While in Adelaide I had a plaintive phone call from youngest son that his Series3 XJ6 had simply stopped on the road and he had to have it towed home. We stated a long-range diagnosis by phone. Put the car into drive and turn to start. Does the fuel pump run? "Yes" says he. Pull the coil lead from the distributor and check for spark. Is there any? "Yes" says he. Disconnect a fuel injector hose from the fuel rail and run the fuel pump in start with the car in drive to see if any fuel comes out. "No fuel" says he. Check the fuel filter can you blow through it? "No" says he. Replace fuel filter with a new one and try again. "Didn't work," says he. All this took a number of phone calls over several days. Finally I said, "I will be home in a few days so hang off until then".

The upshot was that although the fuel pump ran there was no pressure. The pump was opened up and it was found that the pump section had seized but a shear pin system allowed the motor to still run. Another pump was obtained and the car started immediately. So don't be fooled by a fuel injection pump, which sounds to be running OK. Disconnect the fuel line at the outlet and check that there is flow and pressure.
While in Adelaide I had a plaintive phone call from youngest son that his Series3 XJ6 had simply stopped on the road and he had to have it towed home. We stated a long-range diagnosis by phone. Put the car into drive and turn to start. Does the fuel pump run? "Yes" says he. Pull the coil lead from the distributor and check for spark. Is there any? "Yes" says he. Disconnect a fuel injector hose from the fuel rail and run the fuel pump in start with the car in drive to see if any fuel comes out. "No fuel" says he. Check the fuel filter can you blow through it? "No" says he. Replace fuel filter with a new one and try again. "Didn't work," says he. All this took a number of phone calls over several days. Finally I said, "I will be home in a few days so hang off until then".

The upshot was that although the fuel pump ran there was no pressure. The pump was opened up and it was found that the pump section had seized but a shear pin system allowed the motor to still run. Another pump was obtained and the car started immediately. So don't be fooled by a fuel injection pump, which sounds to be running OK. Disconnect the fuel line at the outlet and check that there is flow and pressure.