Non starter

[Alistair E]

Need a bit of help. Car was working fine on Sat morning when I left it the pub carpark to go and play golf. Left it there overnight while I had a few drinks. Went to pick it up yesterday afternoon. It started initially, but only for a second, cut out and then wouldn't start. No problem with battery, engine turned over easily but didn't appear to fire at all. Went back later with a few tools, took the coil cover off and a plug out. Very faint smell of fuel on the plug, not as much as I would have expected. Connected the plug to the coil pack, turned the engine over and there is a spark.
I'm guessing it's fuel related, possibly the pump which has been whining (not overly loudly) for quite a while. I was going to check it, but when I lifted the the back seats, surprise surprise, no pump. That's because it's an avant. I now realise the pump is in the boot.
Anybody have any other suggestions as to what it may be? What else should I check? What's the best way to check the pump?
I have a new 044 pump which I've never got round to fitting. Is it the same fitting kit as the one listed in Greg's how to for the coupe?

Any help gratefully received.

Alistair

[Alistair E]

Anybody?

Another thought may be the immobiliser. How do I check if this is the problem? It's a laserline alarm system. Should have mentioned the car is a 94 aby avant.

[UrS4boy]

Based on a similar experience with my UrS4, I would say your fuel pump was talking to you, whining, and you ignored what it was telling you (I'm dieing here!!), so it died. Fuel pumps in these cars seem to just die with very little warning. Maybe a bit of hard starting one day and then dead the next day. I ignored the hard start on day 1 and drove the car on Day 2 to an evening public meeting about 250 km away. When I came out of the meeting at 10:30 PM, all I got was a feeble start, cough, die, and then cranking with no further starts. Solution was a new pump. In your case, its now time to install that 044.

Good luck.

[Alistair E]

Pump removal

Well, been working on this off and on since it happened. Pump is definitely the culprit.
I've got the cover off the tank, fuel gauge sender is out and then I had a go at the pump basket, initially by hand. Obviously unsuccessful, so I cut a u-shaped piece of wood to fit into two of the cut-outs on the basket. Unfortunately, the wood grain was the wrong direction and it broke fairly easily.
Last night, I tried using an oil filter removal strap. I put a reasonable amount of force behind it but still no joy. Can someone confirm which way the basket should twist and how far it moves to allow removal? I saw a posting about a directional arrow on something, but nothing is visible at the moment. How much force should I use?
I have asked Ben (S2Avant) about the correct removal tool, he says he may have one I can borrow. Just in case he hasn't, does anyone else have one they're not using at the moment?

Thanks

Alistair