Hi everyone, just after a bit of advice really, has anyone had the fuel shut off solenoid fail on a diesel P38 - the one thats on the FIP??

I had a somewhat interesting day today trying to get home when mine failed and only half opened (well from what I can assume anyway - engine drove as though it was being starved of fuel). Going up a hill at 10-15mph with a huge queue of traffic late on a Friday afternoon was not my idea of fun nor many other peoples it would seem

Managed to make it back to my specialist (they were closer to me than home and my diagnostic kit was) and they hooked up their machine and it said the solenoid was the problem. Cleared the fault, restarted, engine revs jumped up to 2000rpm for a second or two before dropping back down and leaving the check engine light on with the same fault still being logged - just like before.

After much debate on whether I should take the courtesy car we decided to try one final thing and give the solenoid a tap with a long extension bar. Spun the engine over and it started perfectly this time and has started and worked fine ever since. I have borrowed the lucky extension bar off my specialist for the moment

I am going to have the solenoid replaced on Tuesday but I'm worried it might be something else, has anyone else had this solenoid fail??

-Wills

Hello Wills - where have you been hiding then ?
Glad to see old fashioned cures work even with the P38's ...........................................if it don't work, hit it with something !

ha when I saw you had replied I thought, 'damn, I can hear it now - should of got the V8' or something similar!

Not really been hiding, just busy with lots of work - need to do some occasionally, especially since I spent a bit too much last weekend at the Billing LR show!

I couldn't quite believe it either when we gave it a bash and it then started fine

-Wills

I think the "should have got a V8" is wearing a bit thin now
Can't help you with your engine since it uses the fuel of Satan, but surely it's got to be worth changing the solenoid - they can't be that dear, can they ?

Should have got a V8 ...oh sorry

Having just re-read your first post, I missed a good opportunity there - surely 10-15 mph up hill is pretty good for a diesel ?

v8kenny said:

I think the "should have got a V8" is wearing a bit thin now
Can't help you with your engine since it uses the fuel of Satan, but surely it's got to be worth changing the solenoid - they can't be that dear, can they ?

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Only around £70 notes so not really that dear but was just wondering whether it had happened to anyone before and if so did it eventually turn out to be a bigger problem?? My specialist did wonder whether the FIP might be getting old and worn and it might have been a bit of metal swarf causing the plunger on the solenoid to stick. Guess time will tell and we see what happens on Tuesday!

-Wills

wills said:

it might have been a bit of metal swarf causing the plunger on the solenoid to stick.

-Wills

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had that happen on a 2.5 iveco van rite bugger to spot

I am just about to change the stop soleniod on my P38 DT as the engine turns over and over without starting, heaters are working, fuel pump renewed (in tank) 2 months ago, fuel going in to FIP under pressure, but nothing coming out to injectors. The obvious thing that springs to mind is the stop solenoid,as I feel it should at least start and idle if electronics to pump or ECM playing up.

I had the solenoid changed and so far, touch wood, all is fine <touches some more wood>.

Before replacing the stop solenoid does the injector light come on at ignition and then go out after a few seconds, and, if it does, does it then light up again while cranking trying to get the engine started??

Is there no way you can have it hooked upto a diagnostic machine to see what faults, if any, exist in the engine ECU??

-Wills

Thanks for your comments Wills, The trouble is , the car is parked up on the road,2 miles from home in a heavily parked residential road, so towing/ loading on to a transporter is difficult as it is an auto. The battery will be flat by now, but I've got round that with a Clarkes 1500 amp diesel jump starter, as it's almost impossible to park close enough to it for jump leads to reach. Once the car has started the battery has enough charge in about 18 miles running. If I use it regularly I have no trouble starting, but occaisionally I get the dreaded battery drain if left for more than about 10 days. Fuel injection pump electronic module and tank pumps were both replaced in May and it's been running fine since then and 2 weeks ago I left it for 3 days and battery was fine but just no fuel getting to injectors. Loosen the fuel pipe into the FIP and fuel gushed out, but loosen any injector pipe whilst cranking and nothing came out. Hoping its not a sheared drive! ( No nasty noises though).

Just looking back through old posts I made and thought I would update this.

Replaced solenoid and all was fine for around 3 weeks until the seals that had been occasionally letting fuel drip out of the pump when cold decided to finally dry up, crumble to nothing and let fuel spray all over the bloody place.

So in the end the injector swarf thing became an irrelevant point as I ended up having the FIP rebuilt with all new seals and other bits and bobs.

So moral of the story here is, if your FIP is leaking, even just a little drip or two, when cold it will get 100 times worse sooner rather than later and you should get it sorted ASAP before you loose quarter of a tank all over the road

-Wills