P38 diesel spill rail leak...???

Mike v.t.s said:

Hi people, had my rangie 2 week and suddenly it stinks of diesel and hard to start in the morning or after a couple of hours, so being a diesel marine engineer i soon found the problem being the spill rail (small rubber pipes linking the injectors) ahad gone brittle and split, so i replaces them after a trip to local general motor factors. But the f'ing thing still weaps fuel and makes it hard to start, im sure the fuel is draining back because of the leak.... IM GETTIN REALLY MIFFED OFF NOW, is there anyone with any ideas????

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you sure you bought the correct internal diameter pipe.

hi, yes a checked it twice, i was told by another landie owner that it should be 3mm standerd fuel pipe, do you no what it should be? i have been to bmw today to buy the proper gen part but i got the mess around, told them it is the M51 engine but he wants a bmw chassis number before he will order or do anything...

which pipes did you replace? as in, did you check and replace the end pipe at the 6th injector?? also, did you replace the pipe from the FIP to the first injector??

can you see where the leak is coming from?

-Will

i only changed the pipes inbetween injectors and not the fib pipe etc, its injector 2 thats leaking (link pipe 2 to 3) and the electronic injector 4 (link pipe 4 to 5) the rest are fine, i was thinking that the little "spout" pipe part of injector (the bit that yoou push the spill pipe onto) could have a crack in it so i fired her up and put my finger over the metal "spout" but it didnt leak, it just forced the fuel out of the opposit side (like normal),

Use 3mm i/d silicone vacuum pipe available off Ebay for a few quid. Replace all spill pipes between injectors and back to pump.

Curiously, since I replaced my leak off pipes with the recommended 3mm silicone tube, I have had a vague smell of diesel under the bonnet. It is totaly dry around the injectors now, the little pools of diesel have gone but it still smells. no sign of a leak anywhere and it runs and starts fine. Even more curious, the on board computer fuel consumption figure has become more accurate since I changed the leak off pipes. It used to show 27/28 mpg around town for a real 24/25 now it shows 25/26 but I'm still getting a real 24/25 tank to tank.

hi wills, the leak is from the spill hoses where they are pushed onto the injectors, i can see the fuel weaping out from the hose and going down the side of the injector.

Mike v.t.s said:

hi wills, the leak is from the spill hoses where they are pushed onto the injectors, i can see the fuel weaping out from the hose and going down the side of the injector.

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Pipe diameter is too big so it's not a tight enough fit

Datatek, how do you manage to get good fuel economy like that? im getting around 16mpg around town and 22ish mpg on the motoway at a steady 65mph?? is there anytthing else i should check? im good with all other diesel engines but ive never worked on the M51 or any other BMW diesel engine, THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR HELP SO FAR :5bcheers2::5bcheers2::5bcheers2::5bcheers2:

Datatek, i thort that my self but i use the same spill pipe for all the vw transporter engines i build etc, it threw me a bit as only 2 are leaking and its suppost to be 3mm fuel hose that i fitted... im goin to go out today and try and find the silicone stuff... Thanks for your advice so far, i thort it was me going mad and needed a second opinion lol

I have just the same issues.....no matter the pipes i fit (in a couple of months pipes have been replaced about 3times), they still spill between the first and the second injector and from the electronic one.
Last injector has a kind of "dead end" pipe.....been replaced.

I searched ebay, but sellers advise that silicone pipes shouldnt be used with fuel...

regards
Joao

jonasserra said:

I have just the same issues.....no matter the pipes i fit (in a couple of months pipes have been replaced about 3times), they still spill between the first and the second injector and from the electronic one.
Last injector has a kind of "dead end" pipe.....been replaced.

I searched ebay, but sellers advise that silicone pipes shouldnt be used with fuel...

regards
Joao

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The pipe in question is 3mm bore thick wall silicone vacuum hose. And is perfectly safe to use in this application. It is impervious to diesel and highly heat resistant which makes it perfect for spill pipes. It will outlast anything else by a very large margin.

Hi thanks Joao, the silicone pipes are perfect for fuel as they heat and fuel resistant, today i changed all the pipes again for 2mm diameter pipe, it cured 1 leak but not the electronic one, sooo i went out and again and got silicone, same result.... still the electronic 1 leaks, it returns **** loads more fuel than the others, im just wondering if theres summert wrong with the injector itself or even the injector pump over fueling on that injector/cylinder....
HELPPPPPP :mad2::mad2::crazy:

Have seen other threads about leaks on the number 4 injector, I suspect it's a fairly common problem.

il try and find the threads for that, if i can figure it out how to use this site proper.... thanks

OH MY GOD, had nightmare day today... my rangie imobilised itself and wouldnt except my EKA code, but thankfully i managed to sort it.... and even with the fuel light on she started Purrrrrfect....

Mike
There is one more thing you can do.
I replaced the spill pipes on mine as they had gone hard, the replacement pipe came from GSF (German Swedish French) and has been fine so far by the way.
The additional thing I did, as starting hot or cold was becoming a problem and was recommended somewhere, was to put a non return valve in the line from fuel filter to FIP. This has cured the starting problem perfectly.
The reason given was that the FIP from BMW is a bit cr*p when it gets old to put it finely! Incidentally I do rate the 'hot start' fix from various Ebay folk!
It's nice to have a car that starts no matter what temperature.
Hope this helps,
Ian

Thanks Ian did you replace the clear fuel line between the fuel filter and the pump or did you just cut it and join the one way valve in between, and thanks for that ill ring my local GSF in the morn... (in 6 hours lol)

Mike v.t.s said:

Thanks Ian did you replace the clear fuel line between the fuel filter and the pump or did you just cut it and join the one way valve in between, and thanks for that ill ring my local GSF in the morn... (in 6 hours lol)

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Hi Mike

Yes I did as that was old and rather hard, well it had done 14 years sterling service! Again I got the fuel pipe from GSF, guaranteed for diesel fuel! The non return valve wasn't pricey either, 8 quid if I recall. The whole caboodle cost less than £20 for both sizes of pipe, clips and non return valve. Well worth it for the improved starting alone!
Ian