2004 transit minibus down on power

[jamiediscos]

hi there, new member, not the brightest so bear with me!

I have a 54 plate twin axle 16 seat minibus, it's a 2.4di 90 with 118k full history and very well looked after.

recently it seems to be down on power, almost like it's in a kind of limp mode, but not actually going or recording limp. when driving on the flat or uphill she is really sluggish, and really doesn't want to go over 3000rpm. but when on a downhill she will run over 3000rpm. any moderate incline and she's down to 45mph. when i pull off in 1st gear she will go over 3000rpm but you can feel she doesn't want to.

then the next day she will drive normal and pull like a train in every gear!!! more often than not she will run like 1st described. wastegate actuator valve has been checked and working fine. diagnostic plugged in and no fault codes registered.
really hoping you transit geniuses will be able to help me out here.

best regards,
james.

[mattt429]

have you cleaned your inlet and egr out? i just blanked mine,better economy, smoother and more torque at bottom end

[ned]

Sounds like the turbo isn't kicking in.

Pull the inlet pipe off the turbo and check for damage of the veins and play in the shaft. Also check all boost pipes for splits. N

[jamiediscos]

have you cleaned your inlet and egr out? i just blanked mine,better economy, smoother and more torque at bottom end

sorry forgot to add, the egr is already blanked off. thank you though.

[jamiediscos]

Sounds like the turbo isn't kicking in.

Pull the inlet pipe off the turbo and check for damage of the veins and play in the shaft. Also check all boost pipes for splits. N

will try this tomorrow. thank you.

[jamiediscos]

it does feel like there's no turbo working, but then some days it's perfectly fine! turbo kicking in lovely and will happily rev over 3000rpm. that's the annoying thing with it being intermittent! but the past few weeks it's doing it more and more, could this be electrical? ecu? pulling my hair out with it! it's a shame as it's a cracking bus.

[mattt429]

Is there air filter clean? ...mine was full of talc from diagnosing an old oil leak

When you say it won't rev over 3k rpm, does it hold back or just complete lack of power so it wont get to 3krpm?

[jamiediscos]

Is there air filter clean? ...mine was full of talc from diagnosing an old oil leak

When you say it won't rev over 3k rpm, does it hold back or just complete lack of power so it wont get to 3krpm?

lack of power to get up there on any slight gradient. if you really push her through the gears then it will just about. but on downhill she will go over the 3000rpm. new air filter after very recent full service.

[mattt429]

I'd do as Ned advised and check for splits/leaks in all your hoses and check the turbo

[ake]

Inlet manifolds are known to split