Glad you made it back OK Jetjem.

Incidently, where did you begin your 2,000 mile drive - even if the motor was running OK, that must have been one hell of a pull. How long did it take you?

As a side note, my oldest daughter won't even borrow my Doblo to go to her sister's in Lincoln (180 mile drive) - her lose

Nice to know that at least one person was concerned!!

Started my journey from Southwest Bulgaria, so travelled through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany, a little of Holland where I discovered speed limit for towing a trailer is 45mph, Belgium and the top of France, then to Northumberland. If I do a semi non stop run (quick kip in layby) it's 32---35 hrs. These days I stop in Bulgaria ( on the Danube) a room, B&B 3* is €18. Romania B&B 4* with fabulous evening meal for 2 was €62. Then reality prices kick in, Austria and Germany.

Your daughter needs a sense of adventure or slight madness to travel in these things.

Today I had a diesel specialist look at the car. He said there was not enough fuel pressure on cranking. He tested the injectors and yes one is faulty and maybe another slightly so all them are out for bench testing. He also maybe found a fault on the common rail pressure sensor. So he has taken the lot away and he is hoping to get them all tested together.
There was slight leak from the pressure sensor when the car was cranked and the sensor should be closed? I assume to build up pressure to start? The Bosch experts were not too sure if it should leak at this stage, I hope to find out.

I get the results next week and will post the result.

jetjem said:

Today I had a diesel specialist look at the car. He said there was not enough fuel pressure on cranking. He tested the injectors and yes one is faulty and maybe another slightly so all them are out for bench testing.

Click to expand...

I refer the honorable gentleman to my earlier post (#10 on page 1 - lucky guess).

Glad you made it back without incident and hope your specialist gets you sorted quickly and relatively cheaply.

The engineer returned with one new injector and the others tested OK. He tried a 2nd hand rail pressure sensor--still the same other than now it misfires slightly at low revs; it appears to be on 2 of the old injectors.

He will return with a 2nd hand rail and a new rail pressure sensor £160.

In the mean time I have checked the old rail pressure sensor voltage and their seems to be a discrepancy.
With ign on Should be--Brown/Red 12.2v--Actual 8.3.
Red /Orange Should be 12.2v--Actual--9.5
With engine running Should be Brown/Red 13.8--Actual 13.9
Red /Orange Should be 12.2v--Actual--12.5

Any ideas?

Personally I think your at that stage when you have to walk away, have a nice cuppa then start again.

Forget everything that was (supposedly/incorrectly) checked in the past, clear all the errors and start again from the beginning with a clean sheet.

The saga continues. Water found in the MAF housing so another engineer tried a second hand MAF from a 1900. Amazingly it fired up first time several times. But it soon returned to where it was. It started only when the glow plugs remained on for more than 3 seconds.
I have ordered a new MAF just in case.

The only other thing is that the glow plug indicators only stay on now for 2 seconds is this normal?
Or is it possible that the engine coolant sensor is sending false readings and causing problems?
Can anyone the tell me where this is housed on this engine?

Again welcome any help.

Well not really much further forward other than:
The new starter motor I had fitted gave up---the shaft sheared through.
I compared it to the old motor and the shaft on the new one is much thinner?
I ordered a new one via my local parts dealer and the this one also has a thinner shaft. The only difference is that it turns the engine over at least 25% faster that the other 2 motors ever did.

I can read the faults now and I have 2 messages; P0235 Boost pressure sensor.
And P1555.
Can anyone tell me if they have any relevance to bad starting??

Fitted the 2nd new starter motor. Still problems but now only with cold starting. Decided to put a tin of egr cleaner through the intake still no noticable difference.
:idea:After a couple of days I reset the ECU manualy and then started from cold.
I still had to use the gas to start from cold but this time the engine gave one horrible noise and stopped suddenly. It turned out that the second starter motor had broken as well. :bang: These starter motors supplied to the reg number were not original equipment and for a different model, supposed to be the same!

:idea:I then had my original motor refurbished and fitted. (the starting problem began with the old motor in place).
Guess what---it starts first time every time hot or cold!!!!!!!
My only problem is, I have not got a clue how I fixed it:devil:

I still have a slight missfire on one cylinder at low revs, so next check the cylinder pressures.
But at least I'm now mobile:worship:

Did the earth strap ever get checked?
As I found out, it doesn't take alot of voltage drop to affect the power of the starter motor. Being a diesel, it needs all the umph that it can get to compress the fuel mixture at initial start up.

Retro Pedro said:

Did the earth strap ever get checked?
As I found out, it doesn't take alot of voltage drop to affect the power of the starter motor. Being a diesel, it needs all the umph that it can get to compress the fuel mixture at initial start up.

Click to expand...

Damn! This was going to be my first check.

Also, now that we use CANbus systems, the reliance on voltage is high. If even a 1v +- is detected, the ecu can go loopy.

A struggling starter will draw a heavy load and cause all manner of starting issues. That's the problem with multiplex wiring. Any strange issues get sent to the next available "relay" in the line.

Anything that starts with a bump in my eyes needs the load checked on cranking and the obvious things are battery/alternator, earth and starter motor.

I have a 2004 Jaguar XK8 with 5 computers. A duff cell in the battery can flag up all manner of weird faults that aren't actually there

I believe the strap was checked, but worth checking again. In the meantime I had a period of "everything too good to be true" and today heard a cough from the exhaust then went into limp mode (3.5 to 4000 revs only). Now shows Faults;
PO 520
PO 335
P 504
U 1602
UO 426
PO 238
PO 101
Just about ready to be taken away--- I mean ME.
Welcome any ideas, in the meantime I will clean the earth strap just in case.

Crumbs!

Has to be a wiring fault. Oil pressure sensor, turbo, crank sensor, maf....not even FIAT can be that bad all at the same time.

However, like I have said before, mutiplex wiring is complex and when one component fails, it can have a cascade effect.

If it coughed from the exhaust, it sounds like a fueling issue or perhaps a DPF problem....maybe even a "further down the line problem" from its short time inhaling bad substances

I would be inclined to first check the intercooler and associated pipework, then the MAF. If the MAF is flagged up, it can easily be caused by an intake issue, fooling the ECU into thinking there is an airflow problem.

Reset all faults and do a live data test (engine running and drive if possible) with someone recording the faults as they happen.

Andoo said:

Damn! This was going to be my first check.

Also, now that we use CANbus systems, the reliance on voltage is high. If even a 1v +- is detected, the ecu can go loopy.

A struggling starter will draw a heavy load and cause all manner of starting issues. That's the problem with multiplex wiring. Any strange issues get sent to the next available "relay" in the line.

Anything that starts with a bump in my eyes needs the load checked on cranking and the obvious things are battery/alternator, earth and starter motor.

I have a 2004 Jaguar XK8 with 5 computers. A duff cell in the battery can flag up all manner of weird faults that aren't actually there

Click to expand...

With you on this one Andoo - suppose it's worth doing all the simple connection checks first and perhaps disconnecting, cleaning connections with wire brush and perhaps applying a bit of vasoline on terminals before reconnecting.
I did find quite a useful youtube clip where a fella had rigged up a 2 way switch wired to a multi-meter that could be viewed in the cabin and switch over whilst cranking the engine rather than one person laying under the motor with a multimeter whilst somebody else cranked the engine.
Would assume, with wiring, it's a process of elimination and a matter of checking each connection with a multimeter.
If it came to it, there is a company that does undertake ECU checks and repairs but prior to that, I'd bet it's something simple that's causing the problem.

Hi Folks.
I had to admit defeat after the Turbo packed in, just the last straw.:bang:
It was running but not getting to pressure. I used the best of fuel/oil/filters changed every 3,000 miles and only 36,000 miles on the clock.

I needed a reliable car. So faced with another bill and god knows what else in the future, I decided to sell it for spares. £3,000 out of pocket.

I would have loved to have blown it up:bang:

I loved the Doblo shape / MPG and versatility, it was my ideal car.

WHAT AN ADVERT FOR FIAT. I honestly hope my experience puts people off from buying. DON'T EVER BUY A FIAT

I now have a Renault Kangoo 1.2 petrol which I will convert to gas. It doesn't compare to the Doblo, but surely I can't have as many problems as I had with that heap of c**p called a FIAT.

So I am deliriously happy to bid farewell to this forum.

Many thanks to those of you who offered assistance.

Damn that's a shame

I should imagine the easy start was the culprit. It's nasty stuff, like drugs for engines. They get hooked and it kills them

Still, the Renault is a good choice. The worst that goes wrong with the 1.2 petrol is coil packs and injectors. Cheap parts easy to find. :slayer:

Andoo said:

I should imagine the easy start was the culprit. It's nasty stuff, like drugs for engines. They get hooked and it kills them

Click to expand...

Apologies for straying off topic, but just interested to know how the easy start goes on to do the terminal damage.
Read alot about older heavy diesel plant machinery/tractors getting hooked on easy start with stories of once you start using it, it's not long before easy start as to be used all the time.
Is the reason because the highly combustible easy start does damage to the injector seals or some other internal component?
On a personal front, I've only had to use easy start twice on that was on my old Kia Sedona 2.9TDi. First time was when the Sedona cut out and wouldn't start again. After cracking off an injector pipe to prove the diesel pressure pump was OK, I then went on to think it was head gasket related. It was only the fact that I couldn't get the crankshaft bolt undone that stopped me from removing the cam belt to do the head gasket. A mechanic told me about the basic diesel theory that if you've got fuel and combustion chamber pressure the engine will start (for petrol you have to add the spark into the equation). On his advice to spray easy start into the air intake the Kia fired up and ran perfectly for another 3 years until the next occasion when easy start was required. All that after the Kia stood idle for 5 months. On the second occasion when easy start was required, that fault was self inflicted because I let it run out of diesel. I couldn't get the fuel system to pressurise correctly after hand priming at the fuel filter. Again, a couple of squirts with easy start and it fired up and ran perfectly.