TD574

New Member
Hi everyone New member & looking for any help on my non starting td5
Car broke down Friday on motorway gradually lost power until it eventually cut out .Got recovered too my home & issue I have is Car has all ignition lights but once I turn key too start nothing happens Car doesn’t turn over I can hear pump & tried it on jump leads for 5 mins & still nothing It’s had a new starter fitted about 6 months ago It’s a diesel 03 auto Any info or help would be great
 
Being polite, but do you know how to check an alternator? It only takes a cheapo voltmeter, or multimeter.
 
try the trigger wire to the starter,it fits on the little spade terminal in pic
upload_2020-2-19_11-23-29.jpeg
 
In t'old days no batt needed to keep a diesel going! So this was only symptomatic, on a petrol, of a failing alternator/dynamo. Also ignition light would come on or flicker.
God I'm old! Must make more effort to do homework. Must make more effort to do homework. Must make more effort to do homework etc etc
(Still haven't looked up CANbus, and tomorrow I can get my bus pass!):D:D:D:D:D
 
In t'old days no batt needed to keep a diesel going! So this was only symptomatic, on a petrol, of a failing alternator/dynamo. Also ignition light would come on or flicker.
God I'm old! Must make more effort to do homework. Must make more effort to do homework. Must make more effort to do homework etc etc
(Still haven't looked up CANbus, and tomorrow I can get my bus pass!):D:D:D:D:D
It’s the loss of power when driveing that’s puzzling me as no prior warning lights It just lost power then cut out & now won’t crank over
 
When you say jump leads do you mean connected to another car with its engine running? Might be worth checking crank position sensor if the starter leads are ok.
 
It’s the loss of power when driveing that’s puzzling me as no prior warning lights It just lost power then cut out & now won’t crank over
It takes three things to cause the bang in a Diesel engine: diesel, air and compression (to ignite it)
Lack of diesel can be caused by a variety of issues anything from "is there any in the tank" to "is there any getting to the injectors".
This in turn can be caused by a, or more than one, blockage to the fuel. Or by lack of sparks to pump the diesel up to the injectors and then to be injected into the cylinder at the right moment. This inevitably involves the ECU as well.
The air is sucked and then blown into the cylinder via the induction system, i.e. air filter, tubing, and then the turbo, via the intercooler. Not common to find a problem there, althougha massively blocked air filter could cause it.
Compression is caused by the engine turning, that could stop suddenly if you lost drive as in hydraulic lock, but that would be quite sudden. Lack of compression can also be caused by either valves opening at the wrong moment or the rings on the piston being knackered, but yet again unlikely to happen gradually.

You did say it lost power gradually which is why i posted as I did. Sediment building up in a fuel line/filter/etc could be gradual, was the tank low? Has the fuel system been checked at all?
Sparks come from the batt, but need to be replenished via the alternator, if the drive belt broke you'd probably spot that quickly as you would get heat building fast due to the coolant pump stopping working and you'd see that at first from the temp gauge then later from the steam and worse. You can see the drive belt very easily and check it.

Brushes on the alternator can wear or come loose which would cause it to generate less or no current. Also the diode pack can play up and thus lead to the same effect. So, while the batt has power it will keep the engine going but as it dies the engine will slow done as it is no longer providing enough power to all the stuff mentioned above.

Now I am an old skool spanner waver and although this is correct for older vehicles, it is possible that there are other factors or things I have said that are not longer true so please be gentle with me if I am wrong. But checking the alternator once you have got the car running is a first step.

If you cannot get the car started via the batt, jump leads etc, then ensure you can at least turn the engine over by hand with a spanner on the end of the crank, if you cannot do that then there is something seriously wrong in the cylinders. Which would mean they were not getting sufficient lubrication or they got too hot in someother way, lack of coolant maybe. But I do think this is unlikely.
If all connections to the engine from the battery, i.e.all earth leads are good and the connections to the starter are sound, as mentioned above by JM then the starter should turn, unless it itself is faulty, but you said a new one was fitted recently so this is not likely.

Incidentally, if the batt is dead jump leads aren't always as good as you would think they would be. You do not always get a decent contact. But while we are there, do ensure the contact between the terminals and the leads is good. The TD5 has a particulalry stupid design. You need to completely undo the nut on each one then bang the connection down the terminal with a socket or similar to ensure it grips it completely when you tighten it up. The vertical design using a bolt verticslly means tightening it is only too likely to simply twist the fitting around the terrminal.

Best of luck!
 
Even if you don't get a good connection off jump leads it might show if the car is willing to try and turn the starter. If not then it is more likely to be something like starter trigger lead or crank sensor rather than charging system or battery.
 
Even if you don't get a good connection off jump leads it might show if the car is willing to try and turn the starter. If not then it is more likely to be something like starter trigger lead or crank sensor rather than charging system or battery.
and that would make it gradually lose power until it ground to a halt would it? Or would that be another fault then?;););)
Could admittedly prevent it starting.:):):):)
 
and that would make it gradually lose power until it ground to a halt would it? Or would that be another fault then?;););)
Could admittedly prevent it starting.:):):):)
If there was no signal from the crank position sensor then it wouldn't run but I am not sure of the effect of a corrupted signal. Perhaps a diagnostic unit might shed some light on other possible faults.
 
If there was no signal from the crank position sensor then it wouldn't run but I am not sure of the effect of a corrupted signal. Perhaps a diagnostic unit might shed some light on other possible faults.

They tend to buck and misfire..
A check engine light "eml" is also illuminated in the event of a failure or malfunction.

I say "usually" :D
 
If there was no signal from the crank position sensor then it wouldn't run but I am not sure of the effect of a corrupted signal. Perhaps a diagnostic unit might shed some light on other possible faults.
I'm sure he'll get around to that eventually. Let's hope it's just soemthing simple like a duff alternator and/or fuel blockage.
Typical that no lights light up to warn of a dodgy alternator, or do they? I have no idea. Unlike an old-style ignition light.
 
He never mentioned lights like these one way or another. But if he gets it started he'll now know what to look for.
 

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