Car faults that were difficult or have never been solved.
Discussion
Had a Peugeot 309 GTi that would randomly stop for no apparent reason. Normally in traffic/queues etc. and was a right pain. Turn the key and it would restart instantly and continue to run, no problem. I figured that it was some kind of fuel delivery problem and after tinkering for ages I got nowhere so dropped it off to a local garage who were aces with injection systems. They had the car about a day and sorted it. They heated up all the injection components/relays/switches with a hair dryer individually until they found the one that was failing when the car was hot, genius.
I played chase my tail on my SL last year. Two issues of battery drain which gave a difficult start, and the traction / abs light being on, which combined with me getting 4 new tyres. To cut a 12 month story short, I got a new battery, starter motor, alternator, auto-sparks check, etc etc. Turned out the ring gear on the gear box had lost some teeth, a £1k job, and my lack of use was also draining the battery, which in turn was tripping the traction / abs light. Not good.... 12 months lost, lack of confidence instilled and plenty of money spent. But it goes like a train now. Oh, and nothing to do with the tyres!
RLK500 said:
They had the car about a day and sorted it. They heated up all the injection components/relays/switches with a hair dryer individually until they found the one that was failing when the car was hot, genius.
This is what annoys me - why the f
k can't I find a garage like this?! All the ones (about 6) I had tried so far are just full of "sorry mate, we see there is a problem, but the computer says no so we can't do anything"...I just can't believe a 12 year old car can be this difficult!
Mate of mine had a MKI Vectra from new as a company car.
Had it a while and needed a new tyre so took it to stFit and had tyre fitted.
From then on, the ABS fault lamp showed an error. He had it into the dealers loads of times, replacing loads of parts to no avail.
A chance meeting with a friend of a friend during yet another visit to the stealer had the acquaintance tell my mate that he'd had the same thing happen to him and the cure was to fit the spare with the same tread pattern as the original and form then on in to have his tyres changed in pairs.
He did that and the problem never came back.
Had it a while and needed a new tyre so took it to s
tFit and had tyre fitted.From then on, the ABS fault lamp showed an error. He had it into the dealers loads of times, replacing loads of parts to no avail.
A chance meeting with a friend of a friend during yet another visit to the stealer had the acquaintance tell my mate that he'd had the same thing happen to him and the cure was to fit the spare with the same tread pattern as the original and form then on in to have his tyres changed in pairs.
He did that and the problem never came back.
A few...
My alfa spider S3 had an intermitant temp gauge, only really worked under heavy braking. So I tested the sender, seemed fine, earthed the sender wire so that the gauge should read hot, but nothing. Buggered about for days until I discovered that the fuse box was loose due to the lhd/rhd conversion. The fuse box was not powering up the gauge unless , under braking, the box moved forward and the contact was made.
Audi 80 misfire. No fault code, checked compression, plugs, wires...spoke to numerous Audi specialists with no joy. Turns out the vacuum pipe from the brake servo to the inlet manifold had collapsed under the small heatshield (so you couldn't see it.).
Still struggling with bad cold start and sluggish engine response when cold on 1983 BMW E30 320i auto, tried everything I can think of with no luck. Compression tested ok, slide valve under TB ok, plugs and leads ok, Valve clearances are all .25, TB cleaned and no vac leaks. Only thing I can think of is the vacuum diapragm on the distributor is knackered....any ideas?
My alfa spider S3 had an intermitant temp gauge, only really worked under heavy braking. So I tested the sender, seemed fine, earthed the sender wire so that the gauge should read hot, but nothing. Buggered about for days until I discovered that the fuse box was loose due to the lhd/rhd conversion. The fuse box was not powering up the gauge unless , under braking, the box moved forward and the contact was made.
Audi 80 misfire. No fault code, checked compression, plugs, wires...spoke to numerous Audi specialists with no joy. Turns out the vacuum pipe from the brake servo to the inlet manifold had collapsed under the small heatshield (so you couldn't see it.).
Still struggling with bad cold start and sluggish engine response when cold on 1983 BMW E30 320i auto, tried everything I can think of with no luck. Compression tested ok, slide valve under TB ok, plugs and leads ok, Valve clearances are all .25, TB cleaned and no vac leaks. Only thing I can think of is the vacuum diapragm on the distributor is knackered....any ideas?
Edited by lance1a on Thursday 30th December 09:48
Hybrids said:
PoleDriver said:
My MG ZT-T 260 developed a random intermitent mis-fire. After guidance from the 260 forum and a couple of 'experts' I changed:-
The spark plugs (although they were nearly new)
The MAF sensor
The Fuel filter
The fuel pump
The COPs
Excahnged the EGR
Put it into 2 different garages for diagnostic checks
Exchanged traction control ECU
Echanged main engine ECU
Cost? About £900-£1k in total
I ended up selling it (at a low price) with the mis-fire!
A few years ago we had a Crown Victoria with the same engine, developed a missfire a few hundred miles after a service, consensus was COP's, made no difference.The spark plugs (although they were nearly new)
The MAF sensor
The Fuel filter
The fuel pump
The COPs
Excahnged the EGR
Put it into 2 different garages for diagnostic checks
Exchanged traction control ECU
Echanged main engine ECU
Cost? About £900-£1k in total
I ended up selling it (at a low price) with the mis-fire!
Edited by PoleDriver on Wednesday 29th December 19:12
Changed the NGK plugs back to the old Motorcraft ones, sweet as a nut.
Fitted a new set of Motorcraft ones and it was fine ever after.
Recent service on our V10 RV (bigger version of the above engine), fitted NGK thinking lightening would not strike twice...
Start up, missfire...
refitted Motorcraft, no missfire.
(Never before had an issue with NGK plugs in any other car)
Carrot said:
My old car (2003 Mondeo 2.0 TDCi)
Ran beautifully from 1000 miles old to 112,000 miles old when I traded down for the corsa.
Except, every now and then, whilst driving along, the engine would "jump" briefly and the glowplug light would come up.
This was before I purchased my error code reader, so I went to a couple of good independants, and a diesel specialist with an ex-Ford senior engineer working there, nobody could find the fault and every single time, nothing was stored in the ECU.
The best they said they could do was to do a scan when the fault occured, but as that could be anywhere between 2 miles and 200 miles usually between faults, it was impossible to predict.
Ford told me that they would swap all injectors out and calibrate them (£1100!!! - nearly the value of the car at the time!), but they would not guarantee it would fix the fault.
Cars like that are becomeing a nightmare to be honest, lovely to drive and would have kept it, expensive to repair...
saw an almost identical problem on a bora TDI 150Ran beautifully from 1000 miles old to 112,000 miles old when I traded down for the corsa.
Except, every now and then, whilst driving along, the engine would "jump" briefly and the glowplug light would come up.
This was before I purchased my error code reader, so I went to a couple of good independants, and a diesel specialist with an ex-Ford senior engineer working there, nobody could find the fault and every single time, nothing was stored in the ECU.
The best they said they could do was to do a scan when the fault occured, but as that could be anywhere between 2 miles and 200 miles usually between faults, it was impossible to predict.
Ford told me that they would swap all injectors out and calibrate them (£1100!!! - nearly the value of the car at the time!), but they would not guarantee it would fix the fault.
Cars like that are becomeing a nightmare to be honest, lovely to drive and would have kept it, expensive to repair...
the guy (a friend of my brothers) was at his wits end, having bounced the car from garage to garage for nearly a year. the 'judder' showed nothing up on the ECU, so at great expense he had replaced most of the front suspension, gearbox diff clutch etc.
I got into the car, and within 2 miles knew it was a misfire, and knowing there was no ECU light on, pulled over and removed the oil filler cap. I was presented with masses of blow by under the cap (smoke being shot 6 feet up in the air) leading us to find a cracked piston ring. for all of the garages eagerness to plug in their computers, they ha ALL forgotten the basic principals of mechanics, and no one had tested the engine for either compression or blow by.
at idle the crack was small, and the engine would run ok, but under sustained boost (3rd 4th 5th and 6th gear) the extra heat and load opened up the gap, and it lost too much compression past the piston to fire the cylinder, dropping it onto 3
the real question is why did a selection of garages miss something an office worker found so obviously wrong in 30 seconds? when there is so much pressure under the oil filler cap it blows it out of your hand when you open it, you kinda know where you need to start looking..
EK993 said:
Porsche 993 C2 - when the heater was running it would whistle like a kettle and dump loads of condensation into the cabin for the first 5 mins after startup - not great in the winter!
Took it to various Porsche specialists and even an OPC, nobody could diagnose the problem, and eventually ended up by saying "they all do that" (when they most certainly don't) to get me off their backs. Kept the car for 2 years and sold it without ever resolving it.
Had it on other cars, it wss the seal where the pipe goes in the mmatrix on that one, gets hot then expands and seals propperly, found that after a dealer had given up, lateral thinking is needed sometimes or just a good old mechanic, not a fooking fitter and a PC Took it to various Porsche specialists and even an OPC, nobody could diagnose the problem, and eventually ended up by saying "they all do that" (when they most certainly don't) to get me off their backs. Kept the car for 2 years and sold it without ever resolving it.
NHK244V said:
EK993 said:
Porsche 993 C2 - when the heater was running it would whistle like a kettle and dump loads of condensation into the cabin for the first 5 mins after startup - not great in the winter!
Took it to various Porsche specialists and even an OPC, nobody could diagnose the problem, and eventually ended up by saying "they all do that" (when they most certainly don't) to get me off their backs. Kept the car for 2 years and sold it without ever resolving it.
Had it on other cars, it wss the seal where the pipe goes in the mmatrix on that one, gets hot then expands and seals propperly, found that after a dealer had given up, lateral thinking is needed sometimes or just a good old mechanic, not a fooking fitter and a PC Took it to various Porsche specialists and even an OPC, nobody could diagnose the problem, and eventually ended up by saying "they all do that" (when they most certainly don't) to get me off their backs. Kept the car for 2 years and sold it without ever resolving it.
Big Rod said:
MKII Orion 1.6 LX. Hateful little car but other than smelling a bit of hot engine oil from time to time it went ok.
It started showing symptoms of fuel starvation right around the time I wanted to sell it. Had somone buy it on the proviso I fixed the fuel starvation.
Spoke to an ex-Ford mechanic friend of mine who told me that the internal fuel filters on the Weber carbs on them could clog up and would require cleaning out.
I didn't have a garage at the time, so had to do all the work in the street in the snow in February with a torch.
Needless to say when I took the lid off the carb' as instructed, the internals went everywhere! It took me hours to find 'all', (maybe!), the parts and put them back in some sort of assemblance of order.
The upshot was that I didn't find a filter inside so as it was early in the morning by this time and I couldn't feel my fingers, I bit my lip, shook my head, resigned myself to failure and started tidying up.
Purely by chance, I fumbled a spanner and bumped the fuel pump, (bolted to the cylinder head and driven off the camshaft!), and it wobbled. Turns out it was loose and wasn't delivering enough fuel!! About 30 seconds and a nip up with the spanner I'd fumbled later it was right as rain and the smell of oil disappeared!
<facepalm>
He should have said the filter on them is external not internal (no wonder he was an EX mechanic) it's under the big brass nut where the fuel pipes enter the carb no need to take the top off !It started showing symptoms of fuel starvation right around the time I wanted to sell it. Had somone buy it on the proviso I fixed the fuel starvation.
Spoke to an ex-Ford mechanic friend of mine who told me that the internal fuel filters on the Weber carbs on them could clog up and would require cleaning out.
I didn't have a garage at the time, so had to do all the work in the street in the snow in February with a torch.
Needless to say when I took the lid off the carb' as instructed, the internals went everywhere! It took me hours to find 'all', (maybe!), the parts and put them back in some sort of assemblance of order.
The upshot was that I didn't find a filter inside so as it was early in the morning by this time and I couldn't feel my fingers, I bit my lip, shook my head, resigned myself to failure and started tidying up.
Purely by chance, I fumbled a spanner and bumped the fuel pump, (bolted to the cylinder head and driven off the camshaft!), and it wobbled. Turns out it was loose and wasn't delivering enough fuel!! About 30 seconds and a nip up with the spanner I'd fumbled later it was right as rain and the smell of oil disappeared!
<facepalm>
philoldsmobile said:
the real question is why did a selection of garages miss something an office worker found so obviously wrong in 30 seconds? when there is so much pressure under the oil filler cap it blows it out of your hand when you open it, you kinda know where you need to start looking..
I only have a really basic mechanical knowledge. I can service, replace and do easy jobs - anything deeper than removing alternators or heads is a bit beyond me.However, I get really f**ked off when you hear about "professional" mechanics badmouthing forums where people provide fixes for common faults on cars - and in fairness the forums are normally spot on - whereas the mechanic can't even be bothered to really fault find.
Your selection of garages that you mention are a perfect example. I bet after turning your car away, they are the first to badmouth the people turning to the internet to fix cars. Yet they can't see they are at fault for not actually trying to fix it. Its maddening!
I have even asked on here if anyone knows a local mechanic who actually fixes cars, no replies. I guess they don't exist any more
Carrot said:
philoldsmobile said:
the real question is why did a selection of garages miss something an office worker found so obviously wrong in 30 seconds? when there is so much pressure under the oil filler cap it blows it out of your hand when you open it, you kinda know where you need to start looking..
I only have a really basic mechanical knowledge. I can service, replace and do easy jobs - anything deeper than removing alternators or heads is a bit beyond me.However, I get really f**ked off when you hear about "professional" mechanics badmouthing forums where people provide fixes for common faults on cars - and in fairness the forums are normally spot on - whereas the mechanic can't even be bothered to really fault find.
Your selection of garages that you mention are a perfect example. I bet after turning your car away, they are the first to badmouth the people turning to the internet to fix cars. Yet they can't see they are at fault for not actually trying to fix it. Its maddening!
I have even asked on here if anyone knows a local mechanic who actually fixes cars, no replies. I guess they don't exist any more
by plugging the computer in, the techs a) dont get dirty, and b) feel they impart some sort of wizard like power over the customer. I've only met two or three real mechanics, they use the diagnostic computer where applicable, but rely on proper mechanical diagnosis for the majority of faults. you know what? they are always spot on, and nothing defeats them.
A particular 'stand up and be couunted' to David Day at Days MK here - he has every bit of diagnostic equipment for a fiat / alfa, but is also a fantastic mechanic who will listen to the car, drive the car, and actually feel what is going on.
Edited by philoldsmobile on Thursday 30th December 13:58
2002 Vetca 2.2 auto, been in the dealers for a stalling issue and refusing to start occasionly, 3 week visit to the stealers 1 new ECU and £900 lighter it comes to me, i clean the EGR out, de sludge the throttle body = running issue sorted, dealer slated to thier face (got escorted out by security for that little tantrum) starting issue sorted with a new inductive loop for the immobiliser, total cost £105, one happy customer and one dealer awaiting a court date, the same dealer who couldn't fix the 3 (yes three) astra combo TD vans that wouldn't start and were owned by a local garage company who ran a fleet of 20 of em, they insisted the owner buy 3 new ECUs (oh we are a franchise we dont carry those sort of parts in stock and we'd have to prove the fault before Vauxhall would give us the part to use for diagnosis) for the 8 month! old vans, he refused, took em to court and won, meanwhile i bypassed the immobiliser for around £30 a motor and we drove em back to the dealer.
Guess what? that dealership is now a LIDL
waltham cross vauxhall for those interested, bunch of tossers.
i could go on forever
that's the thing with being a back street garage, you get these jobs when dealers fail, we call em hospital jobs, stick em in the yard and get on it when we have spare time and don't charge for time soent diagnosing, not everyone can afford to loose a car for months at a time but if it's fooked anyway and a total loss, sometimes it's the only option
Guess what? that dealership is now a LIDL
waltham cross vauxhall for those interested, bunch of tossers.
i could go on forever
that's the thing with being a back street garage, you get these jobs when dealers fail, we call em hospital jobs, stick em in the yard and get on it when we have spare time and don't charge for time soent diagnosing, not everyone can afford to loose a car for months at a time but if it's fooked anyway and a total loss, sometimes it's the only option Many years ago my father had a Mk1 Golf auto. It would never get above about 75MPH. It never had any starting problems, always puled smoothly until abou 75, then it would misfire and lose power. Dropping down to 70 cleared it fine. It was almost as if it was fitted with a limiter.
I changed points, coil, dizzy cap, condenser and then the whole dizzy... No joy!
A main dealer diagnosed a valve problem. They removed the haed, reground the valves and did head flatness tests, replaced head gakets, confirmed compressions and returned the car, still with the problem!
I then changed the fuel filter, fuel pump and finally fitted a Nikki carb.. The problem never did go away!*
I changed points, coil, dizzy cap, condenser and then the whole dizzy... No joy!
A main dealer diagnosed a valve problem. They removed the haed, reground the valves and did head flatness tests, replaced head gakets, confirmed compressions and returned the car, still with the problem!
I then changed the fuel filter, fuel pump and finally fitted a Nikki carb.. The problem never did go away!
*
varsas said:
My diesel land rover gives every symptom of a low battery, but I've now tried about 5 in it...same every time. Sluggish cranking/reluctant or no starting. Fires up fine after being jumped. Checked earthing, batteries, glow plugs, for electrical shorts, alternator (why does everyone say the alternator...surely that doesn't have anything to do with starting the car?)....I am waiting for decent weather to fit a new starter. If that doesn't fix it I will be out of ideas....
Doesn't sound like a big problem but the car is so simple it should be an easy fix...
Has the Landie had this fault ever since you owned it, or has the fault appeared over time?Doesn't sound like a big problem but the car is so simple it should be an easy fix...
boobles said:
my old 205gti miss firing & I never did find the cause. Replaced everything that was usggested by my friend at Pug Peformance but never did find the cause.
More recently the battery on my 328ci coupe was draining overnight & it took me weeks to find out that the Harmon Kardon Amp was staying permently "live" & draining the battery.
It took me 15 mins. More recently the battery on my 328ci coupe was draining overnight & it took me weeks to find out that the Harmon Kardon Amp was staying permently "live" & draining the battery.
Edited by boobles on Wednesday 29th December 22:37
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