Help please

We have a panda cross, and we’re having issues with the Checkengine light and words coming up on the display.

Car goes into limp type mode, drivable, but only up to 60mph.You can clear it with revving at switch on, or turning ignition off and on whenmoving (not great I know!)

It only comes on and goes into go slow when you put your foot down on the acceleratorfor overtaking or going up hill.

It’s now had
- 2 x maf sensors
- A/Filter replaced and housing correctly closed and dry

Any ideas as it becoming a reet pain


Cheers

Will

It could be anything but you need to get some diagnostics on it, it may not tell you what is wrong with it but it will give you a clue.

Before we go any further how old are the plugs? How old is the coil pack? When was it last serviced? When was the lamdba sensor last replaced if it all? Again you really need to do some proper diagnostics otherwise it is all guess work.

JD82 said:

It could be anything but you need to get some diagnostics on it, it may not tell you what is wrong with it but it will give you a clue.

Before we go any further how old are the plugs? How old is the coil pack? When was it last serviced? When was the lamdba sensor last replaced if it all? Again you really need to do some proper diagnostics otherwise it is all guess work.

Click to expand...

It's a Cross so is going to be an oil-burner.


Does sound like MultiECUscan might be worth investing in. Been a few diesel pandas on here with the 'limp' problem. Puts me right off.......

AB100 said:

It's a Cross so is going to be an oil-burner.


Does sound like MultiECUscan might be worth investing in. Been a few diesel pandas on here with the 'limp' problem. Puts me right off.......

Click to expand...

putting your foot down to clear it is telling a tale..,
on a petrol I would check codes for Lambda 1st..


on a diesel there is even more stuff to go out of spec.
MES is probably best starting point ..!! ; - }


charlie

Hi Will,

There are two key issues with the multi jet engine. The first of these is a sticking EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve. To the best of my knowledge this causes the engine management light to come on and a warning to check the engine when you first start it. This fault doesn't put you into limp home mode.

The other issue is the turbo waste gate. This is a vacuum actuated valve in the turbo which opens to spill excess pressure. When the turbo is spinning and you put your foot down to accelerate you burn more fuel and the pressure in the inlet manifold rises. The waste gate should open to dump some of this pressure. If it is clogged up by carbon deposits it sticks.

This can sometimes be an intermittent issue, or becomes more permanent every time you want to accelerate hard from say 60 to 70 mph to overtake.

Some garages will tell you that you will need a turbo. However, it is possible, albeit with difficulty to get at the push rod actuator for the waste gate and loosen it up so that the opening and closing action is restored.

I've had both issues with my car since about 80,000 miles. Neither have caused any problems with passing the MOT exhaust emissions tests. These are done without any load on the engine so that it will spin around to maximum revs on full throttle without forcing the engine into limp home mode. Try it yourself. Put the car in neutral and I suspect you'll be able to floor the accelerator and get maximum revs. You could also probably accelerate to maximum revs in 1st to 3rd gear, but not in 4th or 5th.

You might be lucky. The faults may clear themselves for a while. Mine did once I started to use an engine cleaner every few thousand miles but I expect them to return at any moment!

Good luck.

Thanks all for the feedback, cars back with me this week, so will start with the EgR valve and take it form there!
Will let you know how we get on
Will

I'll second what Paul D says.
If the problem is under load, ie heavy acceleration, it's likely the wastegate is sticking due to carbon build up, so the PCM detects an overboost and trips it into limp.
(the wastegate opens more as rpm rise to control boost)

It'll most likely clear with an ignition reset and trip again when it's under load, which makes pulling a DTC from the PCM difficult, you'll need to try and pull a code when the light is on, so you know there's one present or hope it's tripped enough times to store a code as a "pending" one.
I would expect a boost control/overboost related code.

Most have managed to get a bar/screwdriver on the actuator arm and work it back and forth, this frees it up, for a while.
Another fix would be to remove the turbo and clean it with Innotec Turbo cleaner.

The only other thing I can think of that trips limp when under load is a rail pressure drop off, either a leak on or after the HP pump (Pump covers have been know to leak, easy fix with a new seal) or one or more duff injectors are returning too much fuel.
Either of these can result it there not being enough fuel available in the rail to meet the higher demand for fuel the injectors will want under a heavy load. I would expect to find a rail pressure fault code.