M6 send your postcode.

35572 Alan..... so you're better off on the Fred Olsen

jimllshiftit said:

35572 Alan..... so you're better off on the Fred Olsen

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So not in Warwickshire then