Help! 2.3 Ducato X250 randomly cutting out

[olsgreen]

Hello All,

We've got a 2007 Ducato 2.3 that has randomly started cutting out in certain conditions.

An example would be when we've been on a motorway for a few hours and have been approaching our turn off, I start dropping speed and then go to put a little bit of gas on and then it just cuts out as I put my foot on the pedal. Another would be going through a 50mph works restriction on the motor way, I go to put a bit of gas on and as soon as I touch the pedal it cuts out. No smoke or juddering or any other warning, just as if you have turned the key off. It doesn't happen every time you encounter one of these situations, just once or twice a journey.

You can immediately restart and it runs fine, it logs 'P0089 - Fuel Pressure Regulator Performance' (that's the only one logged). The 'Check engine' light comes on with the fault code but goes off when you leave the van overnight. Apart from this the vehicles running well, MPG is around usual. It seems to only happen at around 50mph - 60mph. It hasn't cut out when we've been going along at faster speeds, pulling away or when driving around town. It doesn't happen when it's cold, it takes 2+ hours of driving for it to start happening.

We've had the fuel filter inspected and changed and the high pressure fuel pressures checked at a garage, they were fine (I think!). The next suggestion is to do a leak off test to check whether the injectors ok, I'm reluctant as have been down the 'throwing injectors at it' route before and it's been costly and hasn't solved the problem.

Any advice appreciated, anyone know of any good auto-techs / specialists that would be willing to dig a bit deeper before throwing parts at it? We're based in the south-east but willing to travel, we live in it!

Cheers

 

[TerryL]

Sounds a bit like the throttle body problem - we had similar symptoms on our 2007 Ducato 2.3MJ although it didn't ever actually cut out, just ran very rough for a short period (I actually found giving it full throttle sort of cleared it). Just to elaborate, it's caused by water running off the scuttle onto the throttle body and causing corrosion in the wiring. There was supposed to be a Fiat recall to fix it but wasn't mandatory or a safety issue so quite a few got missed.

Even if it isn't that, the best advice I can give is take it to a Fiat Professional Centre, not a Fiat dealership, who have the necessary analysis gear. I started down the "we'll just try replacing this" route but when they started quoting large numbers with no guarantee of success I bit the bullet. In the end it wasn't as expensive as I'd anticipated - and they got it right first time too, including correcting a "mod" that was supposed to cure it, which of course didn't.

 

[DonA4000]

We had something similar but can remember if it would fully cut out but had the loss of power etc, so I got the throttle body changed and never had a problem since, the newer part was an updated fiat redesign so shouldn’t happen again hopefully

 

[chatteris]

had something similar on my work van,citroen with 2.2 engine would often cut out when i changed down for a roundabout or junction had a code for egr valve which was changed but fault persisted eventually traeked down to fuel pressure regulator by monitoring live data with a snap on scanner and noticing pressure erratic readings.

 

[icantremember]

This was the inside of our throttle body on a previouse motorhome.

It's a well known and documented problem of water ingress but according to Peugeot/Fiat they've never heard of it.

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[olsgreen]

I filled up with Esso Premium diesel (instead of supermarket) and gave it a run the other day and guess what it didn't do it the first run but did the second!

So by recommendation I've bought some injector cleaner and fuel additive to add to every tank. Fingers crossed its just my van doesn't like crappy Tesco diesel! Or maybe condensation in the tank after not moving much for a few months... Either way, we've decided to carry on with a planned trip to France next week so we'll see.

 

[Mr mrs tupcox]

Some times these vans need a good run .to clean then out .
Get in it and drive like it's been stolen.
3rd gear 3000 or higher revs for 10 miles on motorway. Does more that any addictive.

 

[Jcrock]

Hi
I'm new here so thanks for the add.
I have the P0089 fault code and local garage recommended the throttle body. Had it replaced and just 7 miles later same issue!
Van running at 55mph and just died as I touched the throttle at the bottom of a hill.
Any other ideas as I'm already into £500 in parts and no closer to finding the problem.
Many thanks

 

[The Old Man]

An interesting read as I have a similar issue and I'm waiting to get it to the garage for them to put in on the analysis machine but it has been happening intermittently for about a year.

With mine it usually as the engine goes onto load after a cruising run, say the start of a steep hill or a steady gradient.

The engine loses power, it doesn't cut out, no waning lights, just a lose of power.

Drop it into neutral and a small blip of the throttle and the power comes back..

 

[chaser]

Don't know about all these electrical gizmos, but if it was a tractor I would be looking for a filter in the tank , goes fine for so long then let off the throttle and muck in the tank falls to the bottom, blocking it.
It then disperses till you start again, then same again.
Seeing as most tractors have at least two other fuel filters we usually chuck the one out of the tank ,just a pain.

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[Trevor Wbm]

This is going to sound daft, but bear with me .... check the brake lights aren't coming on randomly or occasionally sticking on after the brake is applied.

I had a Picasso diesel where this was happening. It turns out the brake lights feed a timed switch that cuts the throttle after a few seconds, undetectable in normal use, but occasionally if I'd used the brakes the engine would cut a few seconds later. It took weeks and weeks to work out, only being found after I'd dislodged the rear upper brake light and could see when it was on in my rear view mirror. The remedy was to hook my foot under the pedal and pull it up, then start the engine again, followed by a new brake light switch that cured the problem.

Clearly different vehicle and engine, but an easy check - we we're getting close to pulling the ECU out when we found it.

 

[mitzimad]

we had an old rambler that did this and as chaser said it was the tank degrading internally so i would look at fuel supply buy a cheap odb reader and use live data on a phone when driving you might see rail pressure dropping exactly the same symptoms long run down a dual carriage way fine come to a round about let of then touch the gas to go and it would stall

 

[Jcrock]

Quick update. After some further investigation the fuel filter appears to have been the problem although I replaced it with a genuine part 3000 miles ago. Apparently the filter holes in the old one were 40 microns and the new version has holes of 60 microns....
This was enough to restrict fuel flow and cause the random cutting out when under load.
Hopefully this will help!

 

[TerryL]

Not being an engineering guru, am I missing something here?
Why would bigger holes restrict fuel flow (60 IS bigger than 40 microns isn't it?)

No matter, glad the problem is solved.

 

[icantremember]

Not being an engineering guru, am I missing something here?
Why would bigger holes restrict fuel flow (60 IS bigger than 40 microns isn't it?)

No matter, glad the problem is solved.

I thought that initially before I realised the "old one with 40 micron holes" was the new one before the problem occured and the "new one with 60 micron holes" is the new one after the old new one was replaced .... I hope that is all clear now.

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[Diabalo]

I hope that is all clear now.

Is mud clear?

 

[TerryL]

Okay, there are THREE filters in this story then.
The old one, the duff replacement and the proper replacement - which hopefully will clear the mud out!

 

[Gaza1515]

Hello All,

We've got a 2007 Ducato 2.3 that has randomly started cutting out in certain conditions.

An example would be when we've been on a motorway for a few hours and have been approaching our turn off, I start dropping speed and then go to put a little bit of gas on and then it just cuts out as I put my foot on the pedal. Another would be going through a 50mph works restriction on the motor way, I go to put a bit of gas on and as soon as I touch the pedal it cuts out. No smoke or juddering or any other warning, just as if you have turned the key off. It doesn't happen every time you encounter one of these situations, just once or twice a journey.

You can immediately restart and it runs fine, it logs 'P0089 - Fuel Pressure Regulator Performance' (that's the only one logged). The 'Check engine' light comes on with the fault code but goes off when you leave the van overnight. Apart from this the vehicles running well, MPG is around usual. It seems to only happen at around 50mph - 60mph. It hasn't cut out when we've been going along at faster speeds, pulling away or when driving around town. It doesn't happen when it's cold, it takes 2+ hours of driving for it to start happening.

We've had the fuel filter inspected and changed and the high pressure fuel pressures checked at a garage, they were fine (I think!). The next suggestion is to do a leak off test to check whether the injectors ok, I'm reluctant as have been down the 'throwing injectors at it' route before and it's been costly and hasn't solved the problem.

Any advice appreciated, anyone know of any good auto-techs / specialists that would be willing to dig a bit deeper before throwing parts at it? We're based in the south-east but willing to travel, we live in it!

Cheers

Hi, start with the cheap repairs you can do yourself. Fuel filter may be clogged also in the tank ,you have the fuel pump. There is a strainer type filter on the intake. It may be because its been standing it has diesel alge or other crud in the tank, it has another name which I can't remember.