Starts and stalls x 10

[TheJoker]

Hi guys,

Sorry for the radio-silence. All's been well. The Espace made it to Nürburg and back over Easter. 

Anyway, the car has been standing now for a while (week or two) and I replaced my battery (because the old one had been killed by my battery-drain which I've described in another thread - still not fixed btw).
So, I put my new battery in, started the car, all OK, but immediately (2 seconds or so) when I tried to give it some throttle, the engine stalled.
I tried again, fired up, and stalled. Fired up and stalled. And so on. I did a few 'long-turns' turning the engine over (10 seconds?), and then suddenly it popped into life and ran sweet as a nut.

I took it for a short run to make sure everything was OK, and everything worked just fine. I did not restart it once it was running.

I'll need the car tomorrow for a run to Heathrow - would be annoying if something happened.

Should I worry? Anyone know what was (is??) wrong? 
Car's a 2.2 dCi 2001 Grand Espace.

Thanks! 

Noticed spelign eror in the subject. Fixed now.

[Anders Dinsen]

Hi there,

I would worry if I was you, but hopefully it was a one time event, or you will manage to get it running tomorrow.
I don't know a lot about these diesel engines, but it could be a fuel pressure problem caused by a leaking injector. TDC sensor and its connections are also known sources of problems, but I don't think it would show up like the troubles you are describing.

But I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and hope for blessings by the french goddess of cars

- Anders

[TheJoker]

Thanks Anders!  Worried... ummm
Anyway, I'll let you in on a small secret; before we left for our Easter trip one of the diesel hoses came off in the engine room. It had simply come off, so this might explain a bit of air in the system; strangely this problem didn't manifest itself all journey. Maybe it has had time to "bubble up"..?

I better go for another drive tonight. 

Thanks!

[TheJoker]

Went out for a 25min drive and couldn't fault the car at all...

Man, these cars are wonderful to drive. It still impresses me after 18 months of ownership and several hardships. 

PS, anyone got a rear-caliper-in-twister-thingy that I could buy/borrow? Anyone know the price of one?

[Anders Dinsen]

Went out for a 25min drive and couldn't fault the car at all...

Man, these cars are wonderful to drive. It still impresses me after 18 months of ownership and several hardships. 

Indeed they are!!  I went to southern France with the family about three weeks ago in our Espace - same as yours except with the V6 - it's such a great car to drive on the German and French motorways.

About the diesel hose, it could have let in some dirt. It's difficult to say. Roy may have a professional opinion on this - I can only make guesses...

PS, anyone got a rear-caliper-in-twister-thingy that I could buy/borrow? Anyone know the price of one?

Been there - gave up! I ended up letting my mechanic do the job in 10 minutes (or so)

[TheJoker]

Went out for a 25min drive and couldn't fault the car at all...

Man, these cars are wonderful to drive. It still impresses me after 18 months of ownership and several hardships. 

Indeed they are!!  I went to southern France with the family about three weeks ago in our Espace - same as yours except with the V6 - it's such a great car to drive on the German and French motorways.

About the diesel hose, it could have let in some dirt. It's difficult to say. Roy may have a professional opinion on this - I can only make guesses...

PS, anyone got a rear-caliper-in-twister-thingy that I could buy/borrow? Anyone know the price of one?

Been there - gave up! I ended up letting my mechanic do the job in 10 minutes (or so)

Thought I'd ask about the rear-calipers, but I have no problems with letting that job be done by someone professional.

When we went over to Germany; 400 miles (600km) one way. We averaged 33.5mpg, with horrible road conditions, including snow, with a roof box, two motorbikes in the back... Like a comfortable personal train. Love it!

[Sparky]

Hi there Joker,

The brake caliper wind in tool I purchased last year cost me around £ 8.00 from the local car spares and accessories shop.
So much easier than struggling with make shift solutions. I must admit that the Espace rear calipers were a lot stiffer to wind in without the tool than on my previous Citroen's.
Still its an easy job to do. Are you changing the rear discs as well ?

Cheers Sparky   

[TheJoker]

Thanks for that info, Sparky. At that price I'd like to do it myself; Saturday afternoon, no rush, a beer or two. 
I don't know if I need to change the disks too... got any tips, if I need to..?! 
Much appreciated!

[renaultbiler]

When disconnecting battery on the V6, the engine must be left running on idle for min 10 minutes in order for the ecu to settle all adaptive values - this might also be the case with your dci...

[TheJoker]

Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks!

But I'm having more problems now. On my 100 mile journey to Heathrow yesterday, this happened:
- Partial loss of power on the motorway, twice. 
- When restarting at Heahrow it really didn't want to start. Luckily it did. 
- On the return journey the engine just died; no errors, warnings, nothing. Just dead.    Managed to pull over and after a bit of cranking the car started again.

Sounds like an expensive repair bill coming up.  

[Anders Dinsen]

DUH, my fault! I forgot to keep my fingers crossed for you   

Yes, it sounds like it needs some work done - but with the problem you are describing, I'm sure Roy would prescribe a fuel pressure test.

- Anders

[TheJoker]

Rooooyy!?!?! RoooOOoooy!? Heeelp!   

This is 100% true;
As my guests were in the car when I had trouble starting it at Heathrow, and I had told them about the quirks on the way down, they knew that I didn't trust the car. So about 3/4 through the return journey my friend says "Oh, it's running fine now, isn'tit?!", and at precisely that moment the engine cut out. I said, "it's not funny, but the engine just died". "What do you mean?!", "The engine just f**king died!!!", "huh?!?", "It died!, I must try to get it to the side of the road safely...!!" 

[Anders Dinsen]

Rooooyy!?!?! RoooOOoooy!? Heeelp!   

This is 100% true;
As my guests were in the car when I had trouble starting it at Heathrow, and I had told them about the quirks on the way down, they knew that I didn't trust the car. So about 3/4 through the return journey my friend says "Oh, it's running fine now, isn'tit?!", and at precisely that moment the engine cut out. I said, "it's not funny, but the engine just died". "What do you mean?!", "The engine just f**king died!!!", "huh?!?", "It died!, I must try to get it to the side of the road safely...!!" 

Haha!! But I'm sorry to hear you had to learn it the hard way: French car's are sensitive machines!

[roy4matra]

But I'm having more problems now. On my 100 mile journey to Heathrow yesterday, this happened:
- Partial loss of power on the motorway, twice. 
- When restarting at Heahrow it really didn't want to start. Luckily it did. 
- On the return journey the engine just died; no errors, warnings, nothing. Just dead.    Managed to pull over and after a bit of cranking the car started again.

Sounds like an expensive repair bill coming up.  

First you need to get a fault diagnosis done.  You need the fault codes, because the complexity is such that without those you would be wasting time and money.  Second you need to see the parameters whilst running (if it will run) or pressures if not.  A fuel inj. leak off pressure check probably will will be needed too, depending on the other results.

These common rail diesels need at least 150 - 200 bar just to start up and they idle with about 300 bar.  So on cranking the pressure has to rapidly shoot up over 150 bar in less than 2 secs. otherwise forget it!  However, the other common problem is the TDC sensor, which can fail at any time, which is why you need a Clip test.  There is no point looking for fuel problems if the TDC sensor has failed.  I assume the immobiliser is O.K.  If the immobiliser warning light flashes rapidly, it is locked and the engine electronics will not authorise starting.  Map, block, boost and temp. sensors can also fail, although not as common.

It sounds like you are near me (if you were going to Heathrow?) unless you had travelled some distance; but without the tools (i.e. Clip diagnostics etc.) it's not worth me having a look, and I am busy for the next few weeks anyway.  Who is your nearest dealer?

Roy

[TheJoker]

Roy, thanks very much! So test needs to be done. My nearest Renault dealer is in Kidlington, but I've not had any good experiences from the dealers around here. I do have a local non-Renault garage that seems to be quite clued up with all things engines.

Would a non-Renault garage be able to do the job?

And, yes, I'm reasonably near you, in Bicester actually.