£2,600 is estimate from Jag garage in Kent for repair to my pride & joy.
How it all started : -
Car just cut out on me without warning. Re-started ok so thought no more of it. Next day did same thing. Re-stared ok but this time very sluggish [safe mode ?] in getting me home. Called AA next day who couldn't get it going but after continuously turning over the starter [the poor thing she didn' like it, white smoke everywhere] it did fire-up so on the 'very nice mans' suggestion I limped to the local garage 2 mins down the road, with him following. They plugged it into something after a couple of days but couldn't find the problem so suggested I go to main Jag garage.
Next day collected car from them, which started first time would you believe & she drove the 25 min journey like a dream.
After a few days Jag technician rang to say my fuel pump has broken-up & deposited bits everywhere, so will need replacing along with injectors, some rail thing or other, filters, fuel tank drained & goodness only knows what else. I don't like to mention the cost again so I'll skip to
my dilema ... how come it drove ok to the main dealer garage ? with this sort of money involved are there questions I should be asking so I am absolutely sure they have got the diagnosis right ? has anybody out there had similar problems ?
Well there's where I'm at ... a broken car & redundant. If I could get it home again I could just sit in it. It's got leather seats don't you know ! Do reply ... anybody.
Edited by Webmaster on 08/01/2010 at 01:12
|
Not an unknown problem (though rather an expensive quote for repair), usually caused by misfuelling, could you have put petrol in by mistake?
The worring thing though is "but after continuously turning over the starter [the poor thing she didn' like it, white smoke everywhere] it did fire-up", if it had water or petrol in the diesel then that kind of treatment would have put paid to the high pressure pump.
The AA man should have trailored it to a Jag dealer or diesel specialist.
|
|
|
Yes, the fuel pumps can fail. Sometimes for no obvious reasons and sometimes due to fuel contamination.
The jag technician has obviously had the advantage of seeing the car and if he is saying its broken up hes probably seeing the glitter (metal frag) in the fuel. There is no cheap way out of this, its a full fuel system replacement and £2600 is not too bad. I have seen much higher figures!
|
a common problem with many Common rail diesels now. If you don't replace it all as advised contamination of particles may cause further failures!
I have also seen costs much higher than £2600.
Do you use mostly supermarket diesel ? & do you run it below 1/4 tank.
with C/Rail cars its recommended that fuel tanks don't drop below 1/4 mark because when cornering the pump can pick up air & this in turn damages the HP pump. The tanks are fitted with swirl chambers & baffles but i would never allow to run below 1/4.
I have had several 2.0 & 2.2d jags & they have all given excellent service but always used BP fuel & never ever allowed below 1/4 tank & used fuel line cleaner every 3-5000 miles.
My 2.2d was the best diesel I have ever had & so smooth & powerful. feels very different to the Ford equivalent due to the different engine management mapping.
|
Agree re premium fuel IJ, I have used almost exclusivley Shell and BP and mostly V-Power and Ultimate in my Mondeo (for the OP's ref basically the same engine) though have regularly gone down to 25 miles or so on the trip so half a gallon, what is the point of 650 + mile range if you dont use it. Anyway 139k miles and going strong and still the most refined 4cyl diesel I have driven or been driven in.
|
|
I would get a quote from an independant diesel specialist first.
|
Thanks all for your response.
I have always let fuel run right down before filling up again so will heed remark about keeping quarter full.
I've never put wrong fuel in it so very much reliant on uncontaminated at the local independant supermarket service station.
Still can't understand why it ran so well driving over to the main jag dealer though.
I've realised that MOT is due so have asked if car is ok to put through. Positive response so it must still run ok for them to do that.
I think I will try & get it home after the MOT & get quote & second opinion from local independant eng. That should help me make a judgement on where to go from there.
I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again from Mr Delmonte.
|
replace the diesel filter & have the filter inspected for a black slimey film in the filter.
If its very black & slimey, post on forum & I will tell you more.
Its a bacteria that's becoming a very serious issue that grows more in certain types of diesel fuel!
There are treatments specific for this problem & does cause lack of power & cutting out. Its been quite prolific recentley
|
IJ, the OP does say that the Jag dealer reports that the "fuel pump has broken-up & deposited bits everywhere".
?
|
As I said further up, if there is metal frag in the system then the only cure is a full fuel system replacement. Opening up the filter won't help.
As regards supermarket fuel, in my expereince a lot of these pumps fail fairly randomly at all sorts of mileages and in all kinds of use. I dont think there is any regular diesel sold in the UK that will damage a TDCI pump. In fact a supermarket will have a good throughput of fuel so less likely to be contaminated that a filling station with low custom (not that theres many of those left).
|
Hi WT The contamination has nothing to do with throughput of fuel. Its related to addatives etc. I know the jag dealer says the pumps broken & it may well be but why pay 2.5k for a repair when it could turn out to be a filter problem! It will more than likely be a pump as yes they can break up, but i have had loads of ford & Jag TDCis & never had a failure. If it were me a filter is a cheaper option first.
I am seeing daily fuel filters clogged with a black film. Just dealt with a L200 that had done 13k from new & not even due one yet!. It had now power at random & kept stalling.
Dealing with a vast garage network there appears there could be a pattern fuel related.
|
|
Oh, I agree about the problem with slime in the fuel system. All I'm saying that if there is metal frag in the system its not really repairable.
|
>I've realised that MOT is due so have asked if car is ok to put through. Positive response so it must still run ok for them to do that. <
If it is still running, and the whole of the fuel system requires replacing (pumps, injectors, rail etc), then why not just run it until it stops working, and really does need fixing?
How much more damage can you do if it's going to be renewed?
|
I am no fan of modern fuel injection systems, common rail diesel and direct injection petrol systems are built to NASA like tolerances to sustain the incredibly high fuel pressures these things run at - it doesn't take much to kill them. My advice for any car with a modern FI system would be to never let the car run low on fuel - and never ever risk running it dry. Sadly garages themselves often misfuel tanks and fuel distribution depots sometimes cross contaminate batches of fuel - so you can contaminate your car without making a mistake. There are also increasingly large numbers of bacterial infections in diesel with high biofuel content which can block or damage fuel filters.
Another problem is as a distributor you can add up to 5% biofuel to your diesel without disclosing it, the next link in the distribution chain could do the same thing - then Mr BP or Tesco can decide to sell this batch of fuel as biofuel and will add another 10% of rapeseed or whatever, the diesel is now seriously compromised as a lubricant as it could be 20-30% biofuel without anyone realising, this will reduce the life of your fuel pump or finish one of that has already sustained some damage, it also increases the risk of the bacterial contamination mentioned above.
For all the people knocking supermarket fuel - the fuel itself is the same as any other fuel, Tesco and Sainbury buy their fuel off the major oil companies and it comes from the same depots as the branded stuff. All the oil companies use whatever base fuel is the cheapest at the time, if petrol company A can buy base petrol or diesel cheaper from petrol company B than it's costing to produce their own then that's what they'll use at the point in time. the only difference is the additives pack that are added to the fuel in the final stages of distribution. the only exceptions are some of the premium fuels which are made in small quantities by the oil company themselves.
|
|
