I recently purchased a used 96 Disco from my brother in law. He never used it and it has been sitting for a year. I put a new battery in it and it cranks, has sparks, and the fuel pump seems to run, but it wont start. I originally assumed this problem was in the fuel system and replaced the fuel filter and uncovered the fuel pump, loosened the fittings and watched it pump when the engine is cranked. It does not pump when the key is turned on without cranking the engine. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

There is a fuel pressure test point on the passenger side fuel rail, like a tire valve. Expect 32-34 PSI there when pump is running. The fuel pump relay is on the fenderwall, part of the multi-function relay box. Switches 12 volts thru the inertia switch on fire wall (push button on top to reset). Pump draws like 5 amps. And it should run for about 2 seconds in position 2 to prime. There is also a fuel pressure regulator on the driver side fuel rail, rear, and a six inch long vacuum line to the intake.

 

Bad gas, water in the gas tank.
If it was not stored with a full tank of gas it will have gotten water in it and the fuel pump will be pumping more water than gas to the engine because water is heavier than gas so the water is sitting on the bottom of the gas tank and the fuel pump always sucks off the bottom of the tank.
Press the schrader valve on the engine and see what comes out, water or fuel.

 

As I am new to your forum, I might being telling you something you already know and I am not sure about the US models, but the ones we have in Australia have a black box known as a "spider" (for some reason ??) buried in behind the radio/heater that controls the fuel pump, cranking and ignition as part of the security system.

Because of it's location, it can be subject to heat and cold changes that causes dry solder joints on the circuit board. This leads to intermittent/permanent starting issues.
There are bypass plugs available or pull the whole middle of the dash out to get to the black box and re-solder all the cold joints on the PCB.

HTH

Paul

 

Loosen the fittings, have someone turn the key to ON. The pump should run for a few moments to prime the system then shut off. If it does you either have bad fuel or an ignition problem. If it doesn't pump you have a fuel delivery problem.

 

If it sat for a year and was never run, I'd be concerned about dry rotted gaskets as well.

 

Check placement of plug wires.