Egine Management Light !

[s4oop]

Hi there guys n gals

We appear to have a problem with the rav 4 Its a 2000 reg 2.0 vvti upon running it low on fuel then filling up from sainsburys it ran for ten minuets and then decided to die

The engine light has reared its ugly head and when turning the engine over it tries to start and wont keep running even with foot flat to floor

we have tried checking the sparks and the fuel appears to be getting into the engine

Could this be down to a fly wheel sensor or is it some thing more sinister

Cheers in advance

S400p & Will

[anchorman]

Hi (is there 2 of you?)

How short of fuel did you run it? It sounds like it is starved of fuel if it is trying to start. I think I would try taking the fuel pipe off somewhere by the engine and getting somebody to just flick the starter to see if it flows alright. Try to catch the fuel in a container or in some rag as you don't want it all over the place. If it doesn't flow properly you might need to change the filter as sometimes when the fuel gets very low it will clog the filter with junk from the tank.

Good luck

PS I hope those cars up there have got decent silencers on and not those drain pipe jobbies ;)

[s4oop]

hi there it my m8 will's rav 4 he said it was just into the red

Ill try cleaning the fuel system out/ change the fuel filter ill also be changing the spark plugs then try again

Cheers for the replie

p.s No drain pipe exhausts allowed in this house hold

[s4oop]

bump still no luck ! fuel is coming through to the injectors ok as the fuel line has been taken off and with turning over its pumping out strong ..... The engine light seems to flash when turning the engine over but not on whilst just ignition is on

Whilst turning the engine over it seems to start to go runs for a small amount of time with foot flat to floor then back fires and dies ( keeping the starter engaged just repeats process )

We have aken the spark plugs out and as expected with unburned fuel there a brown colour and quite damp -- Cleaned spark plugs re-fitted and still no change

So we have fuel and an intermitent spark ... Could the coil packs be the culprit ???? Could it be an oxygen sensor or would it still run with one gone ?

Any feed back would be greatly recieved

[anchorman]

bump still no luck ! fuel is coming through to the injectors ok as the fuel line has been taken off

engine light is still on when gturning key and still sounds like it wants to go

HELP

Just get a plug (an old one will do or even one out of the engine). Disconnect the coil from on top of the engine, undo the bolt and lift out the complete plug and coil.

Re-connect the coil and lay it on the engine so the plug earths. Get somebody to flick the starter so that you can check there is a spark. As soon as you see a spark stop and re-fit the plug and coil you are just checking to see the spark and take the electrics out of the equation. Normally if there is a spark that is a good enough basic check and you can turn your attention to the fuel. The fuel is pumped to a fuel rail which feeds the injectors. If there is defo fuel getting to the rail and it sounds like it wants to start then maybe the pressure is too low. The pressure on a VVTi engine is regulated at the fuel pump. It isn't easy to check without equipment and I don't know how involved you want to get but here is a picture of the valve located in the pump in turn in the fuel tank;

You could try taking a pipe off near the engine and trying to resist the flow of fuel while cranking the engine but you must take great care as fuel could be sprayed all over the place under pressure (3 - 4 bar approx). Try to hold the end of the pipe inside a container while you block the end and make sure there are no naked lights or sources of ignition - you do this at your own risk!!! If there is no pressure the valve is duff and you can see about changing it. If there is pressure you need to get some help as the ECU needs checking.

Good luck mate.

[anchorman]

I doubt all 4 coils packs would go and it will run with duff oxygen sensors.

[bothwell_buyer]

It wouldn't be that the Sainsburys petrol was crap and full of water??

That happened to me where the diesel had water in it, and of course the water sinks to the bottom and gets sooked up by the pump first.

Is the Battery voltage ok?

[s4oop]

Battery has good voltage just checked with a multi meter and the fuel has a bit of pressure i wouldnt think it was 3-4bar however i can get a pressure gauge from work and measure how much pressure its putting out ... I will of course do the spark test before the fuel pressure test, Thanks again for the feedback guys will update tomorrow when i get back from work ....