Dave1980

Evening All

Strange one as i dont know a lot about diesels. Currently my car is experiencing random losses of power whilst driving. Its almost like either the fuel isnt getting in or something is stuck in the fuel system. If i let my foot off the accelerator and then put it back down it accelerates fine until it does it again a bit later.

It has seemed to get worse since the weather started getting colder.

Just if it helps when it does lose power the speed begins to drop and it wont keep its current speed.

Any ideas?, was thinking maybe glow plugs, fuel filter or something like that.

Cheers

Steve vRS

Injectors?

What kind of car is it?

Steve

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Had something similar with my astra 1.9cdti, turned out to be the boost solenoid was fooked gave me fluctuating power loss, and yes, it got worse, even 1.2 corsa's were passing me

Tony

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Glow plugs wont cause you to lose power (basically they preheat the fuel to cylinder), they will cause you issues with starting though, but you dont say what diesel car you have?

Tony

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

Could be fuel pump, injectors, filter, blocked egr, airmass meter. The list is endless really.
Need model specifics buddy

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

As above, what car?

EGR or MAF are also possibilities but would be a good idea getting someone to plug a diagnostic comp in.

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

Also it's worth checking the basics. I went out to a transit connect the other week that was running bad, RAC had diagnosed a dead MAF so I went armed with one..

Plugged my comp in and MAF fault came up but it was something like unexpected value. Had a quick butchers and it hadn't been serviced for 35k miles! I opened the air box and the filter was completely collapsed (hence the maf fault reading fault). I gave it a full service and it was sweet as a nut after.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

colder weather = overboost?

Petem95

Is it French?...

My guess would be an electrical component failing - maybe some sort of senor on its way out. I think if the leads were dodgy you'd only notice it when starting or accelerating, if it was glow plugs then issues starting. Getting some diagnostics done by a garage plugging in to check for fault codes might be a good plan.

mart360

Depends.

MAF or MAP sensor give similar symptoms

and also can cause other faults

Loss of vacuum at the turbo actuator, due to failing vac unit

Split hose

you need the OBDII codes to give us a few more clues

what make is it

some fixes are cheap, others not so

Mart

Frosticles

iTrader: (1)

Modern diesel = air mass meter. Especially if VAG. makes the car run like it has no turbo anymore.

Petem95

Seeing as Dave is obviously not on SN at the mo I'll help out here - its a 2002 Renault Laguna 1.9 tdi (pretty sure he said it was the 120bhp version) and I thinks its got about 100k on the clock.

Dave1980

You know the answer to that pete, yes its french and a renault laguna.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

I had the same problem with a 2001 laguna , it turned out to be the fuel pump and renualt wanted more than the car as worth to fix it. How come these modern pumps are so dam expensive.

Dave1980

was the problem consistent or just now and then?.
mine just seems to randomly loose power sometimes and most of the time its fine.
thinking it may be fuel filter with any luck but worth bearing that in mind.

it does run better if you put some kind of fuel additive in with the fuel so could this point towards a blocked filter?

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

A blocked filter generally would be a pretty permanent fixture mate. First step, if you think it is that, is to bang on a new filter.
GSF would do one for it fairly cheap.

bruce

iTrader: (5)

I had simialr problems witha scenic dti that I once had, it was the fuel filter as suggested above. Very cheap from GSF. Although with mine the car went into limp home mode and the check engine light would show on the dashboard.

Scooby Soon!

I had something very similar on a Mercedes it was water in the fuel, unplugged the sensor on the engine, filled with a new tank of fuel and not a problem since!

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

It was fairly random you would go to pull out on a roundabout and you would lose all power. I ended up losing faith in the car and flogged it at the auctions.

Leslie

Possibly the fuel pump is partially blocked on its inlet side and when you take your foot off it has a chance to catch up with the engine for a short time.

Les

Dave1980

ok sounds like first step could be the filter then. see what happens after that.

thanks guys.

Leslie

It is also worth checking that the air vent in the fuel tank cap is clear. You can get the same symptoms when there is a vacuum in the fuel tank due to the air vent being blocked. You can sometimes detect the vacuum as you remove the fuel cap if you are quick enough when the problem arises.

Les

Dave1980

this is the old air filter i pulled out this morning, not in a good way!.

taking it for a run in a bit to see if it helps, spot the new one too!

rookymatt

iTrader: (15)

To be honest, that air filter isn't too bad actually, yes not as good as a new one, but shouldn't cause the symptoms you've explained.
Blocked airfilter would normally show with a pretty consistant laggy, poor response, power curve.