Fuel Pump not priming before starting car
 

I have a 95 318ti, 116k, 5 speed, car has been in storage for nearly 4 years. I replaced the fuel pump and filter, car started up but ran poorly. I replaced the old gas and added gas treatment, however with pump out of tank, it will not prime on the key switch before starting. But, when i attempted to start it, gas was moving and pump was working. Car will only partially start with starter fluid added. Can anyone give good advice on how to proceed. This is the third fuel pump - the new one was cheap and had a crack in the top (leaking gas), now I have a second used one from the junk yard.

:rolleyes:

There were fuel pimp problems, but it should prime on key position 2 (run). I always wait for the pump to stop running before I fire the engine to be sure the fuel rail is full.

You can jumper the fuel pump relay to get it primed.

But back to the pump, you may want to bite the bullet and get an oem pump from the dealer. Older ones were replaced under warranty (mine included and it's a '98) because there were delivery problems as well as sender problems. I was stuck on the side of the highway with no gas- gave read 1/4 tank and that's what I had...

If I understand you correctly, there's an issue with the older model fuel pumps not priming and that even a used one out of a TI could be faulty. I jumped the pump with my car battery to test it before installing and it worked. It's not working on key position 2 - yet pumps when cranking. Question - should gas reach fuel rail/engine if it pumps on crank - last time it started - my mechanic poured gas in the intake manifold - it cranked and ran for 8 min w/rough idle. Question - I can jump the fuel relay on pin 30 and 87 with a wire/paper clip - and the fuel pump will PRIME? do you have a diagram of the fuel relay jump procedure.


Thanks

The pump should prime. If you have some sort of blockage it will not run- maybe attach a hose to a catch can from the schrader valve on the fuel rail (you may have to pull the core if you don't have a chuck to press the center pin) and put the key in position 1. The pump should run with no restrictions and gas should flow out of the rail.

The system is a loop- more fuel than is needed at WOT is delivered to the rail and unused fuel is returned to the fuel tank.

I'm thinking you have a flaky fuel pump relay but the relay would need to be removed from the car to test- don't test it in the circuit.

I believe we have all the ti ETMs here on the site somewhere. I have them as well but not handy at the moment...