by Dan1el » Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:01 pm
Hi folks!
First, please apologise if my English is not correct or if I can't express myself clearly/nicely – English isn’t my first Language.
I own a
Ford Transit MK4 1994 (around where I live its apparently referred to as MK3)
Type 100L ELD A-3
2.5L 100PS / 73KW
long wheelbase which is converted into a RV and hopefully will last long and be reliable on my trips around Europe.
The fuel pump:
Lucas Epic DSA947
Ser: 08953
Mod: AMG
8720A003A
Now, from the very beginning on I have an issue with the van lacking power approx. half of the time and going into fail mode, both on higher RPM.
It happens like that:
When I drive the van putting the pedal down it's fine first, till the engine gets into higher RPM, eg. going 110km/h+ on the 5th gear. Approximately half of the time it's still fine, pulling with it's 100 horsepower as it should. The other times it would start lacking power in pulses. It accelerates, then lacks power, accelerates again and lacks power again and so on like if I would put the pedal down and release it a bit after a couple of seconds, repeatedly.
This only happens when I really demand power, I’d say 80% of what the engine can do. If I drive calmly - no problem.
And then, from time to time and also on high power and RPM, the engine warning light goes on and the engine turns itself off. After I restart the engine, everything is fine again till I get the engine to deliver 80%+ power again.
What I tried so far:
- Changed the diesel filter, air filter (and oil filter).
- Used diesel engine cleaner: Liqui Moly Pro Line Diesel System Cleaner 500ml twice.
- Changed the stop solenoid of my Lucas Epic pump that stops / turns off the engine. The old valve was done (no sealing rubber on it any more). That changed the behaviour when the engine warning light goes on: before, the engine didn’t turn off, but would keep running at approx. 2000RPM, delivering no power and would only turn off when forced by putting in a gear and releasing the clutch.
- Cleaned the electric plug on the side of the Lucas Epic, improved it (someone made a not so perfect repair before), fixed / mounted it, so it wouldn’t move any more, cleaned the contacts and did more or less the same at the other side of the cable harness to the plug that goes into the control box. I thought that was it as the van ran good for some (little) time, but no.
- Tried different fuels from different petrol stations.
What else? The timing belt, water pump, cooler, the coolers visco clutch that drives the fan and the breaks got renewed, but I doubt that has any relevance to my problem.
Something weird: when I bought the van, there were about 4 litres too much oil in the engine!!!
I lately discovered, that after longer drives the fuel tank develops a vacuum / negative pressure, making a sucking noise when I release the diesel tank lid. So, there war a small hole drilled in the lid. Didn’t help with the engine problem.
I really would like to rule out any cause other than a faulty epic pump, for those are really expensive around here. And as the engine runs fine when I don’t demand too much power, I guess I might not even change the pump if it was the cause. Apart from if that could lead to more damage over time?!
I tried to find someone with a Laser 2000 or similar to read the pumps error. It’s impossible around here. After asking at least 15 repair shops I gave up. I read about a “paper clip trick” in the forum that would apparently apply to my car, but I couldn’t find the info on how to do it. That could be very helpful!!
I think that’s about it. When anything else comes into my mind I’ll add the info.
Thanks to all of you who are willing to read this and special thanks for any tips of conclusions!! For now, I ran out of ideas.
Kind regards from Austria,
Daniel