Throttle probs

[pdsquire]

Hello All,

I have a 2.2 HDi. It has done only 36mpg over 6,000 miles which seems a little low as that is only about 30% urban. I discovered in Europe that the mpg above 70mph plummets which was a bit of a surprise. These figures might be related to the following problem.

The car barely pulls unless you have your foot buried in the carpet to the extent I now have a bad back through my lower spine twisting. Keeping motorway speeds with the throttle is impossible. Using the cruise control paddles though, the car pulls strongly.

Occasionally (maybe once in a thousand miles) the car feels as if the turbo has given up, such that last night, even on cruise control, it got down to 40mph on the M25 climb up Reigate hill.

I suspect there are two problems. The first relates to the actuation of the throttle. Would this be the throttle position censor?

The second I suspect arises from a leaking pipe, though quite why it would happen so rarely and be fixed by turning the engine off for ten minutes I have no idea.

The anti-pollution fault message is my constant companion.

All and any guidance would be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Philip

[jonsowman]

OK - first thing - where are you based? I live in Surrey most of the year so if you can get to me I can stick the car on diagnostics and that'll probably help us a lot.

The cruise control working but the pedal not indicates a problem with the TPS as you suspect. The "giving up turbo" thing sounds like limp mode to me, though not certain of course. The anti-pollution fault is reasonably likely to be caused by a vacuum system leak, but there's no way to tell without diagnostics.

Would you be able to get to Leatherhead at about 7pm on Friday night?

Edit: Assuming you're near Surrey because you mentioned Reigate!

[pdsquire]

Tadworth - about 5 miles from you!

Dunno what a FAP is so I wouldn't like to say.

EML - the little picture of an engine - yes!

TPS - good: that's an easy fix.

Anti-pollution message may be something to do with the subsidiary tank being held on by cable ties (!).

Friday no as I have a work commitment, but Leatherhead is so close I might prevail upon you for a phone number to be able to make arrangements between the demands of children.

Thanks a million! That's really generous of you.

[jonsowman]

That EML could be almost anything, we'll get it on diagnostics and find out what's going on. Likely candidates are the FAP system and the vacuum system. I have a 2.2 HDi Coupe and a 2.2 HDi Exec estate so I'm reasonably knowledgeable on these engines (though not as much as some people on here!).

If the TPS is (one of the) issue, it is as you say, an easy replacement.