What Caused This ?

[sich1]

54 plate rav4 xt3 D4D 72k miles.

have been aware of an odd hiccup in 2/3/4th gear for a while now but i rarely get the revs up above 2500 where the hiccups are so not been too fussed. however on overtaking a tesco delivery truck this pm the car died on me!

50mph in 5th went to overtake, gave it some throttle but not full. got halfway past and decided to give it more gas so i floored it. engine shaped light came on and i had no power even in first and 2nd i only had tickover....

pulled in and turned it all off in case loss of fluids was involved.

had a good look around engine bay and all is fine.

got back in after 2 mins and started up just fine,with engine light still on. no further problem all day and the engine light has now gone off!

iam aware of some possible causes, but wanted a few opinions before i act on what i think it is.

opinions please

anyone in lincolnshire got a fault reader?

p.s.fuel filter changed 3 months ago

[Red Yaris 54]

Amazon have good stocks of the code readers at reasonable prices.....(if you don't find a local member with one)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_15?url=search-alias%3Dautomotive&field-keywords=car+code+reader&sprefix=Car+code+reader%2Caps%2C318

It may be that your car has gone into "limp mode" to prevent any further engine damage

I do not have a lot of knowledge on the D4D engines but does your car have a DPF (Diesel Particlate Filter)?

If so this may be clogging up if you never reach high revs

Just my initial thoughts......Hope they help :)

[Mike169]

Hi Red/Anyone, i read this thread with interest.

The link you have posted to the Amazon site show code readers coating less than £20.

Maybe i misunderstand but i thought car code readers cost in the region of £2000+ and that there were all different ones for all different makes of cars, i.e. each main dealer had to off course have a code reader for all their range of models making it very expensive for 'back street garages' that are willing to work on various makes of cars having to buy all the different code readers for all the different makes of cars out there..................................also the 2" x 1/2" white plug they fit into by the bonnet release usually, are they universal and exactly the same for all cars and all models?

Back to the Amazon site, there are many code readers for sale, would you recommend any particular one?

Regards Mike169

[Red Yaris 54]

Hi Red/Anyone, i read this thread with interest.

The link you have posted to the Amazon site show code readers coating less than £20.

Maybe i misunderstand but i thought car code readers cost in the region of £2000+ and that there were all different ones for all different makes of cars, i.e. each main dealer had to off course have a code reader for all their range of models making it very expensive for 'back street garages' that are willing to work on various makes of cars having to buy all the different code readers for all the different makes of cars out there..................................also the 2" x 1/2" white plug they fit into by the bonnet release usually, are they universal and exactly the same for all cars and all models?

Back to the Amazon site, there are many code readers for sale, would you recommend any particular one?

Regards Mike169

I only have experience of one of these cheaper code readers and re setters on the petrol engined Renault Clio owned by my younger son but it came supplied with a standard plug that plugged into the under dashboard socket that is found on all or most modern cars

The codes read are looked up in a booklet supplied with the reader

In my sons case the fault was diagnosed correctly with a unit costing around £ 10 and after rectification the code was reset using the reader

My son now carries the reader with him in his car boot

Like you I used to think that these code readers were expensive units held only by main dealers..........The units held by them may be much more sophisticated and provide much more detail......but the cheaper plug in units give the basic fault codes

I am unable to recommend any particular model that is shown on Amazon but can only suggest that you read the reviews on each model and make up your own mind

[Mike169]

Hi Red

Thank you for your reply and a very good one may i say!

Also i did not know you can reset the car/erase the fault code once the fault has been rectified.

My car being a 2 year old Rav4 2.2 diesel has got one of these open sockets as i recall seeing it by the bonnet release.

I love gadgets and for say less than £20 to be able to diagnose a fault on my own car is very appealing.

Regards Mike169

[sich1]

Amazon have good stocks of the code readers at reasonable prices.....(if you don't find a local member with one)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_15?url=search-alias%3Dautomotive&field-keywords=car+code+reader&sprefix=Car+code+reader%2Caps%2C318

It may be that your car has gone into "limp mode" to prevent any further engine damage

I do not have a lot of knowledge on the D4D engines but does your car have a DPF (Diesel Particlate Filter)?

If so this may be clogging up if you never reach high revs

Just my initial thoughts......Hope they help :)

no dpf car is too old for one of those horrible things!

iam thinking scv's but not 100% sure yet. it seems to have all the right symptoms

[Parts-King]

Start at the basics, fuel filter, then measure the SCV values, always best to start with the cheapest options

Dealer testers are as you say, very sophisticated, often costing thousands, they are also very expensive to maintain, they are licensed yearly and there upkeep extensive with updates, that is just one of the reasons why you pay a higher hourly labour rate

[graunch]

Hi there,
My 4.2 showed similar symptoms to yours, for a couple of years on coldish mornings I would occasionally get a lack of power then a surge as I went up through the lower gears but this would clear straight away, then one day I had trouble starting in the morning (had to crank for about 20- 30 seconds) whereas before it was always immediately. After a couple of days like this it went into limp mode (max of 2500 rpm) and put on the warning light which gave a fault code of PO627 (fuel pump control circuit open) checked the forums and these symptoms and fault code all pointed to the scv's , so bought a new set from eBay for less than £190 delivered and the car has never run better than it is running at the moment.

hope this helps
colin

[sich1]

Hi there,

My 4.2 showed similar symptoms to yours, for a couple of years on coldish mornings I would occasionally get a lack of power then a surge as I went up through the lower gears but this would clear straight away, then one day I had trouble starting in the morning (had to crank for about 20- 30 seconds) whereas before it was always immediately. After a couple of days like this it went into limp mode (max of 2500 rpm) and put on the warning light which gave a fault code of PO627 (fuel pump control circuit open) checked the forums and these symptoms and fault code all pointed to the scv's , so bought a new set from ebay for less than £190 delivered and the car has never run better than it is running at the moment.

hope this helps

colin

chrs colin

seems to be my thoughts also !Removed! scv's

could egr problems give these symptoms?

[graunch]

Never had any trouble with my EGR in 4 years of ownership and not sure if this will give the same symptoms, but as you now have a warning light what I would do is get yourself a code reader the U480 works fine on mine so should do on yours and is less than a tenner on eBay from a uk supplier (will pay for itself the first time you use it) read the code and if its the PO627 I would be inclined to think scv`s

If yours has done 70K and these are the first set of valves its needed I don't think that's to bad.

[sich1]

code reader ordered.

colin, can you remember what size allan key fits the scv's ??

[graunch]

I can`t remember if its a 4mm or 5mm but one of the two, but make sure you use a good quality one, that's not been rounded off all and give the heads of the capscrews a good clean out because they are !Removed! tight and rounding one off could cause many hours of grief as they are in a quite confined space. just follow rupertrav4`s instruction in the hints and tips they are very good.

good luck

[sich1]

Nice one chrs.

spare knuckles at the ready

[sich1]

Code reader arrived in 1 day....wow

fault code is p1251. Now searching for the fault

[Devon Aygo]

P1251 Is a Turbocharger malfunction code relating to a detected Overboost condition, this is normally caused by carbon build up causing the variable vanes in the Turbo to stick open.

[sich1]

tks devon aygo,you may well be right. thats what i have found too.

very odd,just been out and cleared the code.

took it down the bypass at a nice 70 to warm up,then gave it some stick back home.
like a new car!! pulls hard no problem at all

even accelerating at 70 up the only big hill in lincolnshire with no warning lights

surely that would show up any scv or turbo problems
not even showing any hesitation mid range now either!!

maybe it needs an italian tune up once a week as most of my driving in the week is stop start stuff in town
and fairly slow stuff in mud/fields at the weekend.might bung up the valves in the turbo a bit.

may need to adjust my driving style a bit to suit the engine, i tend to keep low revs most of the time.

will give it a week or so and see what happens

[graunch]

Hi again,

Yes I have had the same P1251 on mine at least three time during my four years of ownership, and all I have done is reset it and it has stayed clear for periods of over a year before it has come back again so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it if I were you. at least you have saved a few bob on scv`s.

[sich1]

sure did. £12 reader and job done !

tks for the help guys

[crofter]

As the old saying goes you can't beat a good job done cheap

[sich1]

well not too sure now, getting the hesitations back again.

happening around 2500 rpm, good up to then and clears up after 3000ish rpm.

not got a clue if its the turbo or the scv's.

dont want to keep thrashing it to clear things up.

is it time to get the turbo serviced or take a punt on new scv's?