Relay Van Running Problems

[Cyberhopper]

I have a relay van 2011 which i bought second hand from a van dealer with 99000 on the clock.... had it a year now, first thing i found was its drinking water, have to fill up the cooling water quite a lot, i would think every 1~3000 miles, no leaks but one can smell the antifreeze from the exhaust, which also feels damp. Recently i have been getting a loss of power when i change gear, this only happens when its warm. Wiggling the accelerator the power comes back but is a bit disconcerting as there is no notable point that it loses power, one day fine, next not.. Call the local citroen dealer, oh have to plug it in and do a diagnostics on the van... I looked round the internet and saw a post that said the EGR valve sometimes get blocked, so removed it and it was black but not oily or blocked, everything seemed to move ok, the little sensor before the intake was a ball of gunge so cleaned that up. on test it was no different, but next day was fine, and has been for about 3 months, but now I'm get the loss of power back again. in the mean time the dash oil sensor has been going down, It was meant to have had a full service when I first got the van, but didn't like the colour of the oil and the sensor was also dropping so I changed it after I had run for 6000 miles, ( i don't like the idea of the 25000mile service intervals) since the oil change i have put another 6000 miles on it and the oil sensor showed no squares on the dash, I check the oil with the drip stick, and it showed full, up to marks, so thought I would run it until the dash light come on. the loss of power is back again and this time waggling the accelerator doesn't have any effect, again it when the van is warm, and after changing gear, it also has something to do with the sensor from the accelerator pedal which talks to the engine. problem i is it so intermittent that if that sensor was down it would be all the time. dash oil level now had got to no squares, next day said four squares... the other morning when going to work, lost power on the dual-carriageway, changed down, waggled the pedal, nothing, so dipped the clutch, turned the engine off and after a few seconds started and off she went again as if there was not a problem..... this has how happened about 3 times now. Has anyone got any idea what it might be.

Its either a faulty oil sensor that putting it to "limp" mode as it thinks it got no oil, the sensor that talks to the engine from the pedal, or a broken wire in that circuit which due to vibrations sometimes doesn't make contact, I don't think the EGR valve is at fault as it works when the engine is cold. would the turbo be having a hic-up, but then it would be all the time?

I have tried to ask Mr Citroen but all they say is we have to plug it in.... I have heard so many stories of garages replacing parts as it might be that on and it isn't... 

Please help, Cyberhopper.

 

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

If it is going in to limp mode and the engine light is coming on, then an engine sensor must think there is a problem. The easy and lowest cost way to find out is to use a code reader but this will not give as much information as a diagnostic check at a dealer using a Lexia. Code readers can be bought for around £40 that also give some engine sensor live data such as this one from Gendan https://www.gendan.co.uk/product_FXNT200.html Without doing a code reader/diagnostic check you are faced with the option of replacing expensive parts in the hope you find the right one without spending too much money.

 

The loss of coolant in to the exhaust suggests the head gasket has failed.

 

I am not sure that the oil level sensor would put it in limp mode - this is usually for things that can affect the exhaust emissions. If you have an air flow sensor you could try cleaning it using something like carburettor cleaner. If the accelerator pedal is an electronic one you could remove it and then use a meter to see its output as the pedal is pressed - it should gradually change the resistance - a similar check though is to watch the engine revs as it is gradually pressed to see if the revs smoothly increase.

 

In case others can help, which engine and power output do you have ?

[coastline taxis]

What size engine has it got

[Porsche430]

Most Relay's i've ever worked on have a 2.2 HDi Ford Engine and are very, very good at blowing head gaskets! There is however, a union for coolant pipes behind the radiator which leaks a lot.

[Cyberhopper]

Thank you for the replies, yes it is the 2.2 ford puma engine.

 

Citroen have have the van in and read the fault codes, said there are temporary faults with the EGR valve, Cam sensor and fuel limiter valve, all of which could cause a problem with the running issues I have, but..... at the time of the test everything was running as it should... have updated the engine managment and told me to test it.... so far after 150 miles seems to be working ok.

[coastline taxis]

get a sniffer test done on the expansion tank to rule the head gasket out or blown. weve had 3 in last year were the conrod has come thru the side of the block so ignore the oil indicator and only take the dipstick reading as correct

[Cyberhopper]

Update

 

Van started playing up again, so back to citroen, no fault codes that would make the van hesitate with loss of power when pressing the accelerator pedal. technician looked on citroens faults page and came back that the High pressure fuel regulator was probably the cause and recommended that I change this first. Have now changed it but haven't been on a longish run to test it.