Limp mode and then won't start at all

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chipfork

Active Member
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107
Looking for some advice on what I can check myself. I may well be able to get the RAC to have a look depending on what my cover includes.

I was on the motorway and the car dropped into a kind of limp mode. It would struggle to get near 70 and any incline then 50 was top whack. No warning lights so I decided to try and get home and get it looked at there. Plodded along for a good distance without a problem and then the engine warning light popped up and the power died completely. In a hailstorm I decided to take a look, I have a synergy and pierburg MAF so decided to turn the power right down and wouldn't restart at all. Back to 7 and fired up, no warning light and another 20 miles without a problem, then all of a sudden it died again and wouldn't restart.

The recovery truck driver diagnosed an alternator?!?!?

My only experience of something similar is when I had no synergy and the MAF went. I'm trying to find the original MAF and see if it runs ok with that and no synergy. I've checked all the hoses, etc but nothing obviously amiss.

Anything else I can check, any suggestions what could be the problem?

Thanks
 
chipfork said:
Looking for some advice on what I can check myself. I may well be able to get the RAC to have a look depending on what my cover includes.

I was on the motorway and the car dropped into a kind of limp mode. It would struggle to get near 70 and any incline then 50 was top whack. No warning lights so I decided to try and get home and get it looked at there. Plodded along for a good distance without a problem and then the engine warning light popped up and the power died completely. In a hailstorm I decided to take a look, I have a synergy and pierburg MAF so decided to turn the power right down and wouldn't restart at all. Back to 7 and fired up, no warning light and another 20 miles without a problem, then all of a sudden it died again and wouldn't restart.

The recovery truck driver diagnosed an alternator?!?!?

My only experience of something similar is when I had no synergy and the MAF went. I'm trying to find the original MAF and see if it runs ok with that and no synergy. I've checked all the hoses, etc but nothing obviously amiss.

Anything else I can check, any suggestions what could be the problem?

Thanks
Click to expand...

what year vehicle is it?
 
Don't have a k&n or something on it? Best thing would be get a code reader on it and it will tell you
 
No K&N on it. If I have home start cover then I'll get the RAC out for a diagnosis.
Symptoms are that the starter turns over but no ignition or engine firing. Wondered if it was a fuelling problem but it's all guesswork until I get a fault code.
 
RAC won't come out as it's been recovered and now my responsibility for diagnosis and repair. Charged the battery overnight as was nigh on dead from a few hours on the side of the motorway. Had a delve round to check everything now the weather has calmed. It starts and sounds to be running quite smoothly, however it won't pass 2500 revs. I've just found the original MAF so will try that next. Failing that I should be able to get it to a garage at least for a proper look, just hope it's not turbo related.
 
chipfork said:
RAC won't come out as it's been recovered and now my responsibility for diagnosis and repair. Charged the battery overnight as was nigh on dead from a few hours on the side of the motorway. Had a delve round to check everything now the weather has calmed. It starts and sounds to be running quite smoothly, however it won't pass 2500 revs. I've just found the original MAF so will try that next. Failing that I should be able to get it to a garage at least for a proper look, just hope it's not turbo related.
Click to expand...

Have you checked the alternator?? Once battery drops below a certain level...strange things happen! :)
 
I wouldn't know how to check it to be honest, maybe the recovery guy did know what he was talking about ;-)
Tried the old MAF and got it started, same issue though, max is between 2500 and 3000 revs. Did remember to switch the synergy :)
Put it all back together and won't start again :-( If I do get it moving again I think it's time to trade it in...
 
chipfork said:
I wouldn't know how to check it to be honest, maybe the recovery guy did know what he was talking about ;-)
Tried the old MAF and got it started, same issue though, max is between 2500 and 3000 revs. Did remember to switch the synergy :)
Put it all back together and won't start again :-( If I do get it moving again I think it's time to trade it in...
Click to expand...
Put a voltmeter on the battery engine off, If the battery is good and fully charged you should somewhere near 12.5 volts. Start the engine and rev to 2k and hold, you should see at least 14.2 volts.
 
Thanks, I'll give that a go although the second check is a bit tricky unless it decides to start again.
 
You should think about one of those WIFI EOBD dongles on eBay. Mine cost £17 and with free software app on iPhone I can read my error codes on Puma Defender, so yours should be easier.
 
Quite a few Wi-Fi OBD dongles on eBay, which would you recommend and which app would you download?
 
In a hailstorm I decided to take a look, I have a synergy and pierburg MAF so decided to turn the power right down and wouldn't restart at all. Back to 7 and fired up, no warning light and another 20 miles without a problem, then all of a sudden it died again and wouldn't restart.
Click to expand...

have you checked the fuel-rail pressure sensor plug contacts/pins ..
maybe some water got in there ( known td4 issue )
that sensor only operates via a small voltage ..

i.e. given the synergy alters the signal from that sensor
 
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