Rover 75 cdt advise please

[Rocket88]

My Rover 75 diesel is becoming a tad reluctant to start, as is getting worse. Once started, runs fine. Do I have impending OMG fuel pump doom. If so, there's a bloke on ebay selling both pumps for about £150 [i've heard that you may as well replace both] Does this sound too cheap to be true?

[dollywobbler]

Have a mooch on the 75 and ZT forum. Bloomin' helpful lot and I seem to recall there was a simple trick to tell if the rear fuel pump has packed up. The pump should run with ignition turn on, but obviously they've done their utmost to ensure you can't hear it - being a premium product etc.

 

Is it spinning and not catching or running lumpy and making smoke?

[Rocket88]

Spinning and not catching. When she starts, she's fine

[Minimad5]

Does it always happen below quarter of a tank ?

 

I put my money on glowplugs, but i could be wrong.

[Rocket88]

Lower the fuel, the worse it is , I suspect that the "in tank" pump may be on the way out. Glow plug light goes out pretty quickly [about 2/3 seconds when stone cold]

[dollywobbler]

The recommendation is to never let them drop below quarter of a tank as it's a saddle design, which means that the side of the pick-up can be emptier than that 1/4 gauge reading. Could well be the tank pump. I'd tip the seat forward and listen for it, perhaps with an assistant to turn the ignition on. The reason people advise to change both is that if one packs up, the other one has to work overtime and so is liable to future failure.

[254575]

are these the ones with the 2 part tank, the shape of a lower case n. and the internal pump that sends the fuel from one side to the other that can fail?

 

the urban legend being that it was designed that way to make way for the transmission tunnel as a RWD BMW design.

[Rocket88]

I'll try that, I've a feeling you could be right about the "in tank" pump, as the one under the bonnet appears to be working [i can hera it faintly buzzing when I switch on the ignition.

[dollywobbler]

are these the ones with the 2 part tank, the shape of a lower case n. and the internal pump that sends the fuel from one side to the other that can fail?

 

the urban legend being that it was designed that way to make way for the transmission tunnel as a RWD BMW design.

 

All myth I'm afraid. The saddle tank does straddle a sort-of tunnel, but the exhaust runs down it. Very few cars have an entirely flat floor, even FWD ones. Don't forget that re-engineering the 75 for RWD was a massive task, that required a much larger tunnel and a completely redesigned fuel tank amongst other things.

 

The tank doesn't have a pump, but relies on movement to slosh fuel into each side. Problem is, especially on a long motorway run, there's no G-force to make this happen, so you can run out of fuel even when the gauge reckons you've got plenty. Doesn't seem very well thought out!

[Pete-M]

I have problems understanding why they ever made it FWD.

[Rocket88]

are these the ones with the 2 part tank, the shape of a lower case n. and the internal pump that sends the fuel from one side to the other that can fail?

 

the urban legend being that it was designed that way to make way for the transmission tunnel as a RWD BMW design.

 

All myth I'm afraid. The saddle tank does straddle a sort-of tunnel, but the exhaust runs down it. Very few cars have an entirely flat floor, even FWD ones. Don't forget that re-engineering the 75 for RWD was a massive task, that required a much larger tunnel and a completely redesigned fuel tank amongst other things.

 

The tank doesn't have a pump, but relies on movement to slosh fuel into each side. Problem is, especially on a long motorway run, there's no G-force to make this happen, so you can run out of fuel even when the gauge reckons you've got plenty. Doesn't seem very well thought out!

 

Just to clarify the above, from what I can gather there's a pump in the tank, and one under the bonnet, but the one in the tank doesn't move the fuel from one side to the other?

[dollywobbler]

Correct. IIRC, the tank one is low pressure to get fuel from tank to engine, then the engine bay one is higher pressure.