Drove the car into a flood and engine problems since
Discussion
Drove the car into some seriously deep water and the car died and had to be towed to the garage. Garage got about 5 gallons of water out the engine but it then started, they said something about taking the injectors out and having to dry them, there was water in the turbo, etc.
It’s a Vauxhall Astra, diesel.
So since then I have an intermittent problem with the car. Every now and then the sound changes and it’s almost like when I accelerate the car has a “booming” noise. I’m struggling to identify if it’s coming from the exhaust or the engine. The fuel consumption drops like a stone when it’s like this. If I turn the engine off and back on then it’s immediately resolved. If I don’t turn the engine off it will sort itself out after a bit. Like a switch being flicked, the booming noise stops and the mpg improves.
I don’t think it’s the dpf as if that needs clearing I normally get a message on the dashboard saying the engine is cleaning/clearing the dpf and to carry on driving. I don’t get any such message when this is happening. I have got a light on the dash for a faulty air mass flow sensor. I got the light reset after a few weeks to see if it had dried out but the light came back on after a few hours. I’ve got a new sensor now and am planning to fit that tomorrow. But would that account for the weird noise?
Someone said it could be a stuck injector....does that tie in with the fact that turning the engine off sorts it out? Would injector cleaner help?
It’s a Vauxhall Astra, diesel.
So since then I have an intermittent problem with the car. Every now and then the sound changes and it’s almost like when I accelerate the car has a “booming” noise. I’m struggling to identify if it’s coming from the exhaust or the engine. The fuel consumption drops like a stone when it’s like this. If I turn the engine off and back on then it’s immediately resolved. If I don’t turn the engine off it will sort itself out after a bit. Like a switch being flicked, the booming noise stops and the mpg improves.
I don’t think it’s the dpf as if that needs clearing I normally get a message on the dashboard saying the engine is cleaning/clearing the dpf and to carry on driving. I don’t get any such message when this is happening. I have got a light on the dash for a faulty air mass flow sensor. I got the light reset after a few weeks to see if it had dried out but the light came back on after a few hours. I’ve got a new sensor now and am planning to fit that tomorrow. But would that account for the weird noise?
Someone said it could be a stuck injector....does that tie in with the fact that turning the engine off sorts it out? Would injector cleaner help?
vivalebeaver said:
It’s been like it for about 3 months now with the intermittent problem so do you think it will always be like this? Will the dpf need replacing?
It's possible it's been damaged by the thermal shock of water hitting it, but also quite possible that it's simply trying and retrying a DPF regen because you keep interrupting it. You need to make sure it gets a chance to complete, otherwise you'll add a blocked DPF to any other problems you might have.vivalebeaver said:
Thanks, I’ve only started the engine turning off trick in the last couple of weeks so not sure why it hasn’t regenerate before then. Hopefully the new sensor might help.
It will be doing a regen every few hundred miles, you just won't know it's doing one. The Astra won't tell you.It only comes up on the display when it has failed 2-3 regens, before it goes into limp mode.
When doing one you'll know because the rear demister and heated mirrors will turn on, and your instant fuel consumption will go up slightly at idle. Exhaust note will also change, similar to what you describe. Do not stop the engine during this. It's no good for any component, and it'll dilute your oil with diesel.
Many fit a small light, wired to the heated mirrors, that will show when a regen is in progress so that you can drive and not interrupt it. I've done it on ours, it's very easy to do.
Edited by OllieJolly on Sunday 19th January 05:26
The code for the yellow light says it’s the mass air flow sensor when we connected a code reading widget. I’ve managed to change that today.
The dpf has done a regen twice since the flooding incident as I had the message on the dash that it was doing a regen and after about 15 mins the message went off and the car sounded better.
Really hoping the new air flow sensor fixes it, though the old one looked fine when I took it out.
The dpf has done a regen twice since the flooding incident as I had the message on the dash that it was doing a regen and after about 15 mins the message went off and the car sounded better.
Really hoping the new air flow sensor fixes it, though the old one looked fine when I took it out.
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