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Espace 2.2 DCI no power HELP! **Sorted**

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7.9K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  monty1947  
#1 ·
Hi everyone...I hope there's someone out there that can help..

Okay, sorry in advance but this maybe long winded..

I recently bought a 2003 Espace 2.2 DCI Initiale which had been off the road for around a year. I thought I would take a gamble and buy it as it was only £300 with the intention of getting it up and running again. I was told by the owner that it was in perfect working order, just ran out of mot. The first thing I did was to charge the battery (as you do), then give it a jump start....it fired up and seemed to run okay. On the journey back home a warning popped up on the dash display stating that there was a fuel injection fault with a zigzag box symbol and there seemed to be a real lack of power from the engine....a lot slower than I was expecting from a 2.2 diesel turbo!

Once home I searched the forums including this one to see if I could get to the bottom of the problem. Lots of people suggested the egr valve to be the first place to start, so I removed my one only to find that is was absolutely caked in soot! I removed all the carbon and cleaned it with wd40 and a toothbrush...which resulted in a pristine looking egr. The valve opened and closed with a push of my finger, and there was nothing causing a bad seal of the mechanism. Once refitted, I took the car for a test drive down the road, but up popped the infamous message 'fuel injection fault'! Okay, further inspection found a leak from number 3 injector seal which was spewing out exhaust fumes into the engine compartment. I removed the injector and found the metal seal to be warped and carboned up. I replaced this with a new one and after starting the engine, the leak was fixed. On test drive, still the message popped up.....so this was obviously not the problem either. At this point, I decided to get a diagnostic test done by a local mechanic. He was reluctant to attempt any kind of repair on this vehicle as he said that they are a 'nightmare' to fix but he would help me only with a diagnostic test. The codes came up as p1815 and p1814. These suggest egr???

Next I checked all the vacuum pipes as suggested on the forums...I found a very perished 8mm pipe and the rear of the engine - it had a hole in it and a huge split. I managed to replace this pipe with something I found in the shed just as a temporary repair as I was not sure it would last in hot temperatures. I took it for a test drive and WOW!!! It pulled like a train and flew down the road like a bat out of hell!!! This is it I thought....I've sorted it and finally got a bargain!! All a bit short lived though unfortunately, as when I turned the car around to take it back home, it would not pick up speed and I crawled back home at a max of 10mph. Once in the drive I revved the engine but it would not rev any more than 1500 rpm with my foot right down to the floor. I checked my temporary pipe and it hasn't failed.

So this is where I am at present....no power, no revs and a huge chunk of worthless car!! I have fixed three obvious faults and now the car is in a worse state than when I bought it!!

Any suggestions greatly appreciated....and yes, I know..."sell it and save a whole load of hassle" - but I'm stubborn and do not give in that easily, lol....:grin2:
 
#2 ·
it was deffo P then the code, not just a code, and you are assuming its a P code
as in 1815 is Air inlet circuit = hole in pipe
1814 is Exhaust gas recirculation function = egr when blocked..
These would have been stored in the ecu,,,, as NOT a eobd code,, so can ONLY be cleared by diagnostic, not self extinguishing
Have you checked these have now been cleared and its not a map (turbo boost) sensor issue giving this problem now
 
#3 ·
Hi, thanks for the quick response! Yes, the codes were P codes. I forgot to mention that I have an elm327 bluetooth code reader and remember reading something on a forum about an android app that can make use of these readers to clear 'check parking brake' messages. A quick search on google play found it...it's called 'ohno! Renault'. I was a little sceptical as I thought that the only diagnostic that works with Renault's is the 'clip' but I was quite surprised that it actually does work. Once read, it came up with P1814. I cleared this code then re-checked for errors and found them to be clear. After that, I started the car and tried to rev it...it only reached 1500 revs and would not rev higher....then the 'fuel injector fault' came up on the dash with the zigzag box. I switched the engine off and read the codes again....again, p1814 was shown.

This map sensor you mention sounds interesting....just looked up about these on this forum and it seems that it could be a culprit for this type of problem. I shall investigate this and get back to you.

Thanks again...
 
#10 ·
**Update** I got dragged off to the seaside yesterday as it's school half term, so didn't get the chance to tinker with the espace. But, this morning I removed the MAP sensor to inspect it. From doing a google image search I was expecting to see a sensor covered in crud and blocked up. This was not the case, and it turned out to be spotless! For anyone who's thinking of cleaning this sensor, it is located on the large intercooler pipe which is attached to the bottom of the EGR housing. The sensor itself can be found under the alternator and comes off once you remove a clip. You can shine a torch on it from above (just) and get your hand to it from the right hand side. I sprayed a little wd40 inside the part that pops into the pipe, then refitted it. After a quick startup test, this did not make any difference. Okay, next step was to try another area..namely the MAF sensor (the unit attached to the left hand side of the air filter box. I preceded to remove the top of the airbox only to find something missing....an air filter!?!? Someone in their infinite wisdom had removed it which in turn had let the MAF suck up all the cr@p out of the airbox and stick in the mesh that protects the sensors. I used some more wd40 and gave it a blast with an airline until I could actually see some daylight through it. Once clean, I inserted it back in the induction pipe, plugged the harness back on and gave it a test. She fired up and ran like a dream!! A quick blast down the road confirmed that this was the problem, and now it's sorted!! No warning messages...nothing!

Just to pick your brains again guys....is it worth blanking off the EGR on these vehicles or just cleaning the EGR once every 3-4 months or so?

In the meantime, I hope this helps someone and a big thanks to ours2012!

Cheers..