And it all stopped......but why?

[abecketts]

Wednesday morning was quite cold and I was heading off to the airport, I started up our E320cdi and headed off through the village, when I got to the roadworks at the other end of the village (1.5 miles) the car as i slowed down just stopped the engine behaved almost as if i'd stalled it (not easy in an auto).

I'd conveniently arrived at the front of the queue for the roadworks traffic lights I tried to start it and the engine turned over and then the battery sounded as if it was going flat. No warning lights, silly ESP/BAS messages etc. Left the car for the recovery folks and apparently caused chaos due to the roadworks with my son "minding" the car and headed off to the airport. Having just got back i'll check in with the garage to see what the problem was in the morning but any ideas folks?

 

[a111r]

Probably an end of life battery, exacerbated by the cold.

Low battery voltage on these can cause all sorts of malfunctions; starter motor 'running on' without disengagement, gear shift locking. I've had both recently and assumed the worst.

Battery swap, both problems were gone.

 

[renault12ts]

The battery is for starting the car which it did, initially...the alternator is for keeping it running. If it is an electrical fault look to the alternator first.

 

[Charles Morgan]

A defective battery can cause myriad issues. If it isn't taking a charge then whatever the alternator does the car will stop - a recent example, having recharged my battery in my M535i which I knew to have a drain, I got stuck in heavy traffic and the car conked out on the M40. The recovery driver connected a jump pack and it started and ran, until the jump pack was removed, at which point the engine stalled. Then, three hours later when being moved out the way at Simeon's, the battery somehow found some charge.

 

[Mrhanky]

In the past I have experienced all sorts of strange electrical behaviour. I used to do all the normal checks, now I just put a new battery in and it has never failed to cure such problems.

I have never had an alternator fail on any car I have owned, it's always been the battery.

 

[Meldrew2]

The battery is for starting the car which it did, initially...the alternator is for keeping it running. If it is an electrical fault look to the alternator first.

Modern electronics need a smooth power supply which an alternator struggles to provide. A battery acts in a similar way to a large capacitor and smooths the power. A faulty battery cannot do this adequately.

 

[flango]

Modern electronics need a smooth power supply which an alternator struggles to provide. A battery acts in a similar way to a large capacitor and smooths the power. A faulty battery cannot do this adequately.

Bang on the money a failing battery on modern cars throws up all sorts of warnings and can lead to total failure.

Just had this on my daughter's VW engine light came on I checked the codes and there were loads of them O2 sensor, misfire cyl 3, coolant over range etc.. fortunately I know better checked the battery which was on its last legs and that was the issue changed the battery cleared the codes and all was perfect

 

[HB]

Wednesday morning was quite cold and I was heading off to the airport, I started up our E320cdi and headed off through the village, when I got to the roadworks at the other end of the village (1.5 miles) the car as i slowed down just stopped the engine behaved almost as if i'd stalled it (not easy in an auto).

I'd conveniently arrived at the front of the queue for the roadworks traffic lights I tried to start it and the engine turned over and then the battery sounded as if it was going flat. No warning lights, silly ESP/BAS messages etc. Left the car for the recovery folks and apparently caused chaos due to the roadworks with my son "minding" the car and headed off to the airport. Having just got back i'll check in with the garage to see what the problem was in the morning but any ideas folks?

Hi mate hope you're well. I remember when you were up here I had just changed the batteries and alternator on my 320 cdi. had all the warning lights etc and it conked out just near my indys garage... we pushed it round the corner !
After the work was done, I swear it's like a new car !

 

[abecketts]

thanks for the replies guys, garage has thus far checked the battery which is not dead or showing signs of demise and is accepting a recharge normally. John my indy mechanic was "talking" to the engine management system on Star when I left him hunched over a computer keyboard, at that stage it wasn't being too co-operative (his words) so I could be playing Happy Monday music or Boomtown Rat music tomorrow when I call in for an update.

 

[abecketts]

Just spoken to the garage, one injector is failing causing the fuel pressure to drop in the rail (his words not mine). I will go and have a butchers this evening, he's also found evidence of corrosion in the fuel line meaning water might have got in there, not sure what that could mean. Hopefully not huge bills.

 

[abecketts]

Visited the garage last night, John had rigged up pipes to each injector leading to a set of chambers to measure how much they leak. It was very obvious that one injector was leaking much more fuel than the rest this would have caused the pressure in the rail to fall and the car to stop. So a new injector £180 plus fitting and a service should see the car right as rain and ready for winter just need some winter tyres to complete things.

 

[renault12ts]

Called a "leak-off test".

Glad it's getting sorted.

 

[a111r]

Hope that fixes it.
I'd have thought low rail pressure = EPC light on, as per a failing HP pump?

 

[abecketts]

Hope that fixes it.
I'd have thought low rail pressure = EPC light on, as per a failing HP pump?

no lights thankfully, on reflection and i'm new back to diesels after 8 years on petrol but the time it took to start seemed over long which might have something to do with raising the pressure in the rail to the right point to start. I look forward to trying it post repair and winter service.

 

[abecketts]

So picked the car up yesterday, drove home all ok. Went out this morning got 2 miles down the road EPC message engine shuts down I coast into a layby. Awaiting recovery, folks back home grumpy as they have to do all the apple pressing while I wait for the recovery truck.

 

[Ted]

^^ It's the scratting that's the hard work!!
Hope you get it sorted without too much more trouble.

 

[abecketts]

Thankfully a new battery solves all ills or nearly all ills, the entire command unit does not turn on. Checked fuses etc but no joy, is there a fuse at the back of the command unit?

Ted the scratting was sorted, it's good to have a team to help

 

[RCurado]

Thankfully a new battery solves all ills or nearly all ills, the entire command unit does not turn on. Checked fuses etc but no joy, is there a fuse at the back of the command unit?

Ted the scratting was sorted, it's good to have a team to help

Hi, so i got a w210 that recently start doing something similar to your car, you turn it on, he works just fine at, some random occasion, you feel a momentary lack of power, like 1 second, the EPC light appears and the engine shuts down. So i dont know if you had the same issues of even symptoms, but how did you get it sorted out?

 

[John]

The Op has not visited the site in a year now so you might be in for a wait for a reply.