Hello from the land of the fiat...Having owned a marea 1.9jtd I have just swapped it for a bravo 1.9jtd (Marea was uk car, Bravo is Italian..) and need some help on some poor running.

It is 8 years old with 70k miles and economy seems okay, perhaps a little low but yet to establish.

At around 2000 revs it is lurchy, not really badly - but really noticeable.

I had a new air flow meter in for a few days and that seemed a little better but not perfect so I swapped the old one back in. Also I have used 2 injector cleaning fluids and it seems worse whilst that liquid is in the tank.

I have some black smoke on harsh acceleration but none on general use. I do not know how it was driven before I got it...but this is Italy...!:devil:

My queries are these:
Could it be the thermostat? It is slow to warm up, but it has been cold weather recently although the Marea never had a problem...

Are the cheap (£26) air flow meters on Ebay worth buying or are they just two plastic tubes with a box glued in the middle?

Any other thoughts?
:bang:

Which JTD do you have? The JTD105 (Phase2) or the JTD100 (Phase3)?

Can you explain a little better what lurchy is? Is it really slow on acceleration after 2000 rpms? Is your new MAF not faulty, is it a Bosch part or copy. Has your car been serviced recently, especially oil and air filter.

Have you tried cleaning your EGR valve or replacing it?

No your thermostat wont cause this problem i dont think.

It is a 105JTD. Lurchy - it seems to be jumpy, a bit like it would feel before stalling - like the fuel supply is a bit intermittent - but not that bad. Acceleration is okay but not really reflecting 105hp.

The new air flow meter was bosch but I swapped it back to original as it did not seem to cure everything. When I bought the car it was serviced with new oil and air filters. How would I clean the EGR valve?

Heres a guide to cleaning the EGR on a 105JTD

http://www.fiatboo.co.uk/photogal/guidepics/Cleaning_the_EGR_valve-output.pdf

However i think it could be something else. Has the fuel filter been changed aswell? Seems odd that it feels like stalling. Do any lights flash up on your dials when it goes lurchy?

I do not know about the fuel filter...I had plug lights and injector system lights come on in the first few days i had it, and the dealer changed all the glowplugs - after which they have not relit.

Do you think I should get a new air flow meter again and see if it helps? The ones on ebay are not bosch, do you think thay are worth thinking about for £26 or not?

Problem is that here, a replacement will be around €240...which is a big difference.

Italy is not good on spare second hand parts as all older cars are shipped out of the country when traded in so no cheap 2nd hand market exists - therefore no older cars are scrapped unless written off at the hands of a wannabee ferrari driver in an Ape.

I find ricambituning.it being a best place to source a new MAF. However i dont think the MAF has anything to do with it. Could be a sensor fault, fuel related fault etc. Has your MPGs been affected?

Since the dealer changed the plugs did your cars performance change or stay the same. The injector light has nothing to do with the glow plug light. Changing glow plugs may sort the glow plug light flashing but not the injector light. You could always take the car to Fiat for a diagnostic to make sure you dont pay for replacements that dont need to be bought.

Change the fuel filter and reset the ECU see if that does any difference. To do this disconnect the battery for several hours i.e over night and then reconnect. Start car and leave it to idle for 5mins. Do not rev the car. Once 5mins is over switch the car off. Then whenever you drive it, the car will relearn how you use the car. The MPGs will be worse at first.

An old thermostat would take your car a while to warm up but thats nothing major really.

gelataio said:

At around 2000 revs it is lurchy

Click to expand...

turbo lag

is this your first TD car?

jug said:

turbo lag

is this your first TD car?

Click to expand...

his car before this was a marea 1.9jtd

it sounds like a egr, boost controller thingie or afm problem though.

Hi all,
indeed I had the Marea before and all should be the same...

Today I went to Carrara and the car is happy to sit at 140kph with no issues, but 2000 revs in 3rd or 4th feels jerky and rough. I wondered this morning if it could be fuel pump or even...if I distrust the dealer...did he change all the glowplugs a month ago or did he put cheap crappy ones in???

I will clean the egr, change the fuel filter, and reset the ecu asap and see what happens. It is not a bad car, I think it is just something is dirty and needs a good clean...

glow plugs are only used to start the engine, once it is running they are not used, so it cant be the glow plugs.

oops. What does then?
assume i know nothing about diesels....

the diesel is ignited by compression. that is the main principle of all diesel engines.

Hi, I cleaned the egr valve on sunday and it ran well for sunday and monday, tuesday it felt a bit hesitant again...

There has been a noted absence of black smoke and a bit more power...but if it is beginning to falter again what do I do? Clean it again or replace it? Could there be something else I need to look at?

Another strange symptom I did not mention before was that at pull away the steering wheel was shaking a bit side to side, whereas after I cleaned the valve it has stopped. I had the wheels balanced a month ago and there is no other shake....is this weird?

Another question - - how easy is a head gasket change? I noticed oil around the seam when I took the egr off...

yes its strange

head gasket replacement is a big job, if the head gasket was leaking that could easily explain all your problems, do a compression test to find out if it is leaking.

Hi, quick query...

any one know where to get cheap egr valves? Cheapest I have found is in Cyprus at €111 plus 21 postage to italy...Anywhere in UK?

(and i think i mis identified the head gasket...the top seam would be rockercover gasket rather than head gasket???)(Spell 'mechanic')

hesitation and jerkyness under acceleration points to a fuelling problem. maybe a diagnostic to check for any fuel pressure regulation problems might be in order..

i get EGR valves from scrapyards, but firstly check that yours is not seized up, try to free it with some wd40.

Hi guys, I have just bought a 1.9JTD100 as a cheap run around. when the car is idle it makes a bit of squeaky type noise and also when the clutch is pressed, but when i rev to 1000rpm it goes away.

Does any one know what it could be???