I'm working on a 2005 N/A Cooper that originally came in with a burned out fuel pump due to being run dry of fuel. It would not prime and was dead.

After checking and confirming that the relay is switching over and the fuse is nice shape, I installed a new fuel pump along with a filter kit and now the fuel pump primes but will not provide any pressure up at the fuel rail. I suspected a blockage so I blew out the main line from the quick disconnect where the hard line starts going under the car and it was clean.

When priming the fuel will come up out of the filter and down that main fuel like, but will not run the length of the car and make it back up to the engine. In trying to eliminate any possible problems with the fuel rail, injectors, or regulator, I disconnected the main fuel line before the rail and it's bone dry.

Is there anything I'm missing here? Thanks!

 

Two things I would look at...
Did you inspect the rubber hoses in the tank? One might be split..ethanol can destroy them...most commonly causes an issues below half a tank..
Next...I would look at the fuel pressure regulator on the fuel rail, and maybe the micro filter...I'm guessing it is similar to the "s", and the FPR has a vacume line attached to it...

 

One more thing...
The line would normally take a bit of cranking to get the air out....try starting it? Might take 30-45 seconds....guess you could purge the air out..think it has a fuel pressure valve to attatch a guage at the end of the fuel rail if it is like the s...could just press it too let the air out catch it in a cup, with a rag to prevent the spray...

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

I tried both to no avail. The micro screen at the FPR was clean and the seals were in nice shape as well. The vacuum line and fittings were also in nice shape.

I'm starting to think that POSSIBLY this is electrical related. The reason I say this is the customer has had trouble starting the car for weeks, as in turn the key and nothing. No starter turning, nothing. I haven't even gotten into that yet because the car had been starting fine the past week. But is there any kind of module that would prevent the fuel pump from running once the key is in the start or on position? Also does anyone have a pin out to jumper the fuel pump at the relay?

The relay is clicking and I can feel it change over when turning to the on position, but maybe something is messed up inside it? Although I did swap it with the identical relay above with no change. Kind of grasping at straws here since I've gone over what I believe are all of the fuel delivery checks.

 

When the key is passed in front of the ignition, or inserted, a "ding" should be heard...
This is the ews chip getting read by the antitheft system....
I think it only shuts off the ignition coil...but not sure...guess if all else fail...you can look there....
Like I mentioned before....a couple people have had a hose in the tank get brittle and crack...might be worth looking...
In this case, you might just have a gasket installed wrong from changing the fuel pump or a filter....net result is the same for both, no psi..
This is what i'd be betting on the more I think about it...guess the pump could be bad, but I'd bet something is not installed quite right...have heard of a few folks swapping pumps of filters have similar issues...then they go away when they take it apart, and try again....

 

If you haven't already tried disconnecting/reconnecting the battery .......

When doing a compression check on mine, I had pulled the fuel pump relay, and then did the compression check.

When I reinserted the relay the car wouldn't start. Zero fuel coming out of rail.
Had me scratching my head for hours.
Disconnected the battery waited about a minute and reconnected it and it fired right up.
Have no idea why....

 

I got her started and running great again!

I'm not sure what the problem was exactly, but I took ZippyNH's advice and took the fuel filter housing apart again. All of the new o-rings were in place and without deviation. Putting it back together however I did very lightly coat the o-rings with some Sil-Glyde and everything went back together much nicer than it originally did. After a few choking starts she fired right up and is running great.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

Great to hear!!!