Hi guys.

Just purchased a 56 plate mwb 2.3 multijet ducato with 137k on the clock a couple of weeks ago.

Only got to drive her for five days as orange engine management light came on on the way home, opened bonnet to find diesel everywhere, it was bubbling out of where the number two injector screws into the block

Went to start her the next day and the engine kept on turning and wouldnt start, had it towed to my local mechanic who couldnt get it started.

Was then towed to a diesel injection specialist who did a compression test and found that there is hardly any compression on all 4 cylinders.

Anyone know what his could be as my next option is to start having the engine stripped down by a local engineering company which sounds horrendously expensive.

Have tried to sell van on ebay for half the price i paid but no joy so looks like im stuck with it

Any ideas on what this could be most welcome

Head gasket, would be the most probable cause, While the head is off it would be a good idea to re-grind the valves to get rid of any pitting.

Should have asked if there's water in the oil or oil in the water?

tommytopgun said:

Should have asked if there's water in the oil or oil in the water?

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Thanks for your response .i did notice the water in the radiator top up bottle was oily today actually as someone had removed it in their investigations

If it is the head is this a big job on these ?

No bigger job than any other vehicle, its just loosening and tightening the head bolts in the right order, and the head might need skimming (this will require a thicker head gasket after).

Also the injectors will have to be removed, in which case the copper seals mentioned by Cris1117 will have to be replaced.

If it was blowing by the injectors you'd have had raw diesel left in the cylinders from incomplete combustion which could wash away the lubricating oil and cause the bore to wear. A second hand engine nearly always works out cheaper than a rebuild and you have all the spare parts if you have somewhere to ditch them like a relatives hay barn

Apologies if this sounds daft but could the compression problem be a broken cambelt?

How was the compression test done?

fenman said:

Apologies if this sounds daft but could the compression problem be a broken cambelt?

How was the compression test done?

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Just came back to say that or maybe its skipped a tooth and also had a duh moment now - if the injectors are all loose and blowing by then there will be no compression!

First easy thing to do is have those injectors out and see if there is even a washer on them and what condition the seat is in, seat might need to be recut,new washer fit and then correctly torqued.

moodrater said:

Just came back to say that or maybe its skipped a tooth and also had a duh moment now - if the injectors are all loose and blowing by then there will be no compression!

First easy thing to do is have those injectors out and see if there is even a washer on them and what condition the seat is in, seat might need to be recut,new washer fit and then correctly torqued.

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Apparently the cambelt area is good and also the timing is ok. The diesel leak was pretty bad...enough to cover the whole underside of the van. I have bit the bullet and i have a reputable engineer coming to my house tommorrow to crack her open and take a look.The guy at the diesel place also suggested the diesel may have washed the lube from some components.Will post results tommorrow.

Hi,
all sounds a bit fishy to me..,
ran for 5 days, and now has a string of issues..,
are you 100% sure it wasn't already giving trouble and stripped down - then thrown back together to sell..??,
Charlie

varesecrazy said:

Hi,
all sounds a bit fishy to me..,
ran for 5 days, and now has a string of issues..,
are you 100% sure it wasn't already giving trouble and stripped down - then thrown back together to sell..??,
Charlie

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Definitely sounds like that, how as it described in the ad, do you have a copy of the ad. If it was misrepresented you could just threaten to sue unless they a) take it back or b) pay for the repairs.

Ok, So after weeks of waiting i finally have an answer today.

Means nothing to me but apparently the common rail has failed ?

Can anyone explain to me what this is, apparently its not going to be too expensive either

You'll find the common rail on the front of the cylinder head, just follow the pipes back from the injectors

Weird where was the compression going then, those rails are about a tenner in poland on allegro, theres one for £35 on ebay uk at the moment.

Part 16 (the limiter) on the diagram is the most likely cause, but they don't come separately.

Do you mean the limiter is affecting the compression? I don't see how it can. It looks as if it's teed into the leakback circuit so it must surely be just a fuel pressure relief valve.

If you mean the limiter is the cause of the common rail failure that would make sense but it still wouldn't explain the loss of compression or the diesel bubbling around the no. 2 injector. I'd still like to know how the measurement was done. If it was a diesel specialist they ought to know what they're doing.

Sorry just read that again your lack of compression is due to the common fuel rail?
Surely they must have been on about fuel pressure?