Hello From A Newbie, Please Help!

[Squawkbuzz]

A brief introduction first I am a mum of 3, housewife, owner of a Galaxy 1.9 TDi on an R plate. My journeys mainly consist of local shopping trips and the occasional 200 or so mile trek for a weekend away. I would'nt say that I abuse my car at all, well, apart from letting the kids eat in it and not washing it on a regular basis!

We've had the car 3 years now and I dearly love my beastie yet she in turn is not returning that love. :16: Over the past few months various 'things' have been going wrong with the ole girl.

 

Firstly it would appear that we have a leak somewhere in the air con, BUT, I can live without that.

 

Then when damp or raining I loose the power steering for a few seconds, this always happens as you are trying to turn into a particulaly tight turning! However I used to have an old Sierra Sapphire which had no p/s so am no stranger to turning a 'tank'. I took the car to Fords who said that the p/s belt needed replacing, this done, steering behaved nicely until about a month ago when it decided to start screaching if put on full lock.

 

Then the high level brake light packed up followed by the rear passenger e/window then the windscreen washer jets stopped working.

 

My main concern is the engine though. We had a problem with a pipe coming off the turbo a while back which resulted in loss of power once fixed, car fine.

 

Over the last couple of days it has been totally loosing power the engine cuts right out then comes back on again. Tonight on my way home from cubs the bl**dy thing totally conked out on me mid turn. When it was ticking over the engine sounded irregular.

As we drove home it did'nt accelerate as normal then as we turned into our road it went. I put my foot on clutch to coast it round the corner thinking 'it'll start again in a minute' and just to spite me the bleedin thing did'nt! I tried to start it up again after turning wipers, light and the rest off but no avail.

I have dash lights, it tries to turn over but there is clicking and beeping.

Any ideas other than get rid of my beastie???? Thanks

Edited May 9, 2007 by mumof4

[mumof4]

WElcome . Squawkbuzz...

 

now that is one brief intro!!. :16:

 

 

Does your car have an undertray?..as that protects from spray that can affect the steering when it has been raining?

 

Where is the clicking coming from?fuse box?under the bonnett?..what is beeping?Have you checked fuses for the windows?

 

When was it last serviced?MOT?

 

 

I have just edited your post hun to make it easier to see all the probs you are having..in one long para it was hard to see :16: .

[Squawkbuzz]

Hi,

Undertray - I dont know if it has one. The reason you loose p/s when damp is because of tension arm? This was tightened by 'FORD' but has 'come loose' again.

 

The clicking appears to be coming from under the bonnet, sounds like the sort of click you get when you try n start the car n the thing dont turn over.

 

The beeping...well that I have never heard before and just seemed to be coming from the dash.

 

The window... this'll make ya laff. That works as and when it feels like it so prolly a loose connection there.

 

As for its service, it was last serviced again by 'FORD' in February. When they also took it out for a test drive to try and see what the problem was with the power loss.

 

Does anyone else have such a tempremental lady on their drive?

 

:16:

[mumof4]

If you look under the car..you should see a big black thing that stops you seeing the engine from below.

 

the clicking could be starter motor..

 

The beeping..do any of the warning lights light up/flash when you try and start the car..

 

window..more than likely..

 

if it was serviced 3 months ago..then anything major or about to fail would have been picked up

 

check the main fuse feed box under the bonnett at the front...these can blow and melt the box.

 

if you think Ford havent tightened something up properly enough, go back to them.

 

Have you consulted with any mechanics?

[broom broom]

hmmmm temprimental lady???

 

 

sounds like you have all the answers already :16:

 

take it back to ford tell them your tension arm has come loose again, the starter motor is dead, the window has a broken wire in the door pillar and ask if you have an undertray problems solved!

[Squawkbuzz]

I had a chappie look it over a couple of weeks ago, now he said that yes the tension arm was loose he also found a plug/connector that looked like it had broken off from somewhere, however, he said that this had been unattached for years so that wouldnt be causing a problem. He said quite often the makers put rubber bungs on the side of the engine bay where any plugs that were not being used on that particular model would be put. He was certain that the problem was probably a pipe or a sensor of some sort?

Like I said before my main concern is the engine, with the starter motor, that is turning over but the engine just not firing. Hubby says it could be fuel? I dont know, I just dont want to spend a fortune on diagnostics to find out whats wrong.

[mumof4]

im afraid..its either get it diagnosed..or start replaceing parts like we do..either or..can be expensive.

[mumof4]

is there any fuel in it?..and these beeps..what does the display on the dash say when it bleeps?

[broom broom]

buy a new one!

[Smilge]

I dont think answers like that are going to help Squawkbuzz, broom broom

 

It sounds like you have got several problems here ..... first thing I would do is to find someone near to you that has VAG COM. (Perhaps a member somewhere in the South East could oblige) This will hopefully pinpoint your problems and allow better diagnosis. By the way, if you are being forgotton by lack of answers, you can always reply to your own thread by just adding "BUMP". This will send the thread to the top of the pile where hopefully someone with a bit more knowledge of your problem than me will reply.

 

My first impressions ..... Get the garage to re-check the belt that runs the power steering pump.

Get the battery checked ..... with all the short journeys and use of wipers and lights etc perhaps its not been giving enough charge time. If the battery has been allowed to go completely flat, theres a chance its knackered.

 

Once the cars running, then the power loss diagnosis can be done ..... there are numerous things that may cause this and then the peeps on here can start to have a look.

 

Welcome by the way

[Squawkbuzz]

Well thank you all so far.

There is fuel in it, half a tank. I got it started this morning and its now sulking on the drive. It started first time this morning and drove the short hop home no problems. Hubby has sorted out a diagnostic thingy 'Scan tool'? so that is now here just gotta charge up lappy n get out there to plug the thing in n see what it says. :rolleyes:

[tiny]

The clicking from under the bonnet is likely to be caused by the fact that the battery has been nearly flattened by repeated or extended cranking periods trying to start the engine after it cut out. The noise is the starter solenoid trying to engage. The battery will recover a little charge if left for a while, hence the fact that it started in the morning. You should probably put the battery on charge overnight.

 

As for the reason its playing up at the moment, i really dont know. I'm tempted to say it sounds like its drawing air into the fuel system, but the fact that it started the next morning makes this sound less likely as the air would still be in the system no matter how long you left it.

 

Which pipe came off the turbo? im presuming air intake as this would result in massive loss of power without causing damage to the turbo. Is there more smoke from the exhaust at the moment? especially when the thing is running badly?

[Squawkbuzz]

Okay, it's hard to explain it really. It's been sitting on the drive now for a couple of days, I went out ther today to see if it would start and it did first button. Its ticking over but sounding a wee bit irregular then after about 10 mins it just cuts out and is then making a ummmmm, scraping/sucking sound which seems to be coming from directly behind the dash (drivers side) this lasts for around 30 secs then stops.

While this is happening the coil light is flickering in frenzy, then it all stops and when i turn it over again its starts again, perfectly.

Waiting for hubby to get home n he can go out there with this diagnostic unit thing.

[NikpV]

sounds like from the sucking that its being starved of air (why this would make the engine management light turn on ?) stalls after a while , after enough air has flowed in over time it can restart - whats the condition of the air filter ??

[big_kev]

"Coil Light " ?............I assume you mean the Glowplug lamp flickering.

 

Reading the post I think the main problem is the flat battery....it is not being charged.

The most likely cause of this is the faulty, or incorrectly adjusted drive belt which as well as turning the power steering pump also turns the alternator which charges the battery ( shoot me down in flames guys if i am talking carp as usual).

 

The flat battery will upset the Electronic Control Unit that runs your engine ( hence the flashing Glow Plug light ).

Also other things will get upset with a flat battery/Dodgy Alternator such as the fuel pump and fuel cut-off valve.

These may give the impression of a mechanical or fuel problem but are related to the flat battery.

 

I would make sure that your drive belt is sorted first, before worrying too much about the other things.

[Squawkbuzz]

Sorry it's been a while... thought I'd come back and tell what the lil man said at the garage after plugging in the beastie. He said he could'nt really find anything one thing in particular wrong other than a difference in air pressures?? What with the age of the car he said it was probably better to go chop it in for something newer especially as it has other things wrong with it.