Lost in France

[Doggy]

Time to get our thinking caps on people, my bro's 2.2 HDi is currently dead in central France.
He thought it was a misfuel cockup initially, but I'm hoping it's just a partial blockage.
Seems there's a fuel shortage over there at the mo, so he went about 20 miles to Gueret to fill up. Had lack of power issues almost straight away, then a bang from the exhaust, complete lack of power and a rattling noise form the top of the engine.
He's drained some fuel from the filter bowl and it seems to be diesel. He's double checked the receipt from the filling station, that says diesel too.
It will start & idle but can't summon enough grunt to move the car, still has the noise.
Needles to say, he doesn't have breakdown or recovery.
My problem is either remotely diagnosing what's wrong, or finding a better alternative to going 630 miles each way to pick him up. (Has his elderly dog with him, so flying or crossing the channel as a foot passenger aren't options). Considering picking up one refugee c/w aging lurcher from Calais on a day-trip me+car ticket if it comes to it.

Thinking he may have picked up some contamination with the fuel, (or the dregs from his own tank), I've suggested he changes the fuel filter first and tries to completely rule out misfuel at the same time. Next, I'm going to get him to try cleaning out the inlet port on his fuel pressure regulator and/or removing the filter that lurks therein.
I'll also get him to disconnect all 4 injector electrical connectors in turn to determine if all the cylinders still work.

If anyone's got any other suggestions, please fire away..

TIA

[steve_earwig]

Not much in the way of suggestions I'm afraid. Sounds a bit of a nightmare to me (always remember in a year's time it'll just be something to smile about, however wryly.)

You know the fuel pick up strainer is in the bottom of the tank, so it won't be some junk from his tank as everything, including water, sinks to the bottom and will be sucked up first. Similarly, if he has picked up some contaminate fuel, the crap in that would have also gone in first. Worst case: water.

I guess you have to rule out mis-fuel, although this sounds unlikely (Goran told me a while back one of his mates filled up his bike with diesel, he was billed for diesel too but the gas station had put the wrong nozzle on the pump, green instead of black).

I'd think, if he got the fuel from a diesel pump and was billed for diesel and it does turn out to be a mis-fuel then he has grounds for suing the gas station, although this is probably easier said than done.

Other than that, all I can say is good luck. Make sure your brother remembers to eat and gets some water down the dog!

[Welly]

Friend of mine once filled his Renner DCi with 'diesel' and got a full tank of Pez. Turned out the ASDA operatives had filled the wrong tanks, good job he had a receipt as that covered the £1,500.00 head refurb.....

Doggy that is a bloody nightmare, no euro breakdown service?

The 'bang' from the eggsauce sounds ominous, almost petrol-like? It definitely sounds like a fuel problem to me so i guess he has to start there by draining/checking anything he can get access to. Can he disconnect the fuel filter bowl and keep bezzing the ignition key to purge whatever's in there out into a container or summat? or fill the bowl with proper diesel and see if it starts/runs on it?

[Doggy]

no euro breakdown service?

No.

He's had the filter out, cleaned the bowl and checked the contents, which seem to be diesel. Hoping to get a new filter today.
I sent him some info on removing / replacing the pressure regulator, so I'm hoping he'll check that before replacing the filter / trying again.

Good suggestion about separate fuel supply for test purposes, but I'm pretty sure it will need the 4 bar or so the lift pump generates to get some fuel into the HP pump.

[Doggy]

Well, he's back from France but the car's still there - he got a lift to Potters Bar from another Brit returning home. I picked him up from there on Saturday.

He's just bought an old x-type diesel estate and will sell one or the other if the 406 gets resuscitated. Someone's looking at the Pug for him, but if all else fails, we'll be passing that way on our way home from holiday in early July.....

Least he's got transport for now.

[Welly]

Blimey, how would you go on disposing of a car in France if needed? best I can think is hiring a Transhit type van and a Trailer and go grab the thing home?

[steve_earwig]

Haven't they got lots of mountains and rivers and stuff?

[Doggy]

Did think about recovering it, but it's 650 miles + a channel crossing away, (Creuse / 23). To legally tow it, I think the smallest thing that's going to work is a big 4x4.
Chances are recovery + repair cost is more than it's worth, (cost him £750 a couple of years back).

His friends SIL may be able to sort it, or Mrs Doggy & I will be spending about 1 day there at the end of our grand european tour in early July.

[Doggy]

The 'Bangor Banger' is still dead in that there France and my bro's got himself an old x-type estate, (in 2.0 diesel shame-it's-not-a-Pug-engine flavour).
He still hopes to get the 406 going again and to that end I rescued a fuel pressure regulator while getting myself a replacement aircon pipe at the scrappy yesterday.
Had the presence of mind to note the donor vehicle VIN to confirm the regulator is the same as his and it matches. It's missing one of the 'O' rings, but even at Pug prices, the whole set of seals & gaskets is about £12, so worth investing in - maybe they're cheaper from a diesel specialist since these are not uniquely Pug, anyone know?

I spent ages looking for pictures of the fuel pressure regulator and the elusive gauze filter it may or may not have yesterday without success. Sure they're on here somewhere, anyone know where?

Incidentally the Mondeo-in-disguise Jaguar keeps going into limp mode / cutting out. Suspect it's overboost due to gummed up VGT turbo vanes, (common issue apparently).

Help is at hand however......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFDMd8eVVXo

[Welly]

Loving the 'probe' poking its way towards the compressor wheel.......FIRE IN THE MR MUSCLE* CHAPS

* Other oven cleaners are available

[steve_earwig]

A low tech solution but, beggar me, if it works it's genius.

[Doggy]

More bad news on the 'Jaguar' front.
Borrowed a hand-held diagnostic unit and checked the codes - there were 2, but some idiot cleared them to see what came back before writing both down.
In true Stephen King fashion, sometimes they come back - or at least one P0251 which is a fuel pressure error. The other one, (I think) was to do with excess rail pressure and might explain limp mode and cutting out.
Lots of stuff about P0251 in Mondeo Land, none of it good. Looking like he needs a set of injectors.
You can tell he's peed off with it as it's now referred to as the Frod / Mondeo / Heap
He's particularly impressed with the plastic single - use sump plug.

Anyway, he's resigned himself to a slow, occasionally scary trip to France next week with a selection of bits that might sort the. 'infinitely superior' 406

We shall see......

[Welly]

Bloody Jag sounds like a shitter, I keep seeing really tatty X-types around recently they seem to be at 'that' end of the second hand cheap market but I guess have a plethora of problems.....

Have you mentioned rust to him yet

I really hope the 406 springs back into life and shows that Jord what for.

[steve_earwig]

Jord

Faguar?
Drive it to the Pug, fix Pug and drive home leaving fag-you-are burning on the side of the road

[Doggy]

Minor update.

He's back in France c/w my laptop & PP2k, (but he's not even remotely computer savvy).
Before he went I hooked up the computer to mine, showed him how to check fuel & turbo pressure set and measured values etc.....
He got the battery charged, fuel filter changed and got it started / idling for a time before running really badly and unsurprisingly hasn't managed to get PP2k talking to it.
He describes intermittent comms, so I've suggested connecting up with the engine off, verifying TPS values then starting it and checking the rest.

Won't hear any more till after the weekend as he's at Le Mans now.

The Faguar only cut out 4 times on his trip through France.