Technical 2005 Fiat Doblo 1.9 Multijet, hot start / non start issue

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Technical 2005 Fiat Doblo 1.9 Multijet, hot start / non start issue

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Hi,

my dad has a 2005 55 reg Fiat Doblo 1.9 Multijet Dynamic car.

Which has developed a rather annoying fault in the last month or so, since it broke down while he was on holiday back in September.

When my dad had stopped off after a 30-35 minute drive, and left the car for 10 minutes.

He came back and it refused to start, it was cranking but just wouldn't fire.

He left it about 30-40 minutes, and the car started but cut out after a minute or so and refused to start.

The RAC came out, and checked that fuel was getting to the filter from the tank. And some other checks, including a diagnostic check which showed no faults.

The mechanic said it was either a fault with the diesel engine pump, a crank sensor, or fuel rail pressure sensor.

We sent the car to a local garage, when they went to check the car a day or two later. It started no problem, and again no faults on the diagnostic. But when they left the car running, it cut out again.

Anyway they replaced the crank sensor, as suggested by the RAC. And the car started fine, maybe just me but it didn't seem to run the best. But drove and seemed as it was before performance wise, the car wasn't used again until last weekend when my brother borrowed the car.

In order to take some relatives to a wedding, the night before he bought the car home after a 30 minute drive he parked it. And 5-10 minutes later went to move the car, to gain access to the garage.

The car barely started, was running poorly and wouldn't rev over 1500 rpm? And white smoke was coming from the exhaust which was quite alarming, tried to drive it up the street but the performance was so bad it wouldn't go fast enough to get out of first gear.

Decided to investigate the next morning, so I lent my brother my car and decided to see what I could find. Went to start the Doblo, and it fired up and ran okay.

No white smoke, and revved up fine? Bit of diesel smoke on acceleration, but not terrible compared to when it was producing the white smoke.

Drove the car to my dads which was a 30-35 minute drive, turned off the engine and left it 15 - 20 minutes. I tried restarting and it, and it fired up no problem :bang:

It has me stumped, I thought that the crank sensor had cured the fault.

The glow plugs have been replaced earlier in the year, so I would expect them to be okay still as the car doesn't cover a lot of miles.

I wondered if anyone has experienced a similar fault, or if there is a common part that is causing this issue?

I'm sort of inclined to go with the fuel rail pressure sensor, but I'm a bit reluctant to buy one as they seem rather expensive from Fiat!! I had heard of the coolant temp sensor on the thermostat being another fault, but can't see how that would produce the white smoke. It seems to start easier when cold, than when it's hot as that's when it won't go.

I've asked a few garages, but they seem reluctant or not interested. So if I can fix it myself, that would be fantastic. As touch wood, the Doblo has been a reliable car for my dad up until now.

Thanks in advance!
 
Last edited:
check this part out

had the same issue

! discovered a solenoid valve behind EGR, which has 2 vacuum pipes on it, one to the throttle valve or shutoff valve oroverrun valve whatever its called. . Called boost pressure switch, or throttle vacuum solenoid or whatever anyway it wasn't working (12V across the terminal solenoid not clicking and no air flow),so I soaked it in WD40 over night and working great. I refitted it and car is now fully operational again....and has been for a few months now.
 
check this part out

had the same issue

! discovered a solenoid valve behind EGR, which has 2 vacuum pipes on it, one to the throttle valve or shutoff valve oroverrun valve whatever its called. . Called boost pressure switch, or throttle vacuum solenoid or whatever anyway it wasn't working (12V across the terminal solenoid not clicking and no air flow),so I soaked it in WD40 over night and working great. I refitted it and car is now fully operational again....and has been for a few months now.

Hi thanks for the tip that's definietly worth a try!! I'll take a look at it this weekend and see if I can locate that (y) Fingers crossed :D
 
also check the MAP sensor this is centre of back of engine in front of the egr valve..these get crapped up as well.
 
I managed to fit the temp sensor at the weekend finally!! although I didn't get chance to check the other two suggested items annoyingly. As I was pressed into helping out on some jobs, on my dad's newly purchased 04 Scudo van.

So didn't quite do all I set out to, but at least I'm keeping it Fiat related I guess! Anyway the car appears to start and run a little smoother on the test drive, and did restart when hot. Still a touch of smoke, an struggled to start but did start up yesterday when I checked.

Think that's down to the battery in honesty, and the fact it's been sitting a bit. I'll go to my dads Saturday and give a good run, to see how it goes. If it's okay I'll leave it be, but if not I'll tackle those two suggestions :)

I'll update when I've done that, an let you all know how it's going. Thanks again for the suggestions.
 
Hi everyone, thought I'd give an update on the Doblo.

Touch wood it seems to run okay, the coolant temp sensor that we replaced in the thermostat seems to have worked.

So if you get a similar fault, with no error code showing on your scanner. It's well worth looking at the crank sensor, or coolant temp sensor.

Both parts came under £50, and are relatively easy to fit with a few basic tools.

It does still seem a bit slow to start, but my dad doesn't use his Doblo all that much. Again possibly down to a discharged battery, though I've been having similar problems with our Scudo now oddly enough.

Looks like I'm in for more fun and games :mad: never mind can't have it all I guess..
 
Hi Paul, where is the temp sensor located, is it a water temp sensor?
Cheers Andy
 
I had until today a hot start problem, looked at everything over the past months to sort it, in the end decided it was the HP fuel pump, my thyroid was that when the engine was warm the parts in the pump expand and when cranking at starter speed the pump can’t deliver the pressure, once started at Rickover and beyond the pressure was sufficient for the engine to run.chances it in the end and forked out , twenty minute job and now engine starting at all temperatures.
 
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