having a strange problem with my TDi.....can anyone advise?

[BIG F@ TW@]

My wifes Cordoba 1.9 TDi has started with a strange problem.

It started once we had returned from a long tour of France (2500 miles), the day after we returned she took it for a short drive, stopped for a few hours then when she returned to the car it refused to start.....turned over but no starty.

AA were called and he found the rear silencer had seperated from the exhaust, and the said the reduction in back pressure meant it wouldn't start. He did however manage to get it started and she drove home, it wouldn't start at all the next day.

Sooo I replaced the rear box and it started fine, but now it has gone back to just turning over and over...occasionally it will start but generally after nearly emptying the battery of charge. Now I have noticed that the pre-heat light only comes on for a split second when ignition is turned, so could it be that the pre-heat is knacked?

I'm not a diesel man, but I have checked all I can check, I can hear a solenoid kind of click when key is turned and a small whirring noise. Also when the engine is turning over there is some pale white smoke coming out of the zorst. The white smoke also was happening on the motorway periodically when the car does drive, accompanied by a lack of power, and the car would stall alot.

So, basically I dont know what to check for, and we need this car desperately!!

Guy

 

[MJ]

the aa are full of sh1t pal. you can run any car without an exhaust system, they are only dependent on back pressure once driven and on a turbo motor the turbo creates all the back pressure needed.

I'd have the car checked using diagnostic equipment to see if there are any codes showing.

If the car is a 2002+ models with either the ATD or ASZ engine fitted then the ecu main power relay may be faulty.

Some additional info may help:

Age
Engine
Milage

Any suggestions at this point are just stabs in the dark pal.

 

[devilman]

poss could be leaking injectors. if they are leaking abit, then it'll fill the cylinder with fuel and will be hard to start. this will cause the white smoke, as it's unburnt fuel.
maybe try turnin the ignition on and off a couple of times, will get the glow plugs really hot, and may help

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

cheers thankyou.

mileage 120k
s plate
1.9TDi

how big of a job is the injectors? I'm ok with most engine stuff.

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

OK, this morning the wife was working at 7.30am, so I got it started just.

Turned ignition on and off several times, turned over for ages....nothing. Turned ignition and started second time and it worked. Funny thing was she got to work (20 min) no problems?

I had a theory that she had put unleaded in last week instead of diesel, was ony about a fivers worth, we looked through the bin to find receipt but was gone. Could that cause it? I put 20 quid of diesel in yesterday to flush it out if it was unleaded.

 

[coolypops]

Petrol in the diesel could definitely cause starting problems but with that little in it I wouldn't have thought it would be that severe.

It may be possible that a sensor is faulty and the petrol in the fuel is exaggerating the problem but as MJ said get a diagnostic done to check for faults before jumping to conclusions...

 

[MJ]

poss could be leaking injectors.

Thats what my initial thoughts were but if theres a relavent fault code stored it could be put down to something else.

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

oh dear oh dear, tonight driving home from work, all going well then power lost again. Not electrical, just engine power.

Pull over, try to start and it's just turning over not sparking etc.

Recovery dude came out and did some digging around, looks like the timing belt tensioner has failed, showed me one of the lower cogs has play. This has been causing the timing etc to come in and out of time, and also there has been a clattering noise from that side of the engine.

So, is tis a fixable thing, or is it a replace engine/scrap car thing?

 

[MJ]

Ah yes! i've seen one do this, the aa brought it to us and told us it needed glow plugs but after an inspection of the timing area we found that the pully had collapsed. Dont bin your cordy mate! get a timing belt kit stuck on it and run it into the ground. i've just bought my second vario because i can quite honestly say the last one i had was the best car i've had.

 

[allh2k]

I dont think anyone can tell u if its damaged without opening it, but I would imagine the tensioner is fixable.

I think its £100 for a cam belt kit. not 100% for ur engine tho.

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

i dont think i can tackle it myself, i'm not bad with the old tools, but never touched anything like this before. Out of 5 how hard is the job?

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

I dont think anyone can tell u if its damaged without opening it, but I would imagine the tensioner is fixable.

I think its £100 for a cam belt kit. not 100% for ur engine tho.

it didn't sound knacked, actually was running well apart from the power failure

 

[allh2k]

I think ppl say its a 4+ as no space to move and see what ur doing!

 

[MJ]

2.5, a belt swap on a cordy tdi AHU engine is very simple, book time is only 1hour 48 minutes and you'll only need 2 special tools to complete the job (you can get them off ebay for about £15).

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

so i need one of those kits on eGay (cant link as not had more than 15 posts yet)

and can you advise on the tools needed?

 

[MJ]

this is the ebay kit:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Laser-Diesel-...UK_Measuring_Tools_Levels&hash=item2a0338b94a

and normal spanners plus a decent socket set should do the trick.

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

cheers MJ.

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

spoken to my local garage and have decided it's a spares or repairs job, I dont have time/knowledge/patience to attempt a fix myself, so will stick it on eGay and on here in cars for sale.

Thanks for all the help peeps.

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

just getting my posts up so I can put pics in the for sale ad

 

[BIG F@ TW@]

did I mention I was getting my posts up?