Help Please!!!!!

My DSE auto is giving me a headache, a few days ago it started ticking over lumpy and then died but started again shortly after by pumping the accelerator vigorously I put this down to being very low on fuel sitting on a hill as I started it on level ground after it cut out.

Now 2 days ago I drove off, turned a corner heading home about 1/4 mile and could feel it losing power so I kept my foot on the floor til I had to turn when the revs dropped it died, again turning it over and over pumping the pedal away it went.

I now put this down to a fuel problem thinking the fuel is running back or drawing air somewhere which I later found was the case due to a brittle burst spill off pipe, changed it made sure there was no air in the system and away it went no problem until an hour later when it broke down with the mrs who inturn flattened the battery. I got a jump start and away it went no problem.
Again I went out returned home it lost power before I got it in the drive turned it over it started no power steering, popped the bonnet and the fan belt had loosened itself off (maybe the tensioner?)

Anyway Im at my wits end as I have to use an impreza turbo for work which I am not looking forward to emptying my bank into the tank!

When it cut out did you get any error messages?? Also, did the injector light come on??

-Wills

I had the same problem when the fuel level dropped below around a quarter. The in-tank pump had gone and the fuel was only being sucked out by the engine pump. Keeping it above quarter full and there was no problem. Never got round to fixing it.......

wills said:

When it cut out did you get any error messages?? Also, did the injector light come on??

-Wills

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Error messages were "GEARBOX FAULT" & "ALTERNATOR FAULT" which I`m guessing were due to the fact it had actually cut out whilst in drive.

Did not notice the injector light come on.

The thing is I never actuallly have it above a quarter tank as the mrs thinks it means she has to drive somewhere, anywhere, everywhere just because there is fuel.

As for today I had to jump start it when I got home from work so I left it running in the drive for about an hour, took it a run switched it off took it another run and its fine for now but I still dont trust it.

Change your battery and check your remote alrm thing aint draining it

I have a gearbox fault on mine.....feckin thing just stopped moving...engine revving fine no drive

poor maintenance

Yep, I'll telt that to the garage

rangiep38 said:

Error messages were "GEARBOX FAULT" & "ALTERNATOR FAULT" which I`m guessing were due to the fact it had actually cut out whilst in drive.

Did not notice the injector light come on.

The thing is I never actually have it above a quarter tank as the mrs thinks it means she has to drive somewhere, anywhere, everywhere just because there is fuel.

As for today I had to jump start it when I got home from work so I left it running in the drive for about an hour, took it a run switched it off took it another run and its fine for now but I still dont trust it.

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Is your DSE chipped?? - the symptoms sound really familiar to what I experienced a week or so ago, I got a bit over-excited on holiday and went through a few large puddles and then a ford a bit too quick, completely soaked the engine bay and drowned my plug-in powerchip in the process.

My symptoms were lumpy tick over that gradually got worse and worse until it eventually could hardly tick over at all. I tried driving it and it was very erratic, one minute accelerating quickly and then no power at all with lots of black smoke out the back until it eventually cut out with GEARBOX FAULT showing.

Tried restarting, immediately cut out. Tried again and it fired back up but with very erratic idle again - managed to make it to the local ESSO station where the idle had become a bit better. As I was at a quarter of a tank I also thought maybe it was the fuel pump so filled it up.

Started up and no difference, idle was even worse, jumping from normal idle to 1500rpm and then back to normal. I managed to reverse back from the forecourt into a parking bay and it then cut out and that was it. Would not start again and no amount of cranking would get it to. LUCKILY, as I was on holiday, I had also bought my diagnostic system with me so managed to get that plugged in and read the engine ECU's fault memory. The fault was (off the top of my head because I cant fully remember and the kit is packed away at the moment) 'INVALID FUEL FLOW RATE - TOO HIGH/LOW'.

I sat and thought about it and opened up the bonnet and checked my powerbox thingy and as I pulled it off where it was stuck to water came dripping out of it.

I unplugged the box from the injector socket and plugged the injector plug back into its original socket. Turned the engine over and it started first time. Idle back to normal and completely fine and has now been fine for the last 700 miles.

While this may not be your fault it might be a good idea to remove any plug-in powerbox you might have and see if the problem disappears. Meanwhile I am on the lookout for another powerbox but will make sure the box is in a much more protected position and sealed properly!

-Wills

Sirus said:

Change your battery and check your remote alrm thing aint draining it

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The battery is the least of my worries, the fact that the car loses power then dies while driving is doing my head in as it starts again

Thanks Wills I dont have any plug-in or chip I removed the plug-in over a year ago, I`m in 2 minds whether to use it to get to work.

rangiep38 said:

Thanks Wills I dont have any plug-in or chip I removed the plug-in over a year ago, I`m in 2 minds whether to use it to get to work.

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When the engine cuts out it should log the fault within the engine ECU, can you get the ECU fault memory read at all??

I know you have replaced one of the leak off pipes, what about the others, even though the others might look ok, they might still be a little brittle or cracked and pulling air in. I would try replacing all the leak off pipes and see what happens then.

-Wills

I replaced all the spill pipes and that was good for about a week now its drawing air worse than before and to top it off my alternator has packed in too, charged the battery up tried to start the car after continuous cranking it fired up but there was so much air in the pipe from the filter to injection pump it cut out again.

Yesterday I was checking the fuel pump was running by turning the ignition on which it was but the fuel was running back to the tank when ignition was turned off, today the fuel pump is doing nothing so I`m guessing the fip is pulling the fuel up from the tank then dying.

I`m unsure if its the in tank pump so would be grateful for any advice.

I've heard of a cracked pipe in the tank above the sender pump giving somewhat similar problems. Somewhere on here there is a good iscription of a method of getting at the tank by cutting through the floor instead of dropping the tank which is a bit of a probem.

Wills, haave you cured your problem yet?
I've had very occasional cutting out with the injector light coming on over the past year. No real problem and normally only ever happened on a light throttle. But yesterday had a round trip of 390 miles and got several shudders/misfires without the injector light coming on. But this time it could happen while flat out passing out a car and it didn't feel like the previous loss of power with the injector light coming on. It felt a complete shut down as against the gradual power loss encountered before.
I've a gut feeling that my FIP is kaput. Reading all the previous posts on power loss and uneven tickover back through the months is making me think its the root of my problem. I've always felt I'm down on power especially as occasionaly my chipped rangie would go lie stink but with the chip removed is unbelievably slow.
I can lay my hands on a part exchange one for €1000 and i'm really tempted.

SpudH said:

I've heard of a cracked pipe in the tank above the sender pump giving somewhat similar problems. Somewhere on here there is a good iscription of a method of getting at the tank by cutting through the floor instead of dropping the tank which is a bit of a probem.

Wills, haave you cured your problem yet?
I've had very occasional cutting out with the injector light coming on over the past year. No real problem and normally only ever happened on a light throttle. But yesterday had a round trip of 390 miles and got several shudders/misfires without the injector light coming on. But this time it could happen while flat out passing out a car and it didn't feel like the previous loss of power with the injector light coming on. It felt a complete shut down as against the gradual power loss encountered before.
I've a gut feeling that my FIP is kaput. Reading all the previous posts on power loss and uneven tickover back through the months is making me think its the root of my problem. I've always felt I'm down on power especially as occasionaly my chipped rangie would go lie stink but with the chip removed is unbelievably slow.
I can lay my hands on a part exchange one for €1000 and i'm really tempted.

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To be honest my powerchip became the least of my worries not long after I posted that. I had had trouble with the stop solenoid on the FIP and had got that replaced which I thought had me all sorted until just 2 weeks later the seals on the FIP itself went and I ended up with diesel leaking all over the place. Had the FIP refurbed, all leak off hoses replaced only to then discover that the garage couldn't get the thing started. The in-tank pump was shagged as well, this was also replaced (I also took out a second mortgage at this point ). The result is a P38 that starts first time everytime, hot or cold and goes pretty well even though it still has no chip yet. When I have recovered from paying from the FIP refurb and the in-tank pump ill get another chip.

Have you had the faults read Spud??

hi wills, I haven't had a chance to get the faults read, i've been saving for a faultmate/rovacom so i dont go near the main dealers. I'm sure with my symptoms I'm looking at a FIP, i've hot start issues too.

Hey Wills,

What were your symptoms for the FIP Solenoid? I had another 390 mile round trip Friday and had even more problems. When idling it could cut right out, On the open road it would shudder occasionally. Its like when you run out of fuel only worse. It feels like it could be the solenoid or else the FIP itself. The FIP is mechanically driven so shouldn't be prone to intermittent sudden power loss so I'd imagine only the solenoid can cut off fuel like that or else the FIP is just dead.
I'm taking it to a dealer tomorrow to see if I can get the faults read. I'll let you know what they say.

SpudH