This weeks PITA a 2.2 CDTI Honda Civic ............

[Dave2302 387]

No fault codes, after a good pull over a big hill, and dropping down the other side (Mam Ratagan), on overrun this would die as you hit the flat bit and go on the jazz pedal, ton of black smoke, no power...........

Eventually it got so bad it would barely start, it would fire then die, repeat repeat, if left it would usually start up and drive again until the hill etc etc.

It had a Fuel Filter and Air filter last week, but I couldn't get it to repeat the fault.

Guy left it idling outside the launderette then it died completely, and even after a couple of days it would only fire up and die straight away, 

It got towed in yesterday, and it sounded to me when it was trying to start that it wasn't getting air !!

I got it to fire up and stay running by wedging open the Inlet runner flap butterfly, then no smoke and sounded OK, stayed running, but straight into limp mode so couldn't drive it above 2k RPM !!

A bit of the old Black Death here, think this might have something to do with it LOL ..................

[Stalker 180]

Nice one!

 

You gonna send it for a terraclean?

[metcars 394]

Jet wash!

[Dave2302 387]

You should see me now, big flexible bottle brush and a big bowl of petrol, (health and safety lol), manifold was blocked solid internally, it's now clean but I'm all black speckled.

Gotta go buy another couple gallons of petrol to de tar everything else, bench, tools, etc etc etc the shit is everywhere.

The biggest worry will be cleaning the inlet ports out, gonna try getting each cyl on compression stroke (valves shut) and use a flat hook like tool to drag it all outwards with the workshop Vacuum right by the port, if a chunk of it goes astray and sticks a valve open upon restart it's crunch bent valve time ...............

I have warned him of the risk, it really shoulda had the head off it and stripped down / rebuilt  

 

[D&M 66]

We had that on an Astra van not so long ago. Had to drill the stuff as even petrol wouldn't dissolve it! Engine was breathing through a straw sized hole - went like a rocket when it was cleared out though!

 

[twerp 69]

All that and no EGR codes?

[It's me 611]

my transit banana did that,i had to have 5 baths to get clean

[Dealer 54]

What's the miles on it Dave? Surprised seeing that to be honest. 

[BHM 994]

Remember when diesels were cheap, low powered, simple plodders? 

The more dealings I have with diesels at 100K+ the more it reinforces why I wouldn’t recommend one to most folk - they’re ok if thrashed regularly but chugging about at 2000rpm invites long term problems.

[Dave2302 387]

It's 109479 miles and nope never popped any codes let alone EGR  

It did pop an EGR code as soon as I removed and blanked it for testing when it was at the Cranking Firing Smoke and Dying stage before I stripped off the fannymold 

It's all cleaned out at close of play, and after carefully turning it over by hand, I cranked it with a whiff of sniff across the ports, (Fuel Rail and Injector Wiring is all off it atm), and it fired up and ran on all 4 so putting it all back together in a while  

Yes you should have seen Mels face when I came out of the Shower and she had to go in and clean it 

(I had already cleaned the worst of it off my face and hands with Brake Cleaner on a rag) 

[Dave2302 387]

BASTARD !!

"The Power of Dreams" isn't !!

Just put it all back together, only got EGR to put back after Coffee break.

I cleared all the codes that I got in it by cranking it last night with no Fuel Rail, Sensors etc attached, and let it glow then cranked it ...............

Took a while to fire but I expected that as Fuel Rail was likely empty. So it fired and died, tried again, glow, crank fire died, repeated this about 25 times then eventually, (just as it was before), it stays running ...............

During this cranking and dying phase a little or lot of throttle makes no difference, it doesn't rev just dies after a few seconds repeat repeat.

NO CODES APPEAR AT THIS TIME EITHER.

While I was typing this I switched it off now it's hot and left it a couple of minutes, fired up and stayed running now it's hot, (just as before) and nope no Glowplug Codes)

No smoke now hot or cold, and revs up nicely even without the EGR bolted on / connected, until it pops EGR Code, then 2000 rpm limp, but I'm not convinced it's fully fixed. Still no other codes

Any Yonda Honda Diseasel experts out there ?????????????????????

I'm going to chuck the EGR back on after Coffee and then park it outside do some other work and get back to it see what it's cold start is like later today !!

If it's still an arse to start and stay running I will run all the tests I couldn't before because it wasn't running at all when it first came in, just fire / die / repeat

It's sitting there on the lift glaring at me and idling sweet as a nut right now

Fucking run of shite lately !!

Lets see what happens after it's EGR's back on and been up the road then left to cool down, I'll report back later

 

[Dave2302 387]

OK well one of the big fat mammas has sung, EGR bolted on, cleared code, took it up and down our road, I'm on my own today, so just 1/2 mile east, turn, back past mine, 1/2 mile west turn etc etc ...................

Obviously this was so if the bastard shat itself I could either coast it back to mine or only a short walk lol.

I did that about 10 times, so around 10 miles, one thing was immediately apparent ...............

Fuck  this thing has never driven so well, absolute rocket ship now pulls just off idle and all the way up, it was always a little laggy from low revs before, presumably because of its blockage !!

No fault codes have appeared, just done a look see leak check all good. I'll park it up now and see how it starts later when it's cold, if it seems ok I might take it further later when all the work is done, and I can afford some time to be sat waiting for a tow / lift if it breaks down 

Things are now looking up today 

Shame the modern motor car has made me such a pessimist in modern years 

[Mikey360 68]

Glad to hear you got it sorted Dave! My next point of call would have been clogged fuel filter if it's been running on supermarket fuel all its life.

[Dave2302 387]

That was my first port of call last week, it had never been done in it's life by the look of it, did Air Filter and Fuel Filter as the symptoms indicated it coulda been one of 'em ..................

Fuel filter was wanked, it drove better but still wasn't right

I'm going to run it around for a day or 2 first before returning it though, but it has just been standing outside for about an hour, while I cleaned up all the black shit blobs over tools, walls, toolbox, floor etc etc .............

Temp gauge right down on cold, it just fired up as soon as I hit the button, so it's all looking promising .............

Pre MOT on a Jeep and order any bits I need then I'm done for the day so i'll take yonda Honda to Kyle and (hopefully) back again get the old girls prescription she forgot she ordered lol .............

Dementia is a horrible thing, but she is 86, and an almost full time job for me an Mel these days

If it comes back from Kyle OK (30 mile round trip), then I'll give it a thrash up over Carr Brae and back, (local to me mountain pass), and then if it starts ok in the morning I'll run it over Mam Ratagan, (bigger mountain pass),and pick the fella up in it, and if it's still fine by then I'll be confident it's fixed !!

FFS, cant test it much more than that lot 

Edited March 14, 2019 by Dave2302

[Dave2302 387]

OK, well, I've been out in it since around 14:30 ............

Real world driving...................

It started fineagain, temp gauge on cold again, left my gaff, drove 14 miles going like rocket, stopped it, in a shop for 15 mins, out, restarted fine, another mile, another shop, half hour, restarted fine, 15 miles back, visit another place in Dornie , 1.5 hrs, started fine, drove back over Carr Brae (mountain pass), still perfect, back to mine, and parked it up for the night.

If it starts up fine in the morning it's going home, and then I'll say it's fixed 

[Dave2302 387]

Parked the Honda up around 6pm last night. A wild night and bloody cold this morning, went out to it at 7am, first press of starter button, within under 2 seconds of cranking she fired up nicely and settled into a smooth idle 

Final test this afternoon, I'm driving it over Mam Ratagan and the guy is driving me back in it, if that goes without event I think I can safely say it is fixed

Vauxhall for Lambda and a V10 Toaureg with Air Suspension Height Sensor and Front Pads / Wear Leads today, so hopefully it'll be early shoot  

[Dave2302 387]

Yep, it was Early Shoot 

All vehicles returned to their rightfuls, the Honda starts first hit and drives like the dream it is advertised as, one very happy owner.

Vauxhall Lambda took longer to plug in Snap On and clear the code than it did to fit the new post CAT O2 Sensor lmao, and the good old V10 Touareg played nice and went home this morning to it's happy owner without lights and warning messages on it's clustermabob 

I'm on project SLK today hopefully have fully working Steering Wheel Buttons by tomorrow

Edited March 16, 2019 by Dave2302