Glow plug replacement on 2.2l

[sleepyservice]

Hello again and Merry Christmas!

Unfortunately have an unwanted Christmas present in the shape of a check engine light, reduced power and a bunch of codes.

I've misplaced the screenshot of the codes, but the set came down to:

DPF blocked
DPF temp low, unable to regenerate
All four glow plugs open circuit. (!)
There was also a code about no comms to alternator controller - I have had a new aftermarket alternator fitted recently, but everything seemed fine after that.

I've ran a multimeter on ohms over the glow plug harness and they are indeed all either open circuit or very high resistance.
I'm kind on thinking the DPF may rely on the glow plugs to raise the temps (somewhere) enough for regen to happen?

The van (a 2015 VO) pretty much only gets longer trips, (usually 100km minimum) so I'm kind of surprised to have DPF issues.

So - any thoughts? Can the glowplugs be the root cause or is there something else going on, and if the glowplugs how hard to replace? I've done a plug on the 2.2tdci in a 2013-ish Land Rover Defender which was a pain - had to drain coolant and basically strip all the intake stuff and EGR.
Access on the transit looks even worse...

Thanks very much in advance, cheers!

[p2thed]

Dpf temp to low will most likley be caused by the fuel vaporizer/glowplug in the exhaust(either internal glowplug failed or nozzle blocked with carbon). I would focus on this first as the main reason you have a blocked dpf. The 4x glowplugs are an easy enough job as long as they dont snap or sieze into the the head(as they iften do)

[sleepyservice]

Dpf temp to low will most likley be caused by the fuel vaporizer/glowplug in the exhaust(either internal glowplug failed or nozzle blocked with carbon). I would focus on this first as the main reason you have a blocked dpf. The 4x glowplugs are an easy enough job as long as they dont snap or sieze into the the head(as they iften do)

Thanks mate. That sounds likely - I'm a bit clueless on the dpf system. I'll look into it. As to the regular glowplugs, does the intake manifold have to come off? Look like on this engine.

Happy New Year!

[p2thed]

Happy new year

Yes the manifold will need to come to access the glowplugs.

[Altransit]

Is there a separate fuse for the DPF glow plug? It may be worth checking that first, but if it's blown, that could be due to a shorted DPF glow plug

[p2thed]

There is, its a 20amp fuse in the engine fuse bay but i cant remember for the life of me what one it is

[sleepyservice]

Thanks for the info!

[sleepyservice]

Just wanted to update and partially close this post - thanks for all the help.

There was a few delays and then a trip to the local dealer for diagnosis.
Turns out it was the non-OEM replacement alternator that wasn't talking to the ECU properly, meaning the charge voltage wasn't as commanded by the ECU, in turn preventing the DPF from doing any regen.

After fitting a second hand alternator (genuine) the DPF is happy again, after a long drive with a few big puffs of blue smoke... I was watching the DPF soot load on my generic blutooth OBD2 reader and could see it dropping as the DPF went through the cleaning cycle (that sounds like I mean a washing machine!).
The glowplugs are still out of action (3 of 'em) but it's not really affecting starting apart from being a little rough for the first few seconds on a cold start so will leave that for now I think. I may find out otherwise in winter I suppose?

P.S. The wrecker who supplied the latest alternator checked fitment on his system and it was supposed to be right. Turned out the terminals were sited differently (clocked) and the mounting bolts need to be shorter. I used some spacers to check if it worked, and it does, so just need some shorter bolts.
Interesting though - why the different shape.

[Chug]

Good that you got it sorted and also good that you came back to update because it might help someone in the future with similar problems. So often threads are left with no outcome, or any thanks for the help offered. And the number of first posts asking for help with problems that never make a second post is unbelievable

[sleepyservice]

Yes, it's happened so often that I found a thread and thought 'great, this will help" only to find there was no conclusion. I may have been guilty of one or two of those myself over the years, but I do my best!

Thanks, Steve