hdi picasso amber engine light has come on

[barneyb32]

Hi I have recently bought a 2001 HDI picasso with 160k miles.
When bought I noticed a ticking, tappety noise as you accelerate through the gears until it dissappears when the revs get higher. There were no warning lights, power fine, just this noise which still persists.
Any suggestions on what this may be??
Reading through posts on forum I have now completed a major service including air filter, fuel filter and finally due to the high miles I replaced the timing belt, idler & tensioner and water pump. I did this with no haynes - just the help from posts on the forum. All weht smooth and the car started up again with no problems and no warning lights.

Today I started the car and left it running for about 30 mins to warm it up to change the oil & filter. When I went out to the car the amber engine light was on. I noticed once or twice that when I stopped the car it seemed to "run on" for a second or two. All fluid levels are normal. I drove the car and it drives as it did previously(still the tappety noise), power is fine, idles ok. I completed oil & filter change.
The light is still on. Any ideas? Can I buy software for laptop to read codes? Do I need to go to the main Stealer?
Car is in really good nick otherwise and I like it. Any suggestions much appreciated.

[DickieG]

When I went out to the car the amber engine light was on. I noticed once or twice that when I stopped the car it seemed to "run on" for a second or two.

With HDi Picasso's the engine running on for a second or two after being turned off is often associated with fuel pressure "issues", I sorted one out recently by removing and cleaning the electric connector to every engine sensor (paying particular attention to the fuel rail sensor). Its also worth removing and cleaning the fuel pressure regulator on the rear of the main fuel pump and again cleaning the electric connector.

[wheeler]

It will almost certainly be the fuel rail pressure sensor/wiring. If you follow the plug from it down to just above the top of the sump there is a 3 pin yellow interconnector that can cause problems, its best to cut this off completely & just solder the wires together directly, if this doesent work you will probably need to replace the sensor.

[barneyb32]

Right, in between minding children this morning I've been out to the garage. Decided to try wheeler's suggestion first. I found the yellow connector. Discovered that where the wire runs back up the front of the engine the hard outer black sheath had been rubbing against the power steering pipe. It had worn through the sheath and bared one of the 3 wires. I've it stripped back ready to put some tape on it, might put the hair dryer on it first in case there's any moisture. Missus has just gone to collect the turkey so back in minding children! I'll complete later and report back - looks promising but I'm not counting my chickens yet!
Thanks to wheeler & dickieG for your help.

[barneyb32]

Hi - just writing back to say that after drying & taping up the wire I started the engine and the engine light now goes out once it fires up. Ticky/tappety noise persists but the light was my biggest concern for now.
Thanks v much to wheeler & DickieG for the suggestions - much appreciated! Did I ever say this forum is excellent? It is!
Happy Christmas to everyone!

[DickieG]

Hi - just writing back to say that after drying & taping up the wire I started the engine and the engine light now goes out once it fires up. Ticky/tappety noise persists but the light was my biggest concern for now.
Thanks v much to wheeler & DickieG for the suggestions - much appreciated! Did I ever say this forum is excellent? It is!
Happy Christmas to everyone!

Result, well done

[TopDonkey]

tickety tapping noise at low to mid revs, going away at higher revs is most likely to be the crank damper pulley, you can pop the aux belt off and run the engine without it for 5 minutes or so to see it the noise goes away (you should know within about 10 seconds though, as its very obvious)

[barneyb32]

"tickety tapping noise at low to mid revs, going away at higher revs is most likely to be the crank damper pulley"

Hi, Top donkey suggests that my ticky/tappety noise dying away at higher revs is the damper pully on the crank that drives the drive belt. when I was researching doing the timing belt(just completed recently) on the forum I saw reference to the problems with this pulley. Now of course I had to remove this pulley to complete the timing belt/water pump job and I thought that if the pulley were the problem it would be pretty obvious - I'm now wishing I'd paid more attention to it. Can anyone tell me if it is obvious when these pulleys give trouble. I can of course pop off the pulley as suggested to try it but I'd be intrested to hear what any of you think. The other thing I should mention is that if you just rev the engine(in neutral) I cannot hear the noise at all. It is most apparent as you accelerate through the gears.

[RichardW]

At higher mileages the injectors on these get a bit leaky, and the pre-injection phase goes a bit wonky. This leads to more pre-ignition than was intended, and leads to a very noticeable injection 'rattle', which abruptly stops at 3200 rpm (IIRC!) when the pre-injection phase is cut. Trouble with a Picasso is that lack of a rev counter means you can't check the cut off point - however, if the noise suddleny stops when you are giving it some beans then it's likely to be this on a higher mileage unit. Doesn't seem to cause any trouble, just the slightly annoying rattle! The crank pulley usually makes a noise when cold at low revs when it is failing. Check the surface for rusty deposits.