Sick AM VV8

[flatsheep]

Hi,

Two weeks into ownership and my cars in the dealers; I need some advice please:

I've bought a 4.3 2006, just over 50k miles on the clock, purchased from one of the forum members, a good mate of mine. AM service two months ago.

I'd just filled up with fuel, travelled 15 miles, pulled out on a large round about, half way round, moderate acceleration, when BANG, power dies, dash says "engine stalled" dipped clutch, re-started engine. Engine didn't sound good, was seriously underpowered spluttering/mis-firing. An array of messages was in front of me on the dash "major engine service urgent" "emissions service required" "traction control off" plus amber engine warning light, I limped to a hard shoulder 100m by and turned off engine.

When I tried restarting, there was a whining noise from the near side rear, by the fuel system. Car was towed to nearest AM garage. They've had it 3 days now.

First diagnosis they made: Fuel pump high pressure bypass failed = Replace fuel pump. Now... looking in the service manual, it does not refer to any bypass valve on the fuel pump. So anyway, they've replaced the pump, the engine is only firing on 1/2 a bank (to quote the engineer), something to do with throttle angle sensor. I'm waiting tomorrow for a final diagnosis.

Anyone able to give me advice on what they speculate may have happened, based on previous knowledge/experience? Was replacing the pump legit? As said no ref to bypass in service manual. Engineer did say they were trying to be careful not to burn out the new pump, thanks! £515 quoted for parts and fitting for that job.

I want to trust them, but bad experiences with BMW and others in the past have left me scarred.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

Dave

[tonyhall38]

my DB9 did something similar....turned out to be a faulty ecu for that side of the engine....or it could be something as simple as a throttle body playing up...

[Cockernee]

The problem is that they don't seem to know what is wrong by the sounds of it. If the pump was indeed faulty, why is it not now working? If something has caused the pump to fail, then that part is still in situ and may cause the new pump to fail. Sounds like they have not yet got to the root of the issue and I would ask for any parts that they do replace to be kept and perhaps more importantly refitted if they are not faulty, so you don't get charged for them.

Dr Mike, I think you may be needed.

[AMDBSNick]

Sorry to hear about your problems. I'm guessing the car is at Stratstone Derby. A few guys on here rate them so hopefully all will be well

[robgt]

The problem is trust or lack of it. We can be told anything, be made to believe it and cough up the money. I would suggest calling Mike at Bamford Rose. Their knowledge and integrity is second to none.

[flatsheep]

Appreciate your feedback so far guys. I didn't want to name the garage, as I'm not saying they've done anything wrong so far. I've only read complimentary comments about them throughout the forums. However, I have haggled them down from £700 for the original quote to £515. I want best value from the start, not have to work for it!

My concern is that they seem to be charging for diagnosis time, they seemingly spent a large chunk of yesterday working on the car. I've been tempted to hire a car trailer and tow it down to BM, he's only 75 miles from me.

I really hope it's not an ECU, as the service guy in Wilmslow was telling me about problems with jump starting DB9's and frying ECUs, costing in order of 2k for replacement!!

Thanks again for your help so far.

Regards

Dave

[robgt]

I would still take it to BR. It would seem that your garage are groping around in the dark.
Some years ago I bought a Nissan Patrol with the view of selling it on . By the time I got it home I discovered the head was leaking. 2 different garages quoted me in excess of £1500 to fix it. I then took it to my mechanic who quickly diagnosed that one of the rubber cups that the cam shaft sits in was not seated properly so was leaking oil. 20 minutes later I t was fixed. His bill came to nothing!
The moral being Bamford Rose know our cars inside and out!

[flatsheep]

Just had a call from the garage, car is fixed. Throttle body sensor fault, they've replaced the part for free and cleaned it all up, only charged labour. The guy on the phone was great. The fault was causing the fuel pump to supply maximum pressure all the time, so eventually burnt out.

The price they quoted of £515 for changing the pump was a mistake, a 100 short of what it should be, he screwed up the retail on the part, BUT they are honouring it. The new price 'all in' is the same as they quoted me for fitting the pump originally!!!

Slightly concerned that the clutch is on its way out, they've confirmed this. It's covered about 23k miles. Will definitely be talking to Bamford for that. Another point he raised was worn brake discs all round, by the measurements he's quoting he correct. Annoyed, cause the service info from previous AM garage two months ago did not report this. I'll have to double check the paperwork.

Thanks for your advice. I have an interesting post to publish myself at some point this week, wireless fuse22 for £30. I've scoured the forums and not seen anything similar. I know fuse22.net sell a kit for £99, but I've archived the same for a 1/3rd.

Cheers

Dave

[drofnavi]

I'm interested in one of your fuse kits.

[triple5]

Been looking at wireless switches for fuse 22 myself this week, would be interested to know what you've found.

[flatsheep]

I'll post an article in the next couple of days. In theory, you could achieve a wireless solution for as little as £10.

Dave

[tonyhall38]

told ye it was something simple like throttle body....glad it all worked out in the end....but still would insist on my old fuel pump being given back....just to test to see if it in fact burn't out , and not just covering thier arses by mis diagnosics in the first place....

[drofnavi]

I would be a little surprised if the fuel pump has no kind of fuse / overload protection to stop it burning out. I would also be surprised if it burnt out while pumping fuel, I could understand a problem if it was left to run dry for a long time.

[DB9VolanteDriver]

Don't know is this is helpful or not, but...

Presuming this is a positive displacement pump, they require a high pressure relieve valve internal to the pump to limit their maximum pressure. The injection system would have its own regulation system to maintain the correct injection pressure by returning excess pump flow back to the tank.

If the HPRV was stuck closed for some reason, then the pump could end up at very high pressure such that the load placed by the pump on its drive motor cause the motor to fail (i.e., 'burnt out').

Any way, just a thought.

[897sma]

flatsheep said:

I'll post an article in the next couple of days. In theory, you could achieve a wireless solution for as little as £10.

Dave

I did it myself, details how here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... It was my very first post on Pistonheads.

It works fine but since I swapped my back box it's surplus to requirements. If anyone wants it they can have it for a £20 donation to any childrens or cancer charity.

[flatsheep]

I searched high and low on the forums and never found this. I might post pics up anyway as the method I've used is similar but I use a piggyback fuse header, which is quite neat. Plus I've installed on v8v, so looks different on install. Nice job though btw.

Cheers

Dave

[triple5]

flatsheep said:

I searched high and low on the forums and never found this. I might post pics up anyway as the method I've used is similar but I use a piggyback fuse header, which is quite neat. Plus I've installed on v8v, so looks different on install. Nice job though btw.

Cheers

Dave

Yes please do post up, I was looking at a two channel system on CPC. I'm thinking of using the second channel to get rid of my ugly remote for the garage door.