Delphi injection on the 1.5 dCi: air in the fuel, metal swarf, regulator or injectors

Engine / equipment

1.5 dCi (K9K) with Delphi common-rail injection

Period mentioned

No specific period published

Symptoms

Hard to start or will not start, stalls, loses power or jerks; sometimes air bubbles show in the clear fuel pipe.

Possible cause described

The usual faults of the K9K's Delphi system are air getting into the low-pressure circuit, metal swarf from the pump contaminating the whole system, the pump's inlet metering valve (IMV), injectors with too much return flow and the rail pressure sensor.

Check for the garage

At the workshop, in this order: look for air and leaks in the low-pressure circuit and prime it; check the fuel filter bowl for metal swarf (if there is any, the whole injection system is replaced); measure the rail pressure, the IMV regulator's resistance (4.8–5.8 Ω) and each injector's return flow (25 ml at most in the test). A new injector's code must be written into the ECU.

Cost cited in the source

No verified estimate; it varies widely, from a filter or the regulator to the whole injection system.A rough figure from the original database, not an up-to-date quote.

Sources from the original database