more problems

[dave28]

Hi all as a lot of you know i had a berlingo van with packed up on me a couple of weeks ago anyway still no joy with that one so like a fool a brought a picasso to get me about untill the van gets fixed (if it ever does) anyway its a 1.8 2001 petrol i have been using it for work over the last few days and all was fine but last night popped down the supermarket and the bloody thing just done the same as the berlingo just conked out without warning i tried in vain to restart it but just did not fire the battery than died so the aa came out put some jump leads on it and first turn it started he tested the battery and alternator both fine no error codes on dash nothing have been using it today and fine again but i am a bit worried now that it will do it again the only thing that was differant is that i had the lights on for the first time since ive had it also all the display on the dash reset itself to factory settings

[Xantidote]

So the only thing the AA did was give you a jump start, which suggests an electrical issue. Where did he connect up the jump leads to? I'm wondering if you have a bad battery connection somewhere, either on the + or - side.

[dave28]

he connected to one positive termenal under the bonnet and a earth from the engine he also checked the battery terminals and they were nice and tight

[Xantidote]

I'm reading from your reply that AA man connected his jump lead to + on battery, and his earth lead to somewhere on engine, in which case if your battery is good, you must have a problem with the earthing side. The fact that battery terminals are nice & tight doesn't guarantee they have good internal connection where the cables connect in. There have been a few posts on the Forum earlier this year on this topic. I'd look closely at the earth side. If nothing else, should problem recur, try a jump lead from your battery (earth terminal) to the same point on the engine as AA man used.

Good luck

[dave28]

The problem being is that i still had all lights and dash readout when the engine cut out' the battery died from me trying to restart the car it still had loads of guts left in it when it first cut out the car was turning over for ages but just would not fire but the minute it got a jump it fired straight away could this still be an earth issue

[citroenxm]

Had this on a xsara car.. it wouldn't start.. however. i simply disconnected the battery and connected it again and normal service was resumed .. it never happened again...

[dave28]

The bloody car has done me again have been using it all week for work and then today it broke down again without any warning and will not start it just keeps turning over but no go the only thing i have noticed is that the exhaust seemed to have a bit of a rattle on it under acceleration could a nackered cat cause this problem of running fine one minute and then braking down

[citroenxm]

Have you tried disconnecting the battery for a few moments and then reconnecting... WAIT 2 mins then try starting like I put further up??

[dave28]

Yes that was the first thing i tried but still the same

[dave28]

Right update left the car for just over an hour and went back to where it broke down and it started first turn of the key it seems as if the shorter journey i do it breaks down one thing i have noticed is that i had three bars on the fuel gauge before it broke down and when i was trying to start it it only showed two but now that its running again its showing three

[dave28]

right looking for more advice again have just started the picasso on the drive (amazing how it always starts on the drive and conks out when you leave the drive ) anyway this time i had the bonnet open for some looking around to see if there was anything that i could see that could be causing the problem of the break downs anyway i found a corrigated pipe looked more like a loom harness cover but it was split and releasing loads of air it comes from the right hand side of the head looks like some form of vacum devise it also sounded as if the fan kicked in when i first started the engine but when i plugged the split it stopped could someone inlighten me what this is the pipe is about 1 inch in diam and runs from the right side of the head and down the front of the rad and then to the right somewhere cheers

[Timmo]

Can't help with the pipe but the other issue certainly sounds like earthing issues, I'd be very tempted to renew the earths from the battery to chassis and battery to gearbox, I did this on my BX after having issues on my old 309gti for peace of mind, had all power, fuel but wouldn't fire, tried everything except earths! Changed earths, up she fired! Got a thick chunky braided earth from the local auto sparks, and a std one for battery to chassis for under a tenner,

[wheeler]

It sounds like the pipe for the secondary air injection pump, it operates for a minute or so on initial start up when the engine is cold (that will be the fan noise you hear) & it pumps air into the exhaust manifold & helps the catalyst warm up quicker. The bit on the side of the cylinder head the pipe attatches to is a one way valve to stop air blowing back into the pump from the exhaust. I can't see that it would be in any way related to your cutting out problem.

[dave28]

hi wheeler thanks for your reply is that a can or can't to do with the cutting out cheers

[jacksun1987]

My step mum had the same problerm on her 1.8 vector. She as talking about it today. Sounds the same. Left it for a couple of hours then started back up.
Ill just get a old school diesle. If it was me

On my mums petrol 1.1 clio. She had a problerm starting up once. But it was the immobliser. Could that be the same thing. As what your having. In the end took it to the garge got a new lock then turned the immboliser off. We never had a problerm. When the immbliser was faulty. Somtimes it started others it didnt. Wonder if theres a connection