D8 2.0 petrol non idle/cutting out, wisdom needed

[Roylewaa]

Hi folks,

My 97 2.0 D8 petrol is a bit poorly to say the least, the car starts no problem but will not idle/tickover at all, just cuts out straght away if no throttle is applied, you can keep the engine running by keeping the revs up, but the car almost feels like it wants to cut out as ever so slightky spluttery.
When I brought the car home yesterday evertime the clutch was dipped it would die, when running seemed on the whole ok, apart from the K light intermittanly coming on together with a slight feeling of missfire under accelleration (not much I must stress), when the light went out it was fine, had it at motorway speed for about half an hour hoping a good run would clear her out, but hasint helped

Ive spend the day pretty much looking at it whilst scratching my head, so far ive removed the stepper motor and cleaned it with carb cleaner and reset it (ign off for 30 secs 3 times etc) then I removed the lambda probe (red lift clip) and tried no luck and it's still the same (to be honest looked like someone has had a play with that area previously as the stepper was pretty clean to begin with and jubilee's were poorly fitted as if someones given up on it

Ive took a few pics as there are a few areas of confusion/concern
This is 1, a apparent burned connection just under the passengerside footwell, here

There's a buzzing sound from up from the passengerside kick panel when the ignition is on(panel removed)here

And there appears to be a cable missing from the throttle body as you can see the empty bracket etc pictured



Any help would really be appreciated as starting to fear ive bought a pup, hoping it turns out to be something simple, just for the life of me can't think what

[lozz]

The burnt conection in the passenger : couid be for the heater,
id just Hard wire that and Snip off the White conector plug .. but id add a Fused /link to the Red + wire,

The snapped cable on the T/b dunno what thats for, maybe its had kick down, or as the Engine been insomething else ? hmm dunno mate,

as of your mention have you bought a pup?...imho> idont think so not at the price youve paid for it You carnt loose, itl alway bring you your money back ,

take your time with it Rome wasnt built in a Day.. a few days on it and youl get it running right

[Roylewaa]

Cheers for that mate, I know it'l probably get sorted, just annoying when you know it's likely something simple but a pain finding out the cause
Just walked round my local scrappy, the petrol 406 that they had has now been crushed as I was going to take the stepper motor off and try a different one as a matter of course, bummer
Should there be any movement in those stepper things?

Just had a thought, would a blocked cat cause it not to idle, as I can hear a rattling coming from underneath the car when I turn over and when it revs and cuts out?

[Roylewaa]

Just been outside and banged the cat and it's defo rattling

so im thinking blocked = stopping it from idling as engine can't breathe

[lozz]

Just been outside and banged the cat and it's defo rattling

so im thinking blocked = stopping it from idling as engine can't breathe

if its rattling its fubard,
you know what to do with Fubard cats dont You?


Hammer time lol,

[Roylewaa]

So would hitting it smash it up more inside just to see if it is causing the idling problem?

[lozz]

So would hitting it smash it up more inside just to see if it is causing the idling problem?

No mate take the cat off and Smash out the inside of it,
it takes a while to do but once the Centre Hive as been smashed out itl run right as Engine can breathe,
itl fail on any next mot as The Emisions will be high,.

ive done this on a few cars

if: the cat is rattling bits of the cat might be in the back box Give the back box a waddle and see if you can hear any of the Charcoal bits.


If it is the cat thats failed its best to clear out the insides of your old one before replacing it with a new one and see if it runs right,
as if your car is overfueling or as problems it couid just Fubar up a new cat and you wouid be just throwing Good money "away,

[Roylewaa]

Thanks for that mate, sound advice, I'l take it off and have a look, hope that cures it

[maglite1]

hello roylewaa , the burnt connector in your top pic is the live feed to the blower motor ( im cutting exactly that out tomorrow ) also the rattling you refer to is the re circulattion flap motor knackered , if you look where the burnt connector is , look up into dash between the motor and the wing there is a black box fitted on the side of the blower motor housing with 3 wires going to it disconnect it its goosed , open ya bonnet and remove the trim under wiper blades to get access to the pollen filter , pull the polen filter out and make sure the recirculation flap is open you should be able to see the fan blades on the motor if the flap is open , if you need puc of the flap motor ill upload one as ive got the motor next to me now , the plug to it is brown and has 3 wires red black and brown , just disconnect it .

[Roylewaa]

hello roylewaa , the burnt connector in your top pic is the live feed to the blower motor ( im cutting exactly that out tomorrow ) also the rattling you refer to is the re circulattion flap motor knackered , if you look where the burnt connector is , look up into dash between the motor and the wing there is a black box fitted on the side of the blower motor housing with 3 wires going to it disconnect it its goosed , open ya bonnet and remove the trim under wiper blades to get access to the pollen filter , pull the polen filter out and make sure the recirculation flap is open you should be able to see the fan blades on the motor if the flap is open , if you need puc of the flap motor ill upload one as ive got the motor next to me now , the plug to it is brown and has 3 wires red black and brown , just disconnect it .

Thanks for that mate, That clears that problem up as I was in a bit of a flap about that, nice one

[Roylewaa]

Right Ive changed the stepper motor and re-synced, and replaced the cat incase it was that at fault
Then replaced all spark plugs as a matter of course, even checked the fuel cut off switch incase it was that

Still won't idle, or run unless you keep your foot on the throttle, even then the engine is jumping around and miss firing unless revved hard with the k light intermittanly coming on then going off

Does anyone have any other suggestions as really losing heart in it now

[lozz]

couid be anything mate,

check the wiring for splits .. the ones that go to the coils,

saying that have you had anosey @ it in the dark with the bonnet up with it running see if theres any sparks Arcing anywhere.

[Roylewaa]

I had a look the other night, and couldint see anything out of the ordinary

Where is the coil pack located? when I removed the allen bolts of the recker cover it was leads attached to it with a multiplug to the right of the cover

I'm more inclined to now think its an electrical fault somewhere

Its throwing the eml light on so next step would be to see what fault it's throwing up, when I went to the garage to see about booking it in the chap said it sound like it's drawing air in somewhere, £35 to do a diagnostic check

[lozz]

Whats it like on water ? is it using any,
any white ish smoke out the zorst?

[Roylewaa]

Its not used any water that I can see, Ive only driven in 20 miles and in that time its used no water, temp steady between 70-75 and no white smoke, oil is clean, heaters are hot, little bit of pressure when you open the expansion tank cap, nothing to worry about

I'm totally stumped, to the point where i'm annoyed at myself for not being able to find the fault