Removing your fuel tank from your van and replacing the sender unit.

Fig

This article is not about solving a particular problem but about how to remove the fuel tank and what the pinch points maybe.

We haven't just removed the tank for the sake of this blog. We had fitted a

 diesel heater and needed to add a supply pipe.

This is possibly one of the simplest straight forward jobs you can do yourself

on this van. The tools for the job are simple as well, multi tipped screw driver

to include star bits. because this is manly a van of French manufacture the

bolts holding the tank in place are 16mm, four axle stands to do it safely, a 3

ton trolley jack preferred and a special tool to remove the fuel gauge housing.

Before we go on you should use safety glasses preferably ones that are full enclosed to prevent any fuel getting in your eyes or some form of glasses that

will deflect any droplet that springs off the pipes you release. If you get thesmallest of droplets in your eyes you will know it with a vengeance. This is

Experience talking. Please note the warning.

 

One of the most obvious pinch points is the amount of fuel in the tank. Liquids

are surprisingly heavy and unpredictably when they get moved. Once moving

they can build up a force that cannot be stopped causing untold damage to the

wiring and fuel lines connected to the tank. If you are laying on the floor with

it on a jack the chances are you will not be able to prevent it slipping off. It is a good idea if you have someone else about to give a hand. The emptier the tank the better.

 

If you are thinking of siphoning the fuel off think again as there is an anti

syphon device fitted. We did go this route because the gauge was showing two

bars on the segmented digital dash or about a quarter on analogue fuel gauge.

This amounts to 30+ liters in our case which is quit a weight for one person to lift, let alone control laying on the floor.

 

OK the first job is to release the filler neck and breather pipe from the tank.

There maybe a protecting plate fitted if not it means the tank has been off

before. If it has there will be an unscrew-able hose clip fitted making the job easier as it has replaced the tamper proof clip that will need cutting or breaking off.

 

Next the breather pipe, to release this you apply pressure ether side to the

buttons and it will slide off. Practice was different for us it would not move no

matter what we did so in the end we unscrewed the fill neck from the body

held in place with three star screws then fiddled the neck out. We were able

once the tank was out to remove the breather even then it fort us. The fill neck was put back in place before the tank was refitted.

 

The four 16mm bolts holding the tank in place were all released. These bolts

have thread lock on them so may take some effort to undo. Depending on

whether or not you have enough height once you have the axle stands in place

it is a good idea to place on the ground under the tank a sheet of ply, carpet

cloth etc. to protect the tank if you have to slide the tank out without the jack.

No point gouging the tank that may produce leaks at a later date.

 

 

We place a board on the trolley jack to help spread the load and protect the

tank. With it in place and jacked up we took the bolts out completely. Lowering

the tank very slowly as we still had 30 liters of fuel in it. Even so it nearly

pulled itself of the jack.

With the tank down you need to release the fuel flow and return pipes. The

pipes run along the top of the tank in groves that hold them in place along with

the wiring loom. These need to be gentle prized out. Once out remove the

pipes from the pump sensor unit this is quite simple they are squeeze together clips. Place both pipes in a container to catch the diesel that will leak out or

Plug the ends. Then unclip the wiring block connector.

 

With everything removed, pull the tank from under the van for the next set of

fun and games. If the top of the tank is caked in mud we suggest you clean it

off to stop the fuel being contaminated with it. We made the special tool needed to remove the locking ring holding the pump sensor unite in place.

 

Before you remove the lock ring look for an arrow and mark its position on the

top of the tank. If there is no mark then make your own. This is important

when tightening so you do not over stress the threads. Also make a note of the direction the pipe connections are pointing.

 

When placing the removal tool it should sit on the little step at the top of the

ring. With the home made tool wind in the outer nuts in until it grips and then

use the inner ones to lock it into place. Put a bar of a reasonable length between the upright metal and apply pressure slowly anti clock wise. It will be stiff to turn for a number of turns. The reason is that the unit is sprung loaded.

Pull the unit up slowly as there is a float attached to a long wire bar. This tells the dashboard how much fuel is in the tank.

 It is a little tricky getting it out you will need to lean the unit over at an angle. Keeping an eye on the O ring sitting at the top of the thread.

 

We did our modification and emptied the tank of most of its fuel to make the

replacement a lot simpler. It is also an opportunity to see if the fuel is

contaminated and removed. Before doing up the lock ring check the O ring is

properly in place if not it will leak. It is important that the hose connections are

kept pointing the right way and keep checking as the top of the unit will keep

moving until the lock ring becomes tight.

 

 

The empty tank makes its replacement a lot simpler. It is a case of retracing

your steps to get it back in place. Once all secure replace the fuel. Before you

start the engine use the priming bulb to charge the line removing the air.

If you are doing this for the first time allow a day, two days from start to finish.

The amount of time really depends on your circumstances. We did it over two

days as we had to make the special tool and really not in a hurry.

 

 

Pictures in order of apperance: 

1. Mounting place for filler pipe.

2. Breather pipe push fit connection.

3. Anti syphon trap.

4. Clip on to og fuel tank.

5. Connections on top of sender unit.

6. Plate of steel to make special tool.

7. Special tool put together.

8. Ridge on sender unit scuring ring.

9. placement of special tool.

10. Sender unit will need to be lent over to one side to take into account float and arm.

11. New fuel pipe for Wallas XC Duo cab heater.

12. New pick up pipe in place in sender unit.

13. O ring seal on fuel tank check not damaged.

14. Cover that protects fuel primeing bulb.

15. Primeing bulb.

Copywrite 2023

 

How to deal with a flat battery

A flat battery has implications way beyond not being able to start your vehicle now a days and it always happens at the most inconvenient of times. Then the panic sets in because you have read somewhere that you cannot jump start it or believe that is the case because it states something in the handbook about going back to the main agent to get it looked at. The answer to that is you can. We have jumped it with no adverse effects having used a quick start charger for twenty seconds.

Battery under floor on passengers' side (N.S)

Just recently we have had to jump start it again only I think it is time for a new battery. Which in itself means a bit of mucking about with a second battery if you have one just so you can remove the terminals without losing the data from the van's memory. Who said progress was a good thing!

 You can purchase data savers that attach to the battery leads or plug into the cigarette lighter. They are basic power packs which maintain a current to the digital systems in the van. What happens is the ECU loses the information stored in it. Which includes Idling, operating values and fault codes.

What are the most common causes of a flat battery technically known as discharged:

• Alternator not charging at the correct output or faulty voltage regulator. In this case the alternator fails to meet the needs of the demands asked of battery. Causing a loss of charge over an extended period.
• Short-circuit causing a continual demand on the battery over and above what is expected. At one time the most common cause of this was a badly fitted radio.
• Alternator belt, (Auxiliary drivebelt) slipping due to stretching or damage ready to break. This is indicated by a squeal when you start the engine. At one time you could adjust the belt but these days it means replacement.
• Battery connection/s loose and or corroded. This includes any earth straps. If it is a blue colour on the battery terminals it can be removed with boiling water and then a smear of petroleum jelly to stop it returning, (be careful not to short the battery when doing this).
• Battery defective, This is when one of the cells becomes weak draining the charge from the remaining good cells. This shows it's self when there is a cold snap and is the most common cause of not being able to start your vehicle on a cold and frosty morning.

You should check all the above before making the decision to replace the battery. Sometimes it can be a combination of alternator and battery. It can also be the starter motor, but the symptoms are slightly different. Do not confuse one with the other.

Changing the battery

What follows is for the 1.9 diesel engine model:

A simple way round this is if you have access to a spare car battery. You can make up a set of fly leads that you can attach to the battery terminals. If you have one of the older Vivaros you may find as we did that there are two redundant threaded posts on the cable termination attached to the battery. (The posts take a ten millimetre nut.) If that is the case, you can use two yellow loop connections at one end of the fly leads and proper battery clamps on the other. If you use this method, make sure that the connections are tight. If left loose they will make and break losing the data. You also need to be careful not to touch the live to the earth or the body work. A way round this is to put the live connection in a thick plastic bag to stop this happening accidentally. 

Tools / Kit:

Spare battery, two 10 mm nuts plus washers. Fly leads to connect between batteries, 13 mm socket for battery clamp, 10 mm ring and C spanner for battery terminals, 12” socket extension, ratchet, T30 Torx for bolts holding floor plate covering battery.

Procedure:

1. Open passenger door and remove the floor covering. Do not leave the keys in the ignition as the central locking may actuate locking you out.
2. There will be a black plate with four T30 bolts. You only need to loosen them so the plate can slide sideways toward the off side (drivers side).
3. With the battery exposed remove the battery clamp, it is held with a 13mm bolt to the front and base of the battery.
4. Firmly attach fly leads one at a time. Starting with the spare posts on the vans battery. Then to the spare, do not do it the other way round as you may get a shock or make it spark by shorting it out.
5. Now loosen the battery clamps and remove. Place the positive battery cable in the plastic bag.
6. Push the cables out of the way and remove the old battery.
7. Put new battery in place.
8. Replace the battery cables and tighten.
9. Remove the fly leads.
10. Replace battery clamp.
11. Check that it starts and runs as it should.
12. Box it up.

Things do not always go this smoothly. If for some reason you didn't save the data. The memory can be reprogrammed. If it has lost this information you may experience surging, hesitation, erratic idle and inferior performance.

The following sequence will re-equip the ECU with the information it needs to run properly:

• Start the engine and keep it as close to idle speed as possible until it reaches normal operating temperature.
• Then run it for approximately two minutes at 1200 rpm.
• Drive the vehicle in varying road conditions for five miles or for as long as it takes for the ECU to relearn.

A couple of notes:

If the alarm and immobilizer are on or off when you disconnected the battery, they will return to that state when the battery is re-connected. If you have an OE radio the code will need resetting which you hope you have not lost!

The job is quite easy to do it is all the mucking about that makes it sound more difficult than it is. If you are doing this for the first time, there is no rush. The only reason we site the Vauxhall version is because it is the make, we work on.

Finally

Was it the right decision to change the battery? in this case it was. The main reason for us is the van is not used on a daily basis. A weak battery can go on for months before it shows there is a problem. The first sign is a cold snap. The second is you have to jump start it again the following day in which case change the battery. You cannot keep jumping it as it will damage the digital systems and that is one big bill you do not need.  

Plastic repair!

There are only so many jobs that you can do for yourself when it comes to working on your van. I, like the rest of you, have to use other service providers for certain jobs. The main one being tyres, it is far better to let them do the job - seeing as they have all the kit!

OK! with that in mind we had a couple of tyres that needed to be replaced because they had worn out. So, took the van in to get them replaced.

A couple of days later I noticed something was flapping about under the van, which was strange, so I decided to have a look, jacked the front up and discovered what looked like a mud flap/ deflector at the back of the wheel arch which was not broken before the new tyres were fitted. I do not like complaining or pointing the finger at other trade professionals because I have been on the end of “It was OK until you worked on it” situation. In this case however I'm going to complain. Why? Because they had also drilled the wheel nuts on so tightly, I had to use a meter long handle on my breaker bar with socket to move it! They should know better! They don't know it, but we now use another tyre fitter for all our work.

 The upside of this is that our good friends at Plasweld were able to weld the broken plastic back together. Which saved us having to track down an expensive replacement. They are wizards with anything plastic whether motor related or not.

To show our appreciation I'm going to point you in their direction of Plasweld - I know the web site shows a lot of motor bike work but do not let that put you off. The same materials are used by both car and bike etc.

Replacing track ends. the pit falls.

the track rod ends on these vehicles are handed
nearside and offside.

Track rod end or track control arm ball joints no matter what you call it, it's at the end of the steering rack arms. For such a small ball joint it takes a lot of abuse from us the driver hitting curbs, bumping up them to park and potholes. It is surprising that they do not fail more often. It is all these little knocks and bump over time that led to them failing before they should. In most cases they are not noticed until they fail the MOT, or the worst-case scenario give up the ghost while we are driving down the road. I have been witnessing to number of these over the years.

There are some tell tail signs to alert us to their wearing out. Most of them do not happen until they are quite loose in the ball joint knuckle. Adverse wear on a tyre is one indicator. This looks like a tracking problem; what sets it apart from tracking is that the tyre looks more worn one side than the other. Another is an occasional slight wobble on the steering when gently braking. Unless you are very tuned in with your vehicle you will not notice it.

Once the bad news is in that your transport failed the MOT it is not that difficult a job to do. But I know there are a couple of 'buts' to take into account, even so, they do not add that much drama to the job.

Once the wheel nuts are loosened jack the vehicle up and place an axle stand under to support it just in case the jack fails. It does happen. Take the wheel off and turn the steering so the steering arm is fully extended this will allow fuller access to the ball joint. The first thing to do is loosen the tack rod end locking nut on the steering arm. These can be difficult to loosen, it is a good idea to soak it in freeing oil. You will have to use a C spanner on this nut so be careful as these spanners have a nasty habit of slipping off. 

Shocking ball joint loose

Now-a-days most ball joints are held in place with a Ni-lock nut the thread above the nut is most likely badly rusted. This is where an impact wrench is handy as this bit of kit will have the nut undone in no time. Again, soak in freeing oil. What happens is the nylon of the nut locks solid on the rusty thread which then brakes the taper hold allowing the whole thing to spin in place. Now the fun begins. If this happens you will need the jack to push the ball joint back into place. This will mean that you almost lift the van off the axle stand to recreate the hold it had. This is one of the only ways of doing it. Now you need a blow torch or nut heater so the nylon can be melted, and the nut expanded. While it is red hot it is possible to put a socket on it to complete the nuts removal. You will need to work quickly as the heat dissipates from the nylon allowing it to reform locking the nut again. Alternatively, you can if you have one use a nut splitter.

If the nut comes off as it should the ball joint now needs to be separated from the hub arm. There are a couple of ways of doing this, use a ball joint separation tool or jar it lose with a heavy hammer, this method is not for the faint heated.  It is my favoured way but then I have had a lot of practice honing it down to a fine art. If you decide to go this route, I suggest binding the handle where it meets the head of the hammer with plastic tape the type electricians use. You will need to wrap it around quite a few times. The reasoning behind this is if you miss, which you will, the hub arm will strike the hammers handle, the tape stops bits being taken out of the handle lessening the chances of the head being broken off. You will need to hit the arm with some force to get it to loosen and in most cases several hits will be required to get it to shift.

Please note: do not use the method described above unless you are confident to do so. Getting it wrong may damage the van and yourself. You have been warned.

wheel nut rotation of tightening

Once off, it is a good idea to count the number of turns it takes to remove the track rod end from the steering rack.

With the new track rod end in hand thread, it on to the arm the number of turns it took to take it off. By doing this it should return the tracking to what it was before you removed the old one. Lessening the need to get the tracking adjusted straight away.

Put the ball joint thread through the hub arm and tighten the nut to (37). Re tighten the steering rack nut to the back of the ball joint, it is a good idea to put a bit of copper grease on the thread to make it easier to undo next time. Put the wheel on, thread the bolts on and nip tight, drop the jack and tighten the wheel nut up to (140) in a diagonal rotation. This makes sure that each bolt is evenly tightened.

Please note that the numbers in the brackets (00) are torque wrench settings in Newton meters.

Great escape!

The other day I had to nip out to get some materials. A bit of an understatement as it involved a journey of a hundred miles each way. As we were going up the bypass at the beginning of the trip there was a metallic clanging sound of something hitting the underside of the truck which slowed progress as I considered whether or not to stop and check. Needless to say, I didn't as the van felt and ran OK.

Ninety odd miles later. We stopped at a well-known supermarket for a break. To be met by a shushing noise. A quick look round the truck did not show anything untoward but the shh persisted; then I noticed that the rear near side tyre looked soft. In that short time, it was half flat, the air was coming out that fast. I can't believe it - another puncture! and its 

the new one! I will not repeat what was said but I think you can guess!  

I ran round to the cab pulled out the jacking kit and got it in place just before it went completely flat. Ten minutes later the Tyre was changed.

Before we returned home, I wanted the puncture repaired, so tracked down a tyre shop and took it in. "No prob' mate have that done for you in a jiffy". Then things went sideways I saw him call over a colleague and then me. It took us all by surprise. I was told that I had been extremely lucky that it had not blown apart when it happened. The pictures speak for themselves!

Air flow meter fault, symptoms

Air flow meter.

I have written about this before in another post but have decided to write about it in its own right. I'm talking about a faulty air flow meter. The best way to find this fault is with a test drive and to listen very carefully to the driver's description. It is no good sticking the vehicle on a computer because as lots of you have discovered it does not show up in the fault codes. Have any of you wondered why? Finding this fault is down to good old mechanical detective work.

The symptoms:

In the initial stages it is quite subtle. The van starts and runs as usual and drives off as it should you then notice that you are having to use a bit more throttle than you used to get out of the turnings; this may go on for some time. Next, in the ebb and flow of traffic the van is not picking up as it should, almost sluggish in the way it gathers speed pointing to a possible turbo problem or a worn clutch in some cases. Finally driving away from a stand still is almost impossible! You have to push down the accelerator pedal a lot just to get up any speed to change up to second gear. On lifting your foot off the accelerator pedal to change gear the vehicle speeds up while you are changing up. On pressing down on the pedal again the van struggles to gain speed. It feels like it is holding back, this is because the air flow meter is not telling the 'brain' the airflow has increased.

I'm sorry to say changing the crank sensor will not do the trick but what is a good idea is cleaning the ERG valve because it will be close to being blocked if the vehicle is being used for a lot of stops start. The combination of these two things will make it purr like a kitten.

Handbrake fails MOT.

Handbrake adjuster

This is a stressful time for the motorist; it is where you hand over your pride and joy to a third party to be poked, prodded and shaken into revealing those profitable faults for the garage. If you are an owner maintainer you should be able to minimize these unexpected failures because you regularly service and put right problems as they show up. I know in practice this is not always the case. But it is better and more cost effective if you do, than to be thrown in at the deep end when you are at your busiest.

MOT testers are human and have pet hates. As an ex-tester mine were lights not working and torn wipers. To me this indicated that it may have other MOT issues which proved to be the case on many occasions.

Brake fluid

I am not immune from the unexpected. Having checked the van over and put right the sticking hand brake again, I was confident that it should

 pass its MOT. The van and tester had other ideas. It failed! I was expecting him to say it was a ball joint but no it was that damned hand brake again. Apparently, the brake machine showed that its effectiveness was outside the permitted balance parameters - (MOT speak), and it was the offside that was less effective or put another way the nearside was still sticking.

With the vans 'back end' in the air and the wheels off, I started to check everything again. But this time more thoroughly than before. I started by loosening the hand brake cable at the adjustment in the middle of the van. Then removed each cable from the calliper first checking to see if the handbrake lever was at rest. They were both holding off by a fingernails width even though the cable was very slack.

Surprisingly with this

poxy system this small amount can make the brake bind badly. I freed off the arms as described in a previous post.  Then checked to see how free the movement was on each hand brake cable that ran from the calliper. The OS one was very rough and stiff as the cable moved back and forth in the sleeve. The NS one was less so but on the way.  I changed both to be on the safe side. what's next? The brake pads are not that old, but I checked them anyway. The near side looked OK, and the piston moved freely the same for the offside, but the pads had an unusual wear pattern. It looked like the centre of the pad had crumbled away meaning that only the outer portion was in contact with the disc; could this be the problem? I checked the brake disc carefully; the surface was reasonably flat, and I could not see any reason for the centre wearing faster than the outer edge. The only way to be sure is to replace them. I know! more expense!

Now to fit them. I started by winding the piston back into the calliper. This needs a special tool but if you do not have one you can get away with using an adjustable wrench (the type that bites your fingers if it slips off - ochhh!!) and a G clamp. It is slow and a pain but saves on the price of the tool. Basically, you wind in the adjuster several turns and then use the G clamp to push the piston back. Before you start this, you should pop the hood and take the cap of the brake fluid reservoir and place a cloth over the top to stop the brake fluid pouring all over the engine bay. This may happen if the fluid has been topped up. Once it is wound back clean the mounting bracket area where the brake pad sits and then put a little copper grease on the edges of the pad that sit on the bracket, this prevents sticking. Push the calliper into place, always use the new guide pin bolt provided with the brake pads and tighten to 35 newton meters (26 lbf ft). You should only remove one pair of pads at a time this allows you to reset the piston for the new pads by pumping the brake pedal also reducing the chance of the fluid reservoir overflowing. Spin the disc to make sure it is free and then apply the hand brake with your hand on the lever to make sure it works and releases properly. Then do the same to the other side.

Adjustment settings

Now attach the hand brake cable to each side and adjust the cable. I usually put a bit of copper grease on the adjuster thread to stop it freezing. Wind the adjustment nut up until you obtain a clearance of between 0.1 and 0.5 mm between the operating lever and the stop on the back of the calliper body. You can check this by using a feeler gauge. Now spin the discs, if it feels like it is binding then back the adjustment off until it stops. Hop in the cab and pull on the hand brake several times checking how many notches it come up - one or two is about right but not set in stone. Then check again to see if the discs are binding now the cable has been settled in. If OK, it's time to box it up.

It is a tense time back at the MOT station as they check the hand brake on the brake machine. Has it passed? it looks to me as it's within parameters. Yes! A 'thumbs up,' great news! back to the day job. 


Update to post 18/8/13.

The handbrake is still working properly with no sticking to date. I have noticed that the mpg has increased since sorting out the brakes by as much as ten miles to the gallon which is astounding. So, all those bits I replaced will have payed for themselves.

Blow out

The vivaro van as a driving experience is quite lively, responsive and fun to drive. I have not driven a van with this type of get up and go since my MK3 Escort. Which I used to rattle around the streets of London in.

Tool kit.

I was on my way home late one evening from a friend when I heard this loud bang which at first, I thought was a bit of debris in the road. Seconds later I was fighting the steering wheel to keep it straight, I was three lanes in on the motorway and travelling at quite a lick, so needed to get to the hard shoulder ASAP. There was not a lot of traffic on this usual very busy section. Luckily, I found myself in a dead zone where all the other vehicles were well in front of me or far behind. The only fly in the ointment was a tractor unit in the inner most lane.

Now stopped on the hard shoulder I took stock for a couple of seconds, pulled on my high viz vest and got out of the cab to look at the front wheel. Man! That's the flattest flat I've seen since my mark three had a blow out on the M 11 all those years ago. Whoosh! - a sixty-footer went by - I need to get the van closer to the embankment if I'm going to change this wheel! First, I need to check in and let people know what has happened.

Changing a wheel at the side of a motorway is quite dangerous but standing about in cold weather waiting for someone to turn up to do the work is just as bad. Anyway, it will not take me long he says as I have changed loads of wheels for other people in the past and gotten it down to a fine art. Ten minutes should see it done and dusted. How wrong can you be. The van had a 'never been used' wheel kit under the seat. Off to a good start there! I found the special security key for the spare wheel cage and proceeded to undo this first. The kit was supplied with a basic ratchet, extension bar and toe loop that screwed in as a handle for the ratchet. I started with the spare wheel first because I knew that if I could not get the bolts undone then I was wasting my time. The special nut came loose quite easily and so did the ordinary nut to start with but there was a problem! It was just spinning round and not unscrewing. The thread was knackered! what was I going to do? I dived into the back of the van and found my largest screwdriver and wedged it between the body work and the spare wheel cage. A gamble I know but it had to be done. I finally got it off after about a twenty-minute struggle.

When jacking a vehicle up at the side of a motorway you should only have it jacked up and wheel off for the shortest possible time. The pressure wave of big sixty footers going by can pull the van off the jack. Then you're in a heap of trouble. Ten minutes later the wheel was on, back on the floor wheel nuts tight, ready to roll. This part of the job would not have been so easy if I had not put a little grease on the wheel nut threads the last time the wheel had been off and tightened to the right torque. (140 Nm 103 lbs ft) Before leaving the hard shoulder you should get your vehicle up to at least sixty miles an hour so that when you join the carriageway again you are not a slow-moving hazard to the traffic coming up behind you. This is one of the only times you should be travelling down the hard shoulder at speed.

Stop! Stop! Stop!

It has been some time since I have posted here. That is because there have been no major running issues, which belies all the things that friends, and neighbours have been telling me is wrong with this Van. That reputation is down to the way the motor trade has dealt and still deals with faults. By using a process of changing parts to eliminate them as faulty instead of following a procedure to determine what the actual fault is. Then charging the customer for the privilege.

 

The van had not been used for some weeks, so it was quite a surprise that when running it up the road to get some supplies that two red lights started to flash on the dash. The STOP and what looks like an outline of an engine. After the initial annoyance I considered whether I should do what it was saying and STOP. However I carried on. With my mechanics head on I started to reason out what could be happening. To a certain extent it looked like the light was flashing every time I hit a bump, but then it looked like it was flashing for the hell of it! I reasoned – could something be loose? or could damp have gotten in causing a short?  I decided as soon as I returned home, I would look in the owner's manual.

 

With the manual in my hands, I look for the icon page. OK the outline is of an engine. Which means: Engine. stop. See page 25. or Engine electronics, exhaust emissions. See page 26. What does it say?

•         Page 25: will light up in conjunction with STOP engine if coolant temperature is too high. The temperature gauge was slightly higher than usual but not off the scale. “It can't be over heating, can it?”

•         Page 26: Control indicator lights up when ignition is switched on. Goes out shortly after engine starts. There are then two headings here, one about flashing when engine is running, which is the one I took note of for obvious reasons because it states: For fault that can lead to destruction of catalytic converter. Look to another Page 94. I did look at the other page for reference. Talk about strike the fear of God into you that you now may have a bill coming the size of the national debt. I have got to say I took this statement with a pinch of salt until I knew for sure that all indications lead down this route. If it does oh man!

 

There was nothing I could do as I had a long trip planned for the next day. Just have to see what happens. I know a break down far from home means an expensive tow. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. The long trip gave me time to think about what could be happening. I've got to say that it was running really well so it cannot be the converter. (As both lights flash for the hundredth time) I looked at the dash from time to time when the lights were flashing but noted nothing else wrong. Then it went out and stayed out for the rest of the trip.

 

The trip home started well no flashing lights at all. Then we hit a major down pour could hardly see out of the windscreen at double wiper speed. Then I noted that the same two lights were flashing again. By the time I arrived home there had been some further developments the head lights were sort of flashing getting brighter and softer I also noticed that the temperature gauge was oscillating in time with the lights. When I turned the engine off, I notice the cooling fan was running.  This is looking like a cooling temperature sensor problem.

 

With the bonnet up it's time to track down this fault. I still have it in the back of my mind that it is a dodgy connection. But until I find this allusive sensor, “where the hell have, they hidden it?!” Sometime later I track it down to the right-hand side of the engine behind a number of pipes with the sensor facing the bulkhead. Now I have to thread my hand through the pipes like a snake (what a joke) to feel if the connector is loose. There is a bit of movement but not enough. After some fiddling, the connection is removed and reconnected. Oh Well here goes. The engine has now been running for a couple of minutes, no flashing lights.  Better take it for a spin to check and make sure. While I'm out I'll get a cooling sensor.  

 

Since doing the connection I have not had the time to replace the sensor due to workload and the fact you have to drain the whole cooling system down. I hope to come up with a solution that negates this, If I do, I will let you know. But I'm happy to say that the red lights have not flashed again. Bad connection!? Time will tell.  

 

When it comes to red lights flashing on the dash, I am not condoning that you should ignore them and carry on regardless. The situation in which it occurs needs to be taken into account and then the appropriate action taken.