Diagnosis Please???

[Mattylad]

Hello All,

Well disaster has struck. Driving down the A19 at around 65MPH and had been for about 20 mile and then all of a sudden nothing, no power, very heavy steering, ignition lights all on.

Managed to weave my way and park in an emergency vehicle section.

Attempt to restart just wasnt having it.

RAC came, dude said doesnt sound good, sounds like no compression, may be cam belt.

Anyway, he had a look and could see the belt turning but also said it may have easily slipped a few teeth and bent some valves???

Just so you know in the last two months I have had new water pump, new alternator belts, fuel pump seals done, new cam belt and tensioner spring, new rocker gasket. I have hardly driven due to being in and out of hospital too.

So any ideas so I dont wuite pass out when the garage call next week?

Cheers

[Northern Bongolow]

wouldnt be too alarmed just yet,could just be a simple fuel cut off switch fault,or blocked fuel cap issue,the wait must be a killer though.
good luck mate.

[westonwarrior]

if you have had the cam belt done it will have a warrenty and if it has failed in any way the garage that fitted it should put it right for you.

It will need a propper compression test to be sure

[mikeonb4c]

wouldnt be too alarmed just yet,could just be a simple fuel cut off switch fault,or blocked fuel cap issue,the wait must be a killer though.
good luck mate.

I agree - just gotta stay calm until the garage calls (I assume they are good guys, who know their stuff and are on your side). Given that it had a new cambelt, the whole thing sounds a bit odd. There have been one or two incidents of broken camshafts on here - I can't remember what was reckoned to have caused them (oh yes, I think it was putting an old shaft in a new head that perhaps had not been made to sufficiently high standard of accuracy). But otherwise, I'm a bit baffled.

Keep us posted and good luck

[skater]

If yours stopped without any bad noises etc then hopefully not too bad

Mine developed a habit of stalling on longer out of town trips.

Initially had all the worst case scenario thoughts.

My fix was to wash the fuel cap in soapy water ( as advised on here ).

Good rinse and good hairdriering(?), problem solved

Luckily hadn't started trying more expensive solutions yet.

The topic is on here somewhere.

Good luck.

[Mattylad]

Skater, thanks for that. Are we talkin the fuel filler cap? What's the philosophy behind that then?

Hey I'm up for it if it works like. Really hope it's not serious.

[westonwarrior]

Fuel filler cap has a vent to let air in while the fuel goes down

If its blocked no air can get in and so its more difficult to get fuel out

a test is after a long run if you have a stalling problem undo the cap an rush of air is a sign of a blocked vent

[skater]

That's right, as above.

On a longer run more fuel is used and if air can't get in to fuel tank than you basically create a vacuum effect
which makes it harder for the fuel to get sent to the engine.

Especially in those situations where you release the accellerator and just roll.
If you're doing a decent speed you are forcing lots of fuel through so system copes.
Doesn't need much fuel to idle so it can't get enough and stalls, dash lights come on , power steering doesn't work etc.

A bit of air rush in when you open filler cap is ok but at the time mine was gasping as it turned out.

You've got nothing to lose if you try that first.

Good luck, James.

[bigdaddycain]

Hello All,

Well disaster has struck. Driving down the A19 at around 65MPH and had been for about 20 mile and then all of a sudden nothing, no power, very heavy steering, ignition lights all on.

Managed to weave my way and park in an emergency vehicle section.

Attempt to restart just wasnt having it.

RAC came, dude said doesnt sound good, sounds like no compression, may be cam belt.

Anyway, he had a look and could see the belt turning but also said it may have easily slipped a few teeth and bent some valves???

Just so you know in the last two months I have had new water pump, new alternator belts, fuel pump seals done, new cam belt and tensioner spring, new rocker gasket. I have hardly driven due to being in and out of hospital too.

So any ideas so I dont wuite pass out when the garage call next week?

Cheers

I had a similar sounding scenario happen to me a few years back with another diesel car... I was quite happily lopping along, when all of a sudden i got all the dash lights come on, no steering, limited brakes, engine had cut out. It wouldn't restart, in fact it cranked over very quickly indeed! I feared the worst (snapped cambelt). RAC bloke comes out, he thought the same (judging from the VERY quick crankover speed). Off came the cambelt cover, revealing only 1/3rd of the belt... Slow cranks revealed the belt to be intact, he too suggested it may have slipped a few teeth (the belt had been replaced 3 months earlier). He casually asked if i had any fuel in the car... I glanced at the guage and said "yes, quarter of a tank" He replied "no, ignore the gauge, is there definitely fuel in the tank"? Well, i judged from the gauge only, i couldn;t be sure when, or how much fuel i'd put in last time. He roced the car and said he couldn't hear any fuel sloshing around... He went off and got a gallon of diesel. He returned, i thought it was going to be a waste of time and money... I'd already prepared my wallet at this stage to replace the engine Sure enough... there was no fuel in the tank! The gauge had developed a fault, and was stuck on a quarter full!

The above could equate to a faulty fuel cap on the bongo too possibly?

[Mattylad]

Well Big Daddy I can certainly rule out the no fuel thing as I had only recently filled up and had only done 300k. But I am very intruiged about this filler cap thing. Never heard fo it before, firstly if it was this would it also sound like there is no compression when trying to restart? I will give Andy 'the bongo king' a ring on Monday, yes he probably is aware of it since he is 'the bongo king' but ya never know.

Keep the ideas flowing gents, youre making me feel a bit better and also arming me with potential solutions.

I love this forum.

Matty

[skater]

would it also sound like there is no compression when trying to restart?

Not sure what that sounds like to be honest.

Mine just cranked over like it had no fuel ( which effectively it didn't, well couldn't get it anyway ).

[Mattylad]

Did you have to bleed the fuel through after skater or is it self bleeding?

[wonkanoby]

it should self bleed

[skater]

As above.
If filler cap is venting properly then fuel will come through easily enough.
Shouldn't get an " air lock " like coolant system.

Hope this is all that's wrong with yours.

[munroman]

When I replaced my fuel pump seals it was taking ages to bleed, so I removed the feed pipe and injected diesel with a syringe, once the engine fired I put the feed pipe back on, so that might be worth a try.

I have heard that some Bongos need spun for ages (including a battery charge in the middle) to get going.