S40 (New) Engine 2.0D : 2005 S40 2.0D won't rev! I'm about to give up

[Madmike]

So, my S40 2 litre diesel was working ok until about 2 weeks ago
My wife let it run very low on diesel, and I have a feeling this is what started the sequence of events, but not sure.

I put in about 4 gallons, and the car hasn't worked properly since
When the car is started, and accelerator is used, there is practically no response, but if I let the engine warm up, eventually, the car will rev to maybe 3,000 rpm

The only thing is, once I put the car in gear and go to move off, it stalls
So, if I nurse the clutch carefully, I can move along at about 1,000 to 1,200 rpm, but when I change to 2nd gear, its the same again

I assumed I had a fuel issue and foolishly disconnected the 2 pipes on the diesel filter housing. After this, the car wouldn't start at all!!

After some reading here, I realised I would have to prime the diesel to get it running again. Went and purchased a hand priming bulb(pump) and after a bit of messing this evening, I have it starting again.

Only thing is, I am now back to where I was again!

I decided to remove the throttle body as it seems to be a common issue with them sticking, so I opened the main air pipe and could see the throttle inside. I assumed it would be in the closed position with the car turned off, but it was wide open.

I started the car, and moved the butterfly flap inside the throttle body, but it still doesn't rev the car?? Am I missing something here???

Anyway, I went ahead and removed the throttle body and brought it inside and cleaned it and the sensor inside and will pop it back tomorrow, but I have 2 questions....

1. Surely the car would have the valve in the closed position when it is turned off?

2. If I manually move the valve when I had the intake hose removed, should that not rev the car anyway?

By the way, it's a 2005 2.0D model with no DPF, and just the single valve on intake

[Montana]

Have you checked the transparent section of fuel line to see if it contains air? (if so re=bleed it again and give it a healthy rev too)

[Madmike]

Just back in the door this second. It goes from bad to worse!

Put the throttle body back in place along with sensors etc and started the car, but yet again, when cold, it won't even rev. Warmed slightly and it starts to rise a bit

This is where I noticed that even though it was running with no air yesterday evening after I primed the system, there are lots of air bubbles in it now.

Then I heard a strange noise around the injectors every now and then, almost like a buzzing sound, so I unplugged the 2nd injector and immediately the engine started to shake as running on 3 cylinders. Plugged it back in, but the engine didn't really stabilise. I then unplugged the first injector and the engine started to shake worse, and again, when I plugged it back in, it didn't sort it. Then the engine cut out and now it won't start again!!

I took a video showing the amount of bubbles in the system and will pop it up here now

[Simmy]

fuel filter houseing check for splits and cracks . its a common problem on 2.0 d any air ingress will stop the engine starting

[Madmike]

I thought it was fuel filter housing at first too, but after priming it yesterday evening and with no air bubbles, it started fine and behaved exactly as it has been since the evening this started.

The car would not rev at all. I have to start the car, wait about 3 or 4 minutes for it to warm up, and then literally floor the pedal and stand waiting while it slowly climbs to about 2500 or 3000 rpm over 5 or 6 seconds.

Once I put it in gear, even if its at 3000rpm, the car stalls as soon as I release the clutch, but dipping the clutch, I can slowly get it to roll down the road, where it drives about 5mph at 1,000 or 1,500 rpm and that's it!

At this stage, I give up. Now after disconnecting the injectors briefly, it won't even start again. Also, I removed the air filter just now and while it could do with a change, it isn't THAT bad. I tried with MAF connected and disconnected....no difference as it won't rev up anyway. I checked all the vacuum lines and no splits or no hoses disconnected. I checked the fuses in the engine bay and all are fine. I disconnected all connections on the CEM and cleaned the CEM and the connectors with contact cleaner. At this stage, I can't think of anything else to try

[Simmy]

have you had codes read? sounds like your car is in limp mode. ask a local forum member to help for beer tokens or cash

[Madmike]

I read it using a cheapy bluetooth OBD reader with Torque app on Android and there are tons of faults showing up, but I assume one will trigger another etc.

I thought it was limp mode, but remembered before that when it went into limp mode, it would rev instantly when I tipped the throttle, but would limit around 3,000 rpm. This time, its like the throttle pedal is having no effect on the revs until you leave your foot sitting on it for 5 or 6 seconds.

The other issue is, I have looked on the pages here, but can't see anybody located in the midlands in Ireland where I am based who has Vida.

[Madmike]

That previous screenshot was taken while the OBD reader was still scanning
Just did another scan now, and here are the results.

Also, I removed the CEM totally and brought it inside and have checked every fuse using a multimeter, and cleaned all connections again. No sign of any moisture on anything, or even a hint of corrosion, which I have seen in some images of CEM units online.

Was going to measure throttle position using Torque, as I am starting to suspect this is related to the sensor at the pedal, but as the car will not start again since removing the injector plugs earlier, I will have to try again tomorrow when it's bright and the app doesn't seem to measure it when the ignition is on. I assume the engine needs to be running

[Madmike]

So, purely as it wrecked my head reading through tons of similar posts here, but not seeing solutions, I am back with an update

I eventually had to give up trying this myself, as the car wouldn't even start after all the different things I tried.

I changed the fuel filter, which was quite bad and I think if I had bled the system FULLY, it would have started again for me, but the hand pump I got wasn't strong enough to bleed all the air from the system. I would pump it a few times, and you'd see it pulling the air from the system, but then the bulb would stay collapsed, like a vacuum had built up, and it would not open back up again.

I sent it to a mechanic, who used a powered pump to bleed the system and got the car running again, but it kept giving error codes for the airflow meter after he cleared all other codes, so he fitted a new MAF and the car was running fine with no errors.

However, he now found a new issue, that once he test drove the car, and switched it off, it would not start properly again, instead struggling to start and blowing plumes of black smoke, so he took off the EGR and cleaned it, but that didn't solve it, and then after I discussed it with him, he removed the "throttle body" (Anti shudder valve) at the front of the engine, which I had already done in the first post here, but I only cleaned it. He sanded it down with sandpaper, so it could not physically stick in the closed position, put it back together, and the car is now running like it was when I bought it a couple of years ago.


So, for anybody trying to sort a similar issue in the future this is a summary of what was carried out

1. Changed diesel filter
2. Made sure ALL the air was removed from the fuel system
3. New MAF (airflow meter) fitted
4. EGR valve removed and cleaned
5. Throttle body/anti shudder valve at front of engine removed and filed down, so it can not stick even when in the closed postion

[The Thong]

Congratulations Mike.... Sorted at last

TT