Fuelling woes Vito W639

[VitoCorleone08]

Hi all,
Broke down at the weekend. Loss of power, big engine shake that went through the whole van, lots of white smoke from the tailpipe and weirdly, also the engine bay, strong raw diesel aroma. Would run at idle but not rev. Got it recovered home, and started diagnosing the problem yesterday. Now it will crank, briefly fire but won’t rev at all and dies as soon as the starter isn’t cranking it….presents like it’s out of fuel so checked injectors for leaks and all seems good….injector seals are ok, no chuffing etc from bores. Got good fuel flow at filter spigot out to high pressure pump. Pump pressure with rail feed disconnected is virtually nothing…dribbling out when cranking. Not sure how that works but I would’ve expected a strong spurt at pressure No fuel at injectors. Scanned it with a snap on diagnostic and not throwing any fuel pressure related codes. Live data (see attached pic) shows good compression and building fuel pressure, which is contrary to what I’m seeing at the injectors as there’s not a drop of fuel coming out when I crack the nut on any of them. I’m thinking it’s either the pump or a rail sensor/fuel cut off solenoid gone down. Any suggestions as to where I can look/test to pin it down to a specific part?

Massive thanks in advance…I’m in a bit of a bind as this is my work vehicle

 

[Andyg54889]

I have a similar problem with a code of P0263 Cylinder 1 Contribution / Balance if I suss mine out I'll let you know

 

[VitoCorleone08]

I have a similar problem with a code of P0263 Cylinder 1 Contribution / Balance if I suss mine out I'll let you know

Did a leak off test on mine, and looks like injector three is stuck closed….would explain the lack of fuel pressure, it’s all bleeding back off into the low pressure side of the rail . Unfortunately, whoever had the injectors out last has made a godawful mess of refitting them…injectors 3 and 4 hold down clamp bolts have been butchered with threaded bar and a nut instead of the proper bolts and are now seized in the head so I’m waiting to get it into a specialist diesel machine shop to get them removed and the threads repaired properly

 

[m80]

Did a leak off test on mine, and looks like injector three is stuck closed….would explain the lack of fuel pressure, it’s all bleeding back off into the low pressure side of the rail . Unfortunately, whoever had the injectors out last has made a godawful mess of refitting them…injectors 3 and 4 hold down clamp bolts have been butchered with threaded bar and a nut instead of the proper bolts and are now seized in the head so I’m waiting to get it into a specialist diesel machine shop to get them removed and the threads repaired properly

Easy said,
but I would seriously consider a pre loved head.

 

[VitoCorleone08]

Easy said,
but I would seriously consider a pre loved head.

I did mention that to them, but they said this is well within the realms of what they can repair and it would be far cheaper to fix than replace. They have an excellent reputation in my area, and a few people I know have had work done by them and been very happy with it, so I thought I’d give them a shot and see what happens

 

[VitoCorleone08]

Quick update….so four new injectors, helicoiled inserts for the injector bolts, 4 snapped glowplugs extracted and 4 new glowplugs fitted, and a total bill of £1500 and I have a practically brand new fuel delivery system on a van that still doesn’t run
Definitely getting fuel at pressure now, so that’s been rather expensively ruled out but still cranks, fires and immediately dies. Garage removed the EGR to check it and it is practically brand new. They’ve had the DPF off to check it and it’s not blocked. They did a manual compression test and its significantly down in cylinders one and two although they didn’t give me the measurements unfortunately. I’m beginning to think the fuelling was a bit of a red herring and it’s a slipped timing chain or a valve problem
Anyone have any pearls of wisdom before I weigh it in?