2.0 hdi engine light

leonski · Post by **leonski** » 02 Jan 2009, 10:32

I have a berlingo hdi van (53 plate). Whenever i accelerate over about 70mph an engine light comes on with a beep and the power dies and drops me down to about 50mph and wont accelerate. If i stop the engine and start it again the light stays on but the power is back to normal again. On a 4 hour motorway journey the other day it happened about 6 times. After a few hours of none use the light disappears until next time it happens. Any ideas what it might be as main dealer want £70 just to plug it in. It might just be coincidence but i think that the colder it is outside the worse it is and at one point it got really foggy and misty outside and the light came on when i put my foot down a bit. plase help

leonski · Post by **leonski** » 02 Jan 2009, 11:03

just a thought. Would the rac be able to help as i am in that?

nick · Post by **nick** » 02 Jan 2009, 13:10

As a starting point you need to get the fault codes read, but I wouldn't go to a dealer, I would suggest finding a Bosch injection specialist or similar.
eg http://www.dieselbob.co.uk/index.asp

I once had the engine management light come on on my HDi, a diesel injection specialist charged £15 to read and clear the codes.

Nutcase · Post by **Nutcase** » 03 Jan 2009, 11:58

There are obviously quite a few things which could cause the ecu to switch into limp home mode and put the MIL light on, and only a code reader will be able to tell the story (although on several occasions this has not helped me due to the number of different faults that were listed!) As I understand that the ecu doesn't store faults in chronological order there is no way of knowing which of the listed faults is the culprit or even still present- you need to get the faults deleted using a reader then take it back in as soon as the fault reappears to get the code(s) read again.

However, a fairly common problem seems to be failure of one of the several electrovalves which use vacuum to manage some of the engine parameters such as turbo boost, and if yours is like mine (2001 Xsara 2.0hdi) you will have a bank of 3 of them, all identical, somewhere in the engine bay - mine are on the bulkhead behind the engine. I would suggest you buy one (about (£40 from a dealer) and try replacing each one in turn to see if it clears the problem - easy to do, and at the worst you will have a spare one for the future which you will eventually need at some point! If it does sort the problem the light will eventually go out on its own - the fault codes will remain in the memory, but for the reason stated above I can't see the point of forking out £30-40 just to get them cleared.

Just my twopenneth, Good luck with it!

nick · Post by **nick** » 04 Jan 2009, 14:47

Good point about the electrovalves, they are a common failure and quite cheap to buy.

I guess your Xsara is like mine, a 110 bhp with the "air doser" flap in the air intake?
The number of electrovalves fitted depends on whether it is a 90 bhp RHY or 110 bhp RHZ engine, and whether it has an air doser, so various models can have between 1 and 3 of them.

The air doser and its electrovalve were deleted for the 2003 model year (on the Xsara at least), and the 90 bhp engine doesn't have an electrovalve operated turbo wastegate, so you may find a 53 reg Berlingo 90 will have only one single electrovalve which operates the EGR.
Failure of this will bring the engine management light on, but I'm not 100% sure if it would cause it to drop into limp home mode or not.

leonski · Post by **leonski** » 05 Jan 2009, 14:44

ive had it plugged in toay and the fault code was p1198 which is to do with insufficient fuel flow. any ideas?

steelcityuk · Post by **steelcityuk** » 05 Jan 2009, 15:32

That doesn't sound very good, assuming the fuel filter's not blocked then it could be the in-tank pump or the injection pump. A new complete fuel filter and housing would probably be the cheapest place to start.

Steve.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 05 Jan 2009, 17:06

Could the MAF (air flow) sensor do this and set this error code ?

leonski · Post by **leonski** » 05 Jan 2009, 19:54

ive now replaced the fuel filter so ill see what happens on the way to work in the morning. fingers crossed thats all it is. The old filter did look quite dirty, it was completely black in colour but im not sure if that is normal assuming they didnt forget to change it at the last service in june. Its probably done 6k since then so is that enough to make it completely black?

Post by **myglaren** » 05 Jan 2009, 20:06

I have never even looked to see where the current one is, never mind what it lookes like but the Xantia one never looked mucky even just prior to a change. I never did it myself so I couldn't say how it looked when it came out of the cannister but it certainly wasn't black and definitely not after 6,000 miles.

It would seem to me to point to sludge in the tank that is more than likely impeding the flow through the bottom strainer.

leonski · Post by **leonski** » 05 Jan 2009, 20:14

if they forgot to change it though at the last service then its possibly well over 20k since it last got changed. surely thats enough to make it black?

Post by **myglaren** » 05 Jan 2009, 20:18

I wouldn't like to offer an opinion on that as I don't know enough about it, only what I have seen on my Xantia but there are bound to be many here who will be able to say definitively what the appearance of one with no problems should look like.

steelcityuk · Post by **steelcityuk** » 06 Jan 2009, 14:21

Trouble is they don't have to look dirty to impede the fuel flow. If they filter down to 2 microns then just dirty fuel could cause it. Could it be that last time only the element was changed and the housing wasn't sealing correctly? I've read postings where the sensor in the housing can cause running problems.

I presume you changed just the element rather than the whole housing, if so did you check for metallic particles in the housing?

If the MAF failed totally that could put on the EML but the symptoms don't sound like a MAF problem.

It could even be that the turbo is over boosting. Ask a Bosch specialist for a price for reading the codes. Proper PSA codes are more helpful than generic OBD ones.

Steve.

leonski · Post by **leonski** » 13 Jan 2009, 10:26

ok its been about a week now and about 1000 miles done. No problems at all since i changed the fuel filter in fact it drives great now and the fuel consumption has improved loads as well.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 13 Jan 2009, 10:42

Might be worth checking your last service reciept to see if they charged you for a fuel filter.
If they did, take them the one they supposedly changed, and demand they repeat the service (what else could they have neglected doing?) for free.