Hi all,

 

Bit of saga this one.

 

Issues first started when the auxiliary belt gave out. Was driving along when the electrics started to go haywire...wipers, power steering, indicators, lights all etc, all stopped working so pulled over. Then wouldn't even turn over - no life in the battery at all - apparently the aux belt also powers the alternator or something. Anyways, I had the car recovered and the belt replaced but when I came to pick up the car it wouldn't start, despite the battery having been on charge over night. No matter, I got a jump off a guy at the garage and went on my merry way. Initially all seemed fine but after a few minutes I noticed a pretty dramatic drop in power - when trying to accelerate at low revs the revs would drop & I'd have to end up building up revs with the clutch down and slipping it to get it going. No warning lights came on. Managed to hobble to my destination and left the car running to try to charge the battery. After a few hours I returned to the car, turned it off and tried turning it back on again immediately...nothing, won't even turn over...looks like the battery is shagged. Just to check I got a jump off my mate and while the car started it cut out after a few seconds of idling...odd but I assumed it was because the battery was too ruined to even sustain the engine (if that is a thing?) so ordered a new one.

 

I fitted the new battery today and while it turns over fine the engine just wont fire. I also tried getting a jump of someone else but that didn't help either. There are no error codes on the ECU (assuming my Android app, Torque is working properly), the strip fuses in the battery housing look fine. The only potential clue is that the oil warning light comes on after it has turned over a few times but I've no idea what this means (if anything?).

Any idea what's up?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Tim

Edited 4 November, 201510 yr by timothyjbeal

Petrol or Diesel

It's an '05 Fabia vRS MK I, so diesel.

Is the fuel pump in the tank running, you can hear it run for about 2 seconds when you turn the key switch on. If it does run switch it on 5 or six times to bleed the fuel system. Check for any diagnostic codes if you have a scanner.

When I turn on the ignition I'm not hearing anything & I definitely used to hear a whirring sound, so perhaps it is the fuel pump. Any idea why it might not be running?

 

No diagnostic codes are showing up.

Pop the top cambelt cover off and make sure it's not a belt failure.

Prime the pump a few times, then try.

If you can't get a code read done, go old school :

Does it smoke from the exhaust while cranking? If it does, it's getting fuel (not to say if it doesn't, it's not).

Check your glow plugs, either with a multimeter set to current, or take them out and see if they get hot.

Try a pull start.

If you cant hear fuel pump check fuses, to check if pump runs pull hose from filter and stick in a bottle turn on key switch and check for flow.

Oil warning coming on in this case means nothing other than as you know, the engine is not running.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll try out your suggestions in the morning when it's not pitch black

I thought it seemed odd that I wasn't seeing any diagnostic codes so got a technician out to try his luck and got the following: Camshaft Position Sensor (G40): Signal Out of Range

 

They've proposed replacing the sensor, which seems sensible to me, though perhaps it's worth checking the timing belt before paying to have a new sensor fitted?

I would definitely check timing belt first, cam sensor easy enough to change.

Checked the timing belt and it's damaged...so looks like that's the source of the problem. Bugger.

Quite common to damage the timing belt when the aux belt goes.

Didn't your battery light come on when the aux belt broke?

It should have lit up straight away when belt snapped,you shouldn't have been driving it until the battery was totally flat.

Common fault on the alternator wiring where it breaks down on these,search it on here.if your battery light didn't come on I bet your wiring needs repairing.