I posted about my Focus 2.0 TDCi and its warm starting problem a few
weeks ago. It went through a period of starting normally but now the
problem has returned and is getting worse.

It now takes two attempts to start from cold. I thought at one point
that it could be the battery not giving it a good enough crank but
tonight I noticed air bubbles in the line out from the fuel filter when
the engine is running. Not just one or two but quite a lot.

I tried to bleed the filter using the valve on top of the filter housing
but didn't seem to get any air or fuel out. If the filter was blocked,
would that lead to air being drawn in? Is the filter a DIY job? I've
read a lot of stories about the filters on these engines being very
difficult to prime.

TIA,
--
Paul Giverin

My Photos:- www.pbase.com/vendee

On 27/08/2010 19:53, Paul Giverin wrote:
I posted about my Focus 2.0 TDCi and its warm starting problem a few
weeks ago. It went through a period of starting normally but now the
problem has returned and is getting worse.

It now takes two attempts to start from cold. I thought at one point
that it could be the battery not giving it a good enough crank but
tonight I noticed air bubbles in the line out from the fuel filter when
the engine is running. Not just one or two but quite a lot.

I tried to bleed the filter using the valve on top of the filter housing
but didn't seem to get any air or fuel out. If the filter was blocked,
would that lead to air being drawn in? Is the filter a DIY job? I've
read a lot of stories about the filters on these engines being very
difficult to prime.

TIA,

Dunno about the Focus and don't think I saw your original post. I had a
Peugeot where the fuel line, which ran under the car, corroded somewhere
back near the tank and allowed progressively more air in. Eventually
the car got hard to start and wouldn't idle.

Air only gets in if there's somewhere for it to get in. There shouldn't
be, whether the filter is blocked or not.

--
Douglas

Paul Giverin wrote:
I posted about my Focus 2.0 TDCi and its warm starting problem a few
weeks ago. It went through a period of starting normally but now the
problem has returned and is getting worse.

It now takes two attempts to start from cold. I thought at one point
that it could be the battery not giving it a good enough crank but
tonight I noticed air bubbles in the line out from the fuel filter
when the engine is running. Not just one or two but quite a lot.

I tried to bleed the filter using the valve on top of the filter
housing but didn't seem to get any air or fuel out. If the filter was
blocked, would that lead to air being drawn in? Is the filter a DIY
job? I've read a lot of stories about the filters on these engines
being very difficult to prime.

TIA,

I would add a clear bit of pipe before the filter and see if there are
bubbles there, if so work back till you find the leaky bit, if none then fix
the leak at the filter.

I expect that the air is getting in at the filter, but if the pump in the
tank has a fault?

I had a problem years ago with an xr2i, if the tank was completely full it
would run fine, but if it went below about half way it would stop, when I
removed the fuel pump I found that the pipe between the pump and the outlet
was cracked, so it was just blowing the fuel out inside the tank, with fuel
above the crack it could still make enough pressure to run.
I believe yours has a fuel pump inside the tank and so it may be putting air
in inside the tank, which is why I suggest adding some clear pipe before the
filter.