Im trying to change the fuel filter on an M reg scort 1.8 diesel but the pipes have no primer on them. How do i fill the filter with fuel first? There is just two connections on top of the filter and a bolt on top of it. Can diesel be piped into the filter somehow to fill it up first, i dont want to get stuck with an empty filter and then struggle to get the car started.

Also while im at it, the cooling fan comes on straight away when the engine is turned on. Could a duff relay be causing this or is more likely it has been rewired to be on constantly. Car temp is fine, no overheating and plenty of hot air through the blowers. It cant be good for fueling if the fan starts straight up on a cold start.

 

If no primer is fitted then just use a bit of easy start if necessary, though they should self bleed some do better than others.
You could always take off both pipes and fill the housing/filter that way before starting.
As for the cooling fan, it is obviously ignition controlled so, disconnect the fan switch, if it stops the switch is duff, if not look at sticky relay.
As said you don't want it on and diesels use very LITTLE fan in normal use even when idling for ages.
tabetha

 

Thanks for the help. i managed to do the filter quite easily in the end. I removed the air intake pipe to get to the filter then i undid the nut and filled it up from there. Put the pipes back on and it started and ran for a few secs then cut out. Restarted and it ran loads better. Did the oil and filter also, the filter is hard to gwet a chain round it, no real gap to get it on so i ended up getting it off by hand. New filter and oil and car is quieter and much less smoke. Where is the switch for the fan?? I will get a new relay for it and try that aswell. My golf tdi has never had the fan on yet, it dont go above 90 degrees no matter how long its stuck in traffic. Where are the relays??

 

I imagine but not sure the switch is in the rad near the bottom.
I would think on these the relay would be in the fuse box, if you can find neither, then they are likely ECU controlled, have you checked(12volts) that the fan works ?
tabetha

 

Fan definatly works, it just wont stop working when the car is running. I could probably just unplug it in this cold weather as the car should not get hot enough to start the fan in the first place.

 

Does it have a seperate fan switch ?
Most fans are ECU controlled, and any fan running constant is a sign of a FAULT stored in the ecu, or even a BROKEN connection on FAN sensor will cause this, so by unplugging it will almost certainly cause the fan to be constantly on.
Make sure the connections for the ECU temp sender are good as loss of signal here will cause constant fans also.
tabetha

 

I couldnt find anything on the fan or radiator except for the main wiring loom for the fan. Unplugging it did turn off the fan ( no power to it) and the car ran fine during normal driving but when sat in traffic it started to steam from the engine bay but the temp guage didnt get any higher so the fan was plugged back in and all was fine again afterwards. I think the car is being sold on as it seems to have to many problems with it. Mainly that it smokes a lot and on checking the MOT history online it shows that it has had problems since 2005 of ''excessive smoke for a non-tubo engine''. It will do for a few weeks untill someone buys it who isnt bothered about a bit of smoke.