Hi All,

We've been on the road for two months now on a road trip through southern africa in our td5 defender. We took the car in a few days ago for a sheduled minor service and now the car is turning but it won't start! Originally we thought the problem was with the fuel filter and the system had an airlock, as the fuel pump sounded normal and the pressure of fuel to the engine seemed fine. We fitted a brand new fuel filter and have tried all the priming techniques listed on the Land Rover forums. We are now being told the fuel pump has failed, as the pressure of fuel getting to the filter is very weak. But the fuel pump was replaced just before we left (with a brand new genuine pump!).

Could it be possible that the fuel pump has failed due to continuous priming of the fuel line? Has anyone had a similar problem? we'd really appreciate any advice!!!

 

Unlikely to fail from priming. It's not unheard of for a new part to fail soon after installation.
I'm not familiar with the TD5. I know it's an in tank pump, but I think it's a low pressure pump.
If it is, you should be able to rig a temporary gravity feed by putting a fuel can on the roof with a siphon connected to the filter inlet. If the engine starts, the pump is bad.

Before you go to that effort you may want to confirm with someone more familiar with the TD5's.
Good luck.

 

There are 2 fuel pumps on a diesel, the low pressure one, that one just brings fuel from the tank to the engine and the injector pump.
That one puts the fuel under high pressure (around 15,000psi if I remember right).
If either one of them fails or gets weak your engine will not run.
Did you fill the fuel filter with fuel before putting it back on?
If not is it fuel of fuel now?
You can test the low pressure fuel pump by removing the fuel filter and turning the key to the "run" position but do NOT try and start the engine.
If you get fuel dumping out of the fuel line then the low pressure fuel pump is probably good and you need to look into the injector pump.
This is not specific to Land Rover, all diesel engines are this way, except your big ones, like big trucks, tractors, etc.
To test the injector pump you would need to remove a fuel line from the fuel rail and then try and start the engine.
The injector pump is almost always mechanical so the engine needs to be turning over to test it.
If the timing is off on the injector pump then you will need a new one unless you can adjust the injector timing on that pump, I have no idea if you can do that on a LR engine or not.
If they say you need a new fuel pump then you probably do and it should be under warranty since it is a LR part.
Good luck and please let us know how you make out.