epace 2.2dci intermitent starting problem

[Martin Tyas]

From someone who has been through the pain of this issue Fred please take my advice and don't agree to them changing all that they are saying needs doing without first having them carry out an injector leak-off test.
They are trying to take the easy way out at your expense and rubbing their hands at the profit opportunity on the parts and labour... change everything and they are sure to have changed the part that is actually causing the problem which may be just one injector at £250, a faulty fuel pressure sensor on the pump (or a poor electrical connection to it) or even the low pressure pump under the car next to the fuel tank which is delivering insufficient fuel to the high pressure pump.

The only reason to change the whole injection system is if the pump has started breaking up and they need to clean the whole system of metalic debris... and they simply cannot tell it is the pump that has failed just from a pressure reading taken from computer system using the diagnostic box. Besides if it is the pump that has broken up then all the fuel lines and the fuel tank need completely flushing to ensure that particles don't recirculate and wreck the new parts they would be fitting.

The dealer who messed with my 2.2dCi Espace for over 4 weeks insisted that the high pressure pump had failed and that it was particles from the pump that had stuck in one of the injectors holding it open and causing it to leak. If you read the whole thread I insisted upon having back the old pump and stripped it only to find that it was in perfect condition and that changing the one injector that was faulty would have cured the problem.
They'd tried the scare-mongering tactics on me by saying that if I didn't have all four injectors changed then don't come back to them if I got a recurrence of the same problem.... well I've done another 10,000 miles since and it hasn't missed a beat.

Make the dealer go through it step by step with an injector leak-off test first.... or better still take it to someone who actually knows what they are doing.... a Bosch diesel injection specialist.

Martin

[Anders Dinsen]

I completely agree with Martins points, and Roy also said the same - the mechanics don't know what they are talking about and are just trying to make you pay for something that isn't needed. For them it's a safe path, however, and for some reason Renault doesn't care.

- Anders

[P,G,Spaven]

I know this is an old thread but I've read quite a few fuel systems/sensor problem threads and no one ever mentions the pre-post heating times or the pre heating unit being  responsible for bad starting? I'm not for one minute saying that I have enough experience  to tell if this could be relevant in any of these instances but I wonder?

[roy4matra]

I know this is an old thread but I've read quite a few fuel systems/sensor problem threads and no one ever mentions the pre-post heating times or the pre heating unit being  responsible for bad starting? I'm not for one minute saying that I have enough experience  to tell if this could be relevant in any of these instances but I wonder?

No, the pre-heating is easy to test to see if it is the problem P.G.  Check each glow plug resistance which should be between say 0.6 and 1.0 ohm, an if it is way above that it is burnt out and needs replacing.  A meter connected to show voltage whilst it is cranking will show if it is getting a signal.

Usually the problem is loss of pressure since these systems work on such huge pressures and any drop will give rise to trouble.  So you need a fault diagnosis and a leak off pressure test.  Once you have those results you will get an idea where the problem lies.

As I've said elsewhere, as some of the holes are even smaller cross section than a human hair, you only need a tiny spec of dirt to cause a blockage, and then you have insufficient pressure for the system to work.

Obviously if something like a TDC sensor was faulty or the gap too big, that would lead to problems, so that is why the first thing is a diagnostics check.  If there are any faults, those need to be attended to.

If there is an internal leak back from an injector, I say replace that one and test again.  Only if there IS lots of dirt in the system would I not fit a new one until the system is cleaned out.  These injectors are very expensive so you don't want to block a new one.

Roy