Dear All, does anyone have an idea on this: Car starts vey well aftrer very few cranks - hot and cold. If you turn it off and want to turn it on again obviously the fuel pump is not switched on and I cant start the engine. This can last for a few minutes to several hous. Then again: Everythng fine, immediate start, after very few cranks. This hapoens with cold & hot engine. On non faulty start I hear a well hearable "clonk" from the engine compartement like a big relay activated. Then I hear the whining noise from the fuel pump. Is there a fuel pressure check switch somewhere? Is the fuel pump close to its end? Help please! Christian
The fuel pump wont be running until the interlock switch inside the injection unit opens and turns on the pump via the fuel pump relay. This is activated by the air metering flap. You can disable this switch by unplugging the connector on the top/rear of the injection unit. So you could try this and see what happens.
FP safety connector and/or FP relays. "Clonk" could imply pressure transient...bad FP or accumulator rupture. no FP relays in engine compartment. Here's the safety switch desc: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/362143-robzworkz-8d-improving-328-fuel-system-peripheral-hoses-remaining-hoses-2.html
My '87 would occasionally make the whining noise. But the engine was not turning over because the starter pinion was not engaging. My solution was to clean all connections from battery to starter. I cannot hear the fuel pump when the engine is cranking.
+1. I could hear the fuel pump whirring and a clonk, which was the starter solenoid trying to engage. The cure was to disassemble the starter and clean the sliding/rotating innards then reassemble using a graphite pen to lubricate the helix mechanism ( I think that's what its called), not grease.
Can't tell if starter is the issue. If Mehl's car was cranking, it would be "after clonk" if the clonk was the solenoid.
I don't crak if I don't hear the fuel pump. The sequence is Ignition on After about half a second clonk & fuel pump starts Then cranking with very immediate engine start. If no clonk, the fuel pump does not start. Cranking doesn't start the engine.
This is not how a stock 328 works -- i.e., in the stock condition, the fuel pump only runs during starter motor cranking or if the engine is actually running (key "on" AND engine drawing in air that opens the safety switch on the airflow metering unit). If your fuel pump runs with the key "on", but the engine not running = some modifications have been made.
should there be voltage (12v) to the pump terminal with the just key on? checked by touching the hot side to the ground?
so the definitive test is to loosen the line to the fuel filter at the accumulator a bit crank the engine and see if fuel leaks out?
That's way too much work Not exactly sure what situation you are asking about, but, if the fuel pump is wrongly running with just the key "on" and the crankshaft not spinning (i.e., not starter more cranking nor engine running), that's easy enough to detect just by sound and/or feel. If you are talking about testing a still stock K-Jet F to see if the fuel pump is working, the start of such an investigation is to find the safety switch, unplug, and key "on" -- again, you should be able to confirm/deny by sound and/or feel if the pump is running (it should under those conditions). Do a search on "safety switch" for prior threads.
