Broke down on the motorway this morning!

[Harvy]

I broke down on my way to work at junction 32 of the m1. When I got on the motorway at junction 31 I heard some slight slapping from the engine when accelerating hard. So I stopped accelerating hard. At 60 mph there was no noise then it started again. In the end it was making the knocking noise at 50 mph. (Hazards on at this point) I coasted down the hill northbound to J32 and the knocking/slapping was in time with the engine revs not the drivetrain. Engine was idling badly and really lumpy. Then the dashboard beeped and the engine stalled of it own accord. Gearbox was in neutral and no throttle applied. Coasted to a halt near the top of the slip road then walked to the new services to get some fuel. My fuel light came on this morning, 4 miles before breakdown with the range showing 50 miles. When trying to restart the engine it only seems to rotate 3 times before stopping. The battery is fine and spinning the engine fast enough. It seems to me that I’ve lost compressions in one cylinder. Any ideas?

[gt_addict]

Hard to say with fault codes. Have you been recovered yet?

[DanMK7uk]

As GT said..


Need to read codes mate

[Harvy]

I’ve been recovered from the slip road to the services by some traffic officers. I’ve left the van there and walked to work so I don’t jeopardise my job!
I’m with the RAC and I’ll call them when I get back to the van after work. My wife will collect me from work and drop me at the van so I’ll ask her to bring the laptop so I can read the codes.

I was hoping for some comments to alleviate the concerns I have that the bottom end has gone/is going. I’ve not had one go yet but it seems a very quick onset if that is the case. The van was serviced (by me) 300 miles ago and has sounded really good up until this morning. Hopefully it might just be a blocked injector or two as I have never let the van run this low on fuel so it might have sucked up some gunge from the bottom of the tank.

I’ll update when I get back to the van this afternoon.

[DanMK7uk]

Understand that mate, but we would only be guessing!

You did do the sump plug back up tight

Right ?

Cheers

[gt_addict]

From what you’ve said it could well be fuel based issues. Did you change the fuel filter on the last service? Fords say its good for 100k…..yea right

Also I regularly run my tank down to the 50mile warning without issue, but my filter is changed every other year, circa 15-20k miles.

[Harvy]

Back with the van and read the codes. P02A4 and P02A8 cylinder 3 and 4 restricted. Is it possible to clean them at the services?! I guess I’ll get it recovered home and take the injectors out and have them cleaned.

[Harvy]

Understand that mate, but we would only be guessing!

You did do the sump plug back up tight

Right ?

Cheers

I know, I really needed to have a whinge about it though!

Yes I did it up (I made that mistake on my first car aged 17… never again. £50 of my hard earned all over the floor)

[Harvy]

From what you’ve said it could well be fuel based issues. Did you change the fuel filter on the last service? Fords say its good for 100k…..yea right

Also I regularly run my tank down to the 50mile warning without issue, but my filter is changed every other year, circa 15-20k miles.

I have not yet changed the fuel filter. What I ment by service was oil and oil filter and aux belt. Seems fuel related though.

[gt_addict]

Get it home and the injectors out. To be honest if they are the same age you may want to get them all done. Also get that fuel filter off and checked. Not sure on your van if its canister or element (my euro 5 is just an element).

You may find evidence in the filter of why they failed. If there is then may well want to consider getting the HP fuel pump checked aswell.

[knobby1]

Get it home and the injectors out. To be honest if they are the same age you may want to get them all done. Also get that fuel filter off and checked. Not sure on your van if its canister or element (my euro 5 is just an element).

You may find evidence in the filter of why they failed. If there is then may well want to consider getting the HP fuel pump checked aswell.

His signature says 2010 RWD 2.4 115....so it's a Euro-4.

They're generally very reliable but silly things can happen. I wonder if she's thrown a rocker or three.??

Lord Knobrot

[Harvy]

Well I did eventually get it home. I’ve not yet had a chance to get the injectors out but I have been making some phone calls. My local diesel specialist (John Hogg Diesel) says if my van has Denso injectors then they can offer me a set of reconditioned ones for £120 + VAT per injector, or for the same price the can reconditioned mine. Does that sound reasonable price wise? I have seen other injectors on eBay etc and some seem to be available for about £400 for a reconditioned set and sometimes lower price, but I’m not sure on quality? I’m certainly leaning towards using John Hogg as they sorted my Audi injectors and they are also the place I got the Denso SCV that I fitted to the van not long ago.

I’m tempted to take the fuel tank off and clean it out as well as cleaning out all the fuel lines and replacing the filter. Any advice on this process?

[knobby1]

Well I did eventually get it home. I’ve not yet had a chance to get the injectors out but I have been making some phone calls. My local diesel specialist (John Hogg Diesel) says if my van has Denso injectors then they can offer me a set of reconditioned ones for £120 + VAT per injector, or for the same price the can reconditioned mine. Does that sound reasonable price wise? I have seen other injectors on eBay etc and some seem to be available for about £400 for a reconditioned set and sometimes lower price, but I’m not sure on quality? I’m certainly leaning towards using John Hogg as they sorted my Audi injectors and they are also the place I got the Denso SCV that I fitted to the van not long ago.

I’m tempted to take the fuel tank off and clean it out as well as cleaning out all the fuel lines and replacing the filter. Any advice on this process?

If you get reconditioned injectors, make sure they come with new "correction factor" numbers.

Lord Knobrot

[vansit1]

so slapping noise is probably not fuel related, but faulty injector stuff?

[knobby1]

so slapping noise is probably not fuel related, but faulty injector stuff?

Unlikely....but the Euro-4's can snap injector clamp bolts which can give similar symptoms.

Lord Knobrot