fiestaturbo.com

[Boostjunky]

Hi anyone know if there is a way of testing to see if your fpr is knackered
Trying to diagnose a running fault I have on my car and am know grasping at straws so want to check if the fpr is my problem

I noticed that when I crack the fuel pipe feed to the rail it only dribbles out and in past experience it usually sprays out as is under pressure

I've already swapped the fuel pump for a known working one with the damper bypassed on it to be sure
But still the same so wondered if the fuel reg is at fault

Arrggh getting to the end of my tether with this car lol
Doing my nut any info on testing it would help ta

[Boostjunky]

Just to add I've pulled vac pipe off top of fpr and waited 5 mins or so and no fuel coming out
Although it does smell of fuel vapour

Think car is lean due to low pressure at the rail but unsure
Car idles badly and hunts to the point it cuts out
Checked and tryd most thing vac pipes one way valves

Pump itself and breather system to no avail

Any ideas pls

[FRSJON]

well just to add that no fuel will come out of the vac pipe...and whenever ive undone the feed from the rail its never been under pressure...probably best to just change it for another and see if it improves

[FRSJON]

well just to add that no fuel will come out of the vac pipe...and whenever ive undone the feed from the rail its never been under pressure...probably best to just change it for another and see if it improves

[Boostjunky]

Cheers Jon was thinking that was going to be the case
Pain in the backside this car since getting it on the road after a 4 year layup

[FRSJON]

Cheers Jon was thinking that was going to be the case
Pain in the backside this car since getting it on the road after a 4 year layup

if you struggle to find another one let me know

[Boostjunky]

Cheers Jon will do tbh sick of spending on it lately
It's had a new map sensor ,wastegate actuator ,new co pot
All breather and vac pipes checked ... Also done the headgasket to be sure it wasn't that

Oh and iscv but still got this annoying hesitation and misfire on idle just can't seem to sort it

Tbh thinking a gallon of fuel and box of matches may cure it for good damn car
Wouldn't mind but drives clean as a whistle when driving its just idle

Started off doing it intermittently until its now like that all the time
Plugged it in and only code stored was co pot ,so changed that for a known working one and still same ??

It's strange as if I unplug the co pot plug it runs a lot cleaner on idle not perfect but better ??

[georgiocat]

Any idea on what pressure is it set up?If you haven't got a gauge installed to monitor fuel pressure and begin to play with it's screw,it is very easy to detune it.Eitherway I would suggest to install a gauge,it is a piss easy job and helps you have an idea on what's goιng on with your fuel system.In general you can test the fuel pressure regulator only by a gauge and by disconnecting the vacuum hose on tick over,it must add 0.5 bar when disconnected,and when on tickover again,momentarily,squeeze with with a pliers the fuel return hose.This will rise the fuel pressure agin,but don't do it often or for long because you stress the fuel pump seals in that way.From what you describe,chances are it runs rich on tick over.If it clears up when driving or under boost,it may have higher pressure than needed on idle.

[Boostjunky]

the car is totally std so don't have a gauge and was running fine then intermittently started to play up
Now idles badly most of the time now and occasionally ok

And still has the metal plug Intact on the regulator so will still be factory set

[georgiocat]

Hmmm...then i guess that misadjustment is not the case...I am afraid that if you don;t connect a fuel gauge,you can;t be sure for the proper function of the regulator...

[Boostjunky]

Yeah a right pain Georgio frustrating as he'll
Just thinking it may be best to try another regulator ??

[FRSJON]

Yeah a right pain Georgio frustrating as he'll
Just thinking it may be best to try another regulator ??

for the sake of two bolts/hoses its a easy one to check

[Boostjunky]

Well I'm going to collect one from widnes this week sometime as its the nearest place to me that has one

Will update when I've tried it ,but coincidentally tonight it's ran faultless again Red cars are always bad luck for me hahahaah..

Shame cos its a great car otherwise

[Boostjunky]

Offending red car involved

[georgiocat]

Well,if you ignore the fact that sometimes you want to light it with a match and let it burn in ashes,when they run as they should,you forget everything!Don't you?! I hope you find the problem...I would also check the electrics...perhaps there is a flaw with the fuel pump wirring...check the loom connectors,the sender connector,and why not,spray some wd40 to the connectors in the engine bay...you never know...intermitant troubles is the most difficult to solve...

[Boostjunky]

Yeah think all rs cars are the same run great for 15mins and in that space of time you forget all the troubles and issues you've had with them hahahah

As for the electrics I've been over the whole lot ,spent a complete week crawling over all the loom and sensors and all ok apart from finding I have a dead co pot with no resistance ,swapped that and still no change

All earths ok no visible shorts ,continuity fine and pinned it all out from fusebox forwards with no joy

Trouble is I know its going to be something very very silly

[jayrs]

If the fuel feed pipe isn't letting much fuel out then it's not the FPR, as the fuel feed comes off the filter into the rail, and the FPR regulates what goes back to the tank, so if your getting a dribble from the feed pipe I would change the fuel filter, or at least check to see what sort of fuel come out the pipe before the filter.

Poss cause could be a blocked feed pipe, a collapsed few pipe (rubber hose) a split throttle dampener (between pipe and outlet pipe on sender unit) a faulty pump, a blocked strainer bag which fits in the base of the pump.
There could also be an electrical issue meaning the pump isn't getting enough voltage to power it correctly, I.e could be a faulty suppressor (black box thing on under side if sender unit) or maybe a bad connection in the plug?
This is all assuming there is no issue with the ecu, if the ecu is chipped, it may be worth trying it without the chip also

[Boostjunky]

That's the weird thing jay I've swapped the pump for a good known working one I had with new strainer fitted and the damper bypassed after searching on here found that little tip !!!
All pipes both feed and return checked for blockage and no probs there either ,brand new fuel filter fitted too ,and also probed the pump whilst running under load and lowest voltage seen was 11.9v which IMHO is good considering its all original wiring ...

Ecu has never been chipped and car still runs Amal valve and std boost pressure

[jayrs]

Hmmm, If I remember rightly, and it's been a while lol, the pump is controlled via the earth wire by the ecu.
I think I would be tempted to run a live and earth direct to the pump and see what it does, if it starts squirting out fuel as it's meant to, then the problem is within the control Of the pump, not the pump etc

[georgiocat]

11.9V is kind of low for the fuel pump....Keep in mind that when the engine running,normaly the voltage is around 13.5.You have voltage drop,which is no good for the mixture also...it may run a bit lean.What is the voltage on the battery terminals when the engine is running?Think that if you have 11.9V in the fuel pump,whan the rad fan for example kicks in,and you have the headlights on,voltage drops in dangerously low levels...Measure the battery voltage and if it is in specs,I would suggest to lay a new feed line controlled by a relay from the ecu.This is how it is now,but due to aged wiring and perhaps corroded contacts in the fuel pump relay,you may have lower fuel volume from the fuel pump.ECU controls a relay normaly which turns on and off the fuel pump.Have you noticed for example that the problems occure mostly at night?It could explain some troubles you've got....

[Boostjunky]

Yes admittedly 11.9v was the very lowest voltage I saw and was like you say was only when fan kicked in , most of the time it was around the 12.9v+ range .....

Voltage at battery with car running is 13v+ there so no issues ,not running over 12v .. Also ran both pumps direct to 12 v in a bowl of 2t oil to measure pump rate and both were almost identical give or take 200mm


Also was thinking if it wasn't getting enough fuel flow surely it wouldn't pull cleanly to 5k even with the idle issue as would have thought low pump voltage or an issue with that would have shown under heavy demand/load on it

Plugs are definately showing as being lean though which does worry me ,no soot or carbon buildup at all and if anything a touch white ,which is why I'm not really using the car much at the minute

Its funny as whilst off the road last 4 years always started idled no probs at all ,but as soon as finished and got it on the road my issue started ???

[mikeymikeyp]

sounds a funny one mate you seem to have changed most things ,,i guess you set up the mixture/emmisions when you changed the co pot have you had a fuel guage on it,, changed the fuel filter ,maybe a wee bit of s**t in the filter and when you put the boot down fuel flows enough and when its resting it causes a block??
The fact the fpr is still origonal means its old so maybe its just not 100%..

What ecu you using ofab/c

[Boostjunky]

It's on ofab hopefully have a regulator tomorrow to try anyway so see what happens

[georgiocat]

Really strange...even with the CO pot disconnected,ECU will substitute a value for running,although I wouldn't running it in that state. Have you measure the new pot you installed?Does it show any value?The fact that the colour of the spark plugs show that the engine is running lean worries me...I would buy and connect a fuel gauge,since you can't do any adjustments on the fuel system without it,( mechanically speaking,net electrically),and would help you to rule out things like blockage,fuel pump volume etc etc...also there is the chance of blocked injectors which under partialy load and idiling flow a bit and under more duty cycle flow more,but usually this is not happening,what is common is that they don't seal properly and flow more.This has as a result the engine run rich...It seems that you have a series of flaws,you must start from somewhere and solve...it is a tad of complex situation....failing to source and connect a fuel pressure gauge,I would look at the CO pot case first...do you need any schematics for OFAB?I can post if you want,they are accurate,I used them to do the transplant in my Escort...

[Boostjunky]

Yeah Georgio I have all the ofab schematics and used those to check for continuity and make sure the loom is all ok. Which it was ,

new co pot was tested and found to have a resistance of 6k which is about right bearing in mind it was set to another car, my original co pot didn't even show a resistance which confirmed the diagnostic of a faulty co pot

Strange tho when I plug new co pot in it idles really badly but when unplugged it idles a lot better but like you say not good as that co pot adjusts mixture across the revrange

Tried a regulator today and no difference at all really am at a loss ,could do with trying another ofab ecu really just to satisfy my curiosity as running out of ideas now ....

Might even trya and get an adjustable reg with gauge just. To fit temporary to see what's happening pressure wise ??

I even changed the inlet gaskets ,both of them in case it was drawing in air but it wasn't , whilst there checked the spray pattern on the injectors whilst cranking car over and all 4 look good nice uniform pattern so know its getting enough fuel in cylinder just can't explain it

Timing is fine also as checked it wasn't a tooth off or anything ,but being honest knew it wouldn't be that as the fault wouldn't have started intermittently as it did

Which tells me its something mechanical or electrical that has worn and then broke altogether ????

[Boostjunky]

Have many people had ecu,s go faulty as tempted to open it and check for dry solder joints and such like

[georgiocat]

Regarding CO pot...it can do weird things in engine running.Tha fact that you pluged it in,doesnt't mean that it will run fine the engine...Just to clear out...is it new or second hand one?Either way you must set it up in your car,it is not a plug and forget situation...altough you will need a wideband lamda to set it up,a rough guide just for testing purposes is to find it's middle value...if you have a multimeter,connect it to one of the end connectors of the pot,and the other probe to the pot runner pin and start to turn it till you read the value of approximate 3 K.Since the pot is a precision one,it will have to be turned some times.If I recall right it is about 20 or thirty turns from side to side.Connect it and start to turn it 1 turn at a time till you begin to hear the engine runs different.Counterclockwise enrichens and clockwise leans the mixture...you will need to set it up properly at some stage to avoid melting a piston,but for start you can try it.Just avoid boosting all the time if you take it for a spin,when you are approximately in the safe zone you will feel it,it will gradually start to idle fine and pull with no hesitation...