Technical Fiat Doblo Multijet 1.3 Starting Failure

[Rhiannon Kamink]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone here can help. I have a Fiat Doblo 1.3 2008 van. It has had a new timing chain, new injectors and thermonstat as well as a clean of the diesel tank and EGR valve/inlet manifold, all in the last 6 months and was driving great.

It started stuttering/nearly stalling a few seconds after startup a couple of months ago, but once driving was absolutely fine. This problem was always worst after it had been sat for between 4 and 8 hours after being driven and tended to be fine on cold start. A few weeks ago it stalled within a few seconds of starting and haven't been able to get it going since. It runs for a couple of seconds and then continuously stalls.

Both fuel pumps have been checked including the fuel check valve, electrics to them are fine, ground has been checked as well as the crank and cam angle sensor. I'm getting a bit desparate as have had so much done to it, and have just finished converting it into a microcamper. Does anyone have any ideas? The only thing I can think of is ECU failure, but it was always driving great once it got past the initial hard starting so find that hard to believe.

Thank you!

 

[jackwhoo]

Hi,

Does this engine have an anti shudder valve? If it does is the valve stuck closed cutting off air to engine?


Best of luck
Jack

 

[Lullaby]

Had the same sort of problem when the engine was hot, then it started real bad (or not) and had to cool down the engine. The butterfly and stationair intake was filthy and because off head it is expending and getting stuck. The casting of the EGR cools down quicker and thereby it shrinks faster than the valve. Maybe take it off and cleaning it up again? Not sure if it is the solution, but you can check it out....

I understand that it is a Diesel engine and indeed the anti schutter can be stuck (it's for preventing a runaway diesel). You can try without de air intake filter to see what is happening when someone else is starting the engine (when it goes wrong then put a big plug in it to kill the engine). Not sure, i am just a newbie in all of this mechanical issues. I wish you the best luck and hopefully you can find the problem without spending unnecessary money.

When you find the problem I hope you can tell the solution; good for education so I can learn more.
Maybe you can (don't know the word...) get temporary a OBD scanner? Don't know if it can tell the sensor failure.


Greetings from the Netherlands.

 

[varesecrazy]

@Rhiannon Kamink

Hi

Did you make any progress??

 

[bugsymike]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone here can help. I have a Fiat Doblo 1.3 2008 van. It has had a new timing chain, new injectors and thermonstat as well as a clean of the diesel tank and EGR valve/inlet manifold, all in the last 6 months and was driving great.

It started stuttering/nearly stalling a few seconds after startup a couple of months ago, but once driving was absolutely fine. This problem was always worst after it had been sat for between 4 and 8 hours after being driven and tended to be fine on cold start. A few weeks ago it stalled within a few seconds of starting and haven't been able to get it going since. It runs for a couple of seconds and then continuously stalls.

Both fuel pumps have been checked including the fuel check valve, electrics to them are fine, ground has been checked as well as the crank and cam angle sensor. I'm getting a bit desparate as have had so much done to it, and have just finished converting it into a microcamper. Does anyone have any ideas? The only thing I can think of is ECU failure, but it was always driving great once it got past the initial hard starting so find that hard to believe.

Thank you!

I am a bit old school, but if diesels started and then died it was often due to air getting into the high pressure fuel pump, yours having a low pressure pump in the tank feeding the high pressure one any leaks would be more visible, but I had a 03 non turbo 1.9 Doblo van without a pump in the tank and so relied on the high pressure pump "sucking" the fuel from the tank. The problem was the seals on the fuel pipe from the tank which Fiat wanted £200 roughly for a complete flow and return pipe system, the solution was a length of fuel pipe and clips just on the flow side. When I wanted to test it I gravity fed fuel from a can direct to the fuel filter, Bear in mind only for a short time as the normal flow and return system will quickly drain a five litre can without a return, also ensure other disconnected pipes are safe if trying this ! Probably not relevant in your case, but I had a 2006 1.3 Punto Multijet that I bought non running with cam chain failure caused by a "garage" trying to tow start it unsuccessfully as it wouldn't crank over, the fault also stopped the low pressure pump in the tank as well as the starter. I traced the fault to a wire going to a relay in the fusebox that had broken inside it's plastic sheathing just where it came from the ECU.

 

[Lullaby]

Definitely a great video to watch... It is not the same EGR but it will give you some knowledge how a shudder valve works on the inside. Maybe there is filth or a bolt that is vibrating (missing some tide lock) that make it worse over time like your problem? If it is up to me... take it off and check it out. I can imagine that the car is opening the valve a little bit at the start... If it is dirty the car wil shut down after seconds.

Dit the garage clean the air intake and put a new filter in it.... (and is it sealt wel to prevent dust).
Dit the garage lubricate the valve with some strange oil that is building up dust or something....
If it is running for the few seconds, is the idle low?
If you take the filter off, will it run?

clean of the diesel tank and EGR valve/inlet manifold

Do you have a receipt and is on it some liquid to clean the tank and EGR... This works for a few month and the problem wil be back, I don't think they took the hole tank of it to do a proper cleaning... I think they just threw some cleaning product in it.




Last but not least: Buy a mini bluetooth OBD2 and some software like auto doctor, and a E-Learn workshop manual. It wil safe you a ton of money in the future so you can do your own maintenance and repairs. Here in the Netherland they all try to rip me off, that is why a bought those things. They just repair some stupid things and knowing that most people come back because of sloppy jobs.


Example of cleaning my old injectors:

 

[bugsymike]

I like the simple petrol injector test and cleaner. On Bosch common rail injectors on early 1.3 Multijet Diesels after stripping and ultrasonic cleaning I would do a basic test using an old diesel pressure spray pattern tester and when under pressure giving a quick spark/flash across the terminals using a 24volt jump pack similar to your photo. Just shows you don't always need to spend thousands on tools, we used to balance twin carbs using a length of hose and trace engine noises with a long screwdriver against the ear avoiding moving parts obviously