Ticking noise and down on power 300tdi

Hi all, I'm back for more help.

I drove approx 50 miles yesterday mainly on the motorway. All was going well, but when I pulled off the motorway noticed a very loud ticking noise coming from under the bonnet.

Stopped and checked but nothing obvious.

On the return leg of my journey I noticed the land was gradually getting lower and lower in power.

It got to the point where I was crawling along the M20 at about 10mph

Finally I admitted defeat and got towed assuming the lift pump had died.

I changed that yesterday and assumed all was well, the landy had its mot today and the dreading ticking started again!

The ticking is not apparent on start up, but starts after approx 30 seconds or when revving it, and then it continues going.

I've not been brave enough to take it for a long drive yet as I'm quite sure it's the same issue as before.

The garage said they are pretty confident it is the injection pump. I just wanted some more opinions as they are not the cheapest of items!

On a positive note, it did pass its mot with no advisories.

The lift pump is the most likely culprit, but did you check to make sure that the fuel lines are not blocked or restricting fuel delivery? The ticking is probably coming from the injector pump and this is usually due to lack of fuel as the shuttle is not lubricated properly from the fuel.

Also, what brand lift pump did you get?

My money is on the failure of the lift pump too...
Don't worry about venturing too far in the event of you having to be towed back. Mashing the pedal into the floor in first gear will let you know in a few meters if the power is there or not.
Give it a try, and if it's still struggling to pull its weight, then it could just be that your old pump is still alive and you may have a blockage in the fuel lines.
It wouldn't hurt to remove the small circular inspection cover from the timing chest cover and try to listen whiles the engine idles to confirm if the noise is indeed emanating from the FIP.
Good luck.

Cheers guys.

I've just been out for a little play now to try and track the fault down.

Removing the fuel filter end of the pipe from lift pump to fuel filter and turning the engine over results in loads of diesel coming out the pipe, so all good to fuel filter... Pretty sure lift pump is good.

I fitted a Delphi lift pump yesterday, as above, seems to be doing its job fine.

Jobs for tomorrow are check for blockages in fuel lines between filter and FI pump, and change fuel filter if I can get hold of one.

A handy trick to source cause of noise is hold a big screwdriver/ breaker bar up to your ear and resting on point you think noise is coming from. Will not always pinpoint noise as it travels through block but gets louder the nearer you are to it.

Cheers Mick, I've actually got a mechanics stethoscope, the noise is definitely coming from the FI pump, but I can't work out why!

It will be the fuel filter, mine did exactly the same after i had run the tank low on fuel. Must have picked a load of crap up from the bottom of the tank and clogged the filter. Ran perfectly once changed.

R0B said:

It will be the fuel filter, mine did exactly the same after i had run the tank low on fuel. Must have picked a load of crap up from the bottom of the tank and clogged the filter. Ran perfectly once changed.

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I will be SO happy if this is the case.

I did run the tank pretty low, it took 45 litres to fill it so couldn't be nice in there!

I will replace that tomorrow - thanks.

Filter changed this morning and I have taken it for a 10 mile fast drive, and I cannot replicate original fault!

So far so good.

Thanks Rob!!

gregsargent said:

Filter changed this morning and I have taken it for a 10 mile fast drive, and I cannot replicate original fault!

So far so good.

Thanks Rob!!

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No probs, i always keep a spare filter in my dash incase it happens when im far from home.

Sounds like a good idea! Done 60 miles in total today and all still running sweet and no noise! Thanks again, landyzone once again has been invaluable