creaseuk

Thanks for the tip Legoland. I was worried about exactly the same thing. I did hook it up to 12v (well my neighbor did) & it squirted foul gas all over me (very funny Glen). That shows its not siezed. I've bought a new fuel sieve from Pelican Parts (because they have a forum too , and I find that helpful) , when I come to fit it - I'm going to take the bleed but off the fuel pump & clean it out.
Talking of how helpful forums are ; just before I started work in the car yesterday I read an article from a poster about a 928 with exactly the same "black chips" problem. It does help to share & I appreciate all of your comments regarding my predicament ..

Legoland951

You are lucky because the pump is the most expensive part of the fix. There is also a check valve that is screwed onto the pump. Sometimes the spring loaded ball will have gunk and rust on it so a simple poke of a small metal rod will free it. If your pump is not turning at all when in the car, then you want to check for voltage at the pump and work your way back if there is no power. DME relay jump is very helpful to see if the relay is bad. This happens often though not from sitting. Is your pump turning while in the car and cranking?

16valver

Not that it matters, but I believe that is not an '89 car. You've got early offset wheels, and they fit. I'd guess '85.5 or '86.

Congrats on the find, though!! Thats ugly stuff. I would advise, while you're in there, getting a good visual of the high pressure soft lines that go from pump to filter, and filter to hard line. It may not hurt to replace those ones while you've got everything off in order to avoid future catastrophe. Genuine replacements can be had from pelican for not too much money.

creaseuk

You may have guessed here but I'm a complete Numptie when it comes to mechanics.. I've learned a lot from this endeavor.
Legoland - Yes thats precisely what I intend to do. Remove that valve thingy and clean it.. I've already replaced the 10amp fuel pump sender fuse & the DME relay. I could 'jump' the fuel pump if I did the paperclip thing with the DME. So, I'm still not sue that my new DME isn't faulty.. My concern is that I'll put it all back together & it still won't start. There wasn't much pressure in the fuel that the neighbor squirted out of the pump.. Although, there is another pump to use. My guess would be that Mom had an ex-boyfriend try to fix the staring issue. He replaced the fuel pump, hose (with radiator hose) and fuel filter. But he did not look at the fuel strainer or the DME or fuses. So, I'm hoping the original problem was electrical and the "Black Bits" are just a result of his botched repair.. He should have had you guys to help!!!
16Valver... Mom has no idea where the paperwork is for the car .. I was guessing it was a 1989 because nothing in the Haynes manual looks like that car (the haynes manual covers car up to 1989). Does being a 1986 model make it more or less valuable (desirable)

creaseuk

He'res a good question - Can i use compressed air to blow the lines through - if I take the fuel line off the fuel rail at one end and off the pump at the other. Logic would suggest that I could blow through any debris in the hoses if I blow from the fuel rail end?

creaseuk

Legoland- While cleaning the totally enormous and unnecessary fuel tank cover - I did notice there is an inspection cover- I intend to fully use (remove) that cover before re-assembly..

Legoland951

If the car runs on starting fluid, the car is getting good spark, crank sensors are working, and the DME is working. Your problem is fuel. When you jump the wire, does the pump run? If it does, you will have pressure at the rail. There is a 19mm cap at the end of the fuel rail. Take that cap off while you hold the square part of the rail with another wrench or it may twist the rail and break causing a leak. When you crank the car over, you should see fuel come out (catch with cup). If you have fuel this far, then your injectors are stuck though it is unlikely all 4 are stuck. Keep up with the updates and I can try to walk you through this.

creaseuk

Thanks Legoland - I'm just wating for the new sieve to arrive - then I'll be crawling underneath again.. As info I can jump the pump but still no fuel out of the rail .. I'm hoping that's because the pump is gunked up with 'black bits'. Stay tuned & I'll let you know what happens after I take the 17mm nut off the pump.

Legoland951

black bits will not stop a spinning pump from transferring fluid unless it jams the pump which keeps it from spinning. If it spins, I would assuming it is pumping and the check valve is blocked or else it will have fuel at the rail. How did you check for fuel at the rail? Did you remove the 19mm cap from the end of the rail? When you jump the pump, did you put the hose of the pump into a new vat of gas outside of the car?

creaseuk

Snakes & Ladders

I fitted the new 'in tank' sieve - a new transfer pipe between tank & pump..
Sadness - The fuel pump still doesn't work unless I 'jump' the DME relay (I've mailed the supplier of the new DME relay, maybe its a duff)!
Joy- I now have fuel at the fuel rail
Back Down the snakes - The car doesn't start because.... Although there is the fuel at the rail, the spark plugs are gagging with their dryness..
Next job..... Clean the Injectors ..
I did blow back the fuel lines and there was tooo many black bits spurted out !!

Although I thing the injectors need cleaning - I'm STILL plagued with electrical issues.
Plodding on .. For Mom

Ky944TurboNewbie

I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned yet on a car that has been sitting for 10 years, but you should not start the car until the timing belt has been inspected. I would bet there are many cracks in the belt and it is possible it will break. If the belt breaks, the 944 has an interference engine and that means bent valves and possibly worse. You are in for a very expensive engine rebuild at that point.

I would be thankful the car hasn't run to this point and change the timing belt as soon as possible. Please see this recent thread.

http://www.944online.com/cgi-bin/for...num=1374781547

theiceman

you obviously have a seriously contaminated fuel system which is predicatabl eon a car that has sat that long .

1. Drop tank and have it flushed or you could be right back where you started .
2. Replace any "soft fuel lin ein the system from the tank all the way to the rail
3. Backflush any line from the rail back to the tank end with any type of cleaner and blow it out with low pressure.
4. Have injectors tested / cleaned rebuilt
5. disconnect rail from engine and put injectors in a container so you are not spraying into cyliders , make sure all are providing good spray patterns ( should be good after cleaning and testing )

Then just rock and roll with other things that should be checked from sitting car.

creaseuk

Thanks for all of your comments - I'm still plugging on with this (between work & hospital/ surgery visits for Mom)..

So... Here's what I have found out. I ordered a SECOND DME relay only to find that installing it didn't start the car..I still have fuel at the rail but not in the cylinders.. I can still start the car with fluid... Then.. for some reason I decided to check the DME Controller... HEY PRESTO - It wasn't plugged in... So I disconnected the battery, connected the controller, re-connected the battery & attempted to start the car ... STILL NOTHING... So, tomorrow (when I have time) I'm going to whip off the fuel rail & check the injectors. I already know they're not 'clicking'..

creaseuk

What I really need is a working 944 of similar vintage to test my DME Controller on.. Any of you guys near Fairfield CA??

Legoland951

Now you have fuel at the rail you have eliminated many potential problems. Only thing remain is that the injectors not firing for some reason. This can be due to mechanical failure of the injectors (though it is unlikely since all 4 are not functioning or the car will try to sputter and run on 1 or 2 cylinders) or lack of injector pulse due to the DME or a short in the injector wires. Get a "noid" light, which is an injector pulse light at your local auto store and pull one of the injector electrical plugs, plug in pulse light, crank car, and if you see injector pulse, you have injector mechanical failure. If it has no pulse, then we can further diagnose the problem.