Engine problems

[t0mmygun92]

Hi all,

 

New to the forum and wondering if anyone has any experience that might be able to help. I've got a 65 plate fabia 1.4 tdi (CUTA) with 126k miles on the clock and it isn't happy. A couple of weeks ago when I was driving home from work I lost all power and the engine was running poorly. Managed  to nurse it home, check with VCDS and it pointed towards a turbo fault. Took apart the air intake and there was oil basically everywhere! Poured a lot out of the charge air cooler and pipework, MAF sensor caked in oil, EGR pipes dripping.

 

So I purchased a second hand replacement from a breakers, spent 3 days draining the engine, disconnecting pipes and wires, dropping the subframe and engine, getting off the DPF & SCR, removing the old turbo and installing the new one and putting it all back together again.

 

To my dismay, it is still not happy. The engine will start and turn over but running rough and seem to have excessive crankcase pressure. When I removed the oil filler cap it was almost blown out of my hand. As the engine got warmer it got a little less rough but still not right... even for a 3 cylinder it's bad and engine rocking about.

 

I've attached the log files. Note that the first one has a huge number of fault codes as I had to connect the battery back up while everything was dropped and disconnected so it flagged faults for all the missing sensors etc. I cleared these faults and ran it, initially it then flagged up turbo actuator stuck and implausible signal for cylinder pressure sensor; stupidly I didn't save a copy of the log file at this point. Cleared the faults and ran again, this time the stuck actuator fault went but was replaced with implausible signal as well, as is shown on the second log.

 

The cylinder pressure sensor is showing 12.7 bar, and I believe on idle should be 20-30 bar. I haven't done a pressure test yet as I don't have a tester so am now looking at purchasing one.

 

Does anyone have any experience with similar? Have I been sold a dodgy turbo? Could the turbo actuator be faulty? Could it be the vacuum pump? Have I got a pressure leak either via valves/piston rings? Any suggestions would be massively helpful! Obviously pressure testing needs to be the next step (though slightly concerned that the more I run it then the more chance there is that further damage might occur).

TIA.

Log-TMBKT6NJXGZ067585-203072km-126183mi-new turbo.txt Log-TMBKT6NJXGZ067585-203072km-126183mi.txt

[nta16]

Bear in mind I know nuffin about petrol engines and even less about diesel engines and I've yet to look at your reports as I'm job hopping at the moment so I'll quickly post (before I forget).

 

You've not mentioned PCV so - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kSJ4z_CDsA

 

Edited 23 October, 2021 by nta16

[nta16]

Just general stuff and thoughts from me, I think you ought to do a compression test asap and probably not run it until.

 

Before reinstalling all the parts, components, wiring, connectors, electronics, pipes ,hoses and replacement turbo you thorough cleaned all and checked for trapped, strained, scuffed wiring and connectors.  And after refitting again checked all wiring, connection and hoses for firm fitting and no snagging, even if you did I'd check again.

 

What's the history of the vehicle any other parts fitted, any coding required.

 

Don't take error codes in isolation, see what's also possibly tied in and remember one bit out of whack can knock lots of other bits out of whack that would otherwise be fine.

 

Any readings on the fuel injectors.

 

Just as an example, this 'diagnosing the P2563 code' article gives you an idea how one thing can run on to another or be intertwined, how invasive one set is to another. - https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/p2563-obd-ii-trouble-code-turbocharger-boost-control-position-sensor-circuit-range-performance-by-jay-safford

 

If there something out of whack from the start of the engine running then obviously this could disrupt the running.

 

Don't get tempted to jump on to one code and take that as the answer.

 

I can appreciate you didn't want to run up to operating temperature but when possible that, and live road testing data, can help with sorting.  Once you have records kept you can wipe the codes and do retests.

 

God luck.

 

[TerFar]

My ancient engine diagnostics that haven't been use for decades suggests something major like a failed piston ring or even a small hole in a piston. 

[nta16]

9 hours ago, TerFar said:

My ancient engine diagnostics that haven't been use for decades suggests something major like a failed piston ring or even a small hole in a piston. 

Yeah, if it was a much older car you could discount all the computers and their programs, course you could easily still be right even with the computers and their programs, a compression test might tell more.

 

[TerFar]

The computer diagnostics are easily fooled. But the symptoms described could easily be due to excessive compression escaping past a piston.

 

[nta16]

Yeap a compression test is on the cards, wondering if we'll hear back.

 

[t0mmygun92]

Hi both,

 

thanks for your responses, for some reason I didn't get any notifications of responses so didn't realise there had been any.

 

I've done the compression test, cylinders 1 and 3 showed 20-25 bar (mostly at the 25 bar end, there was just 1 test that showed 20 but I think that was the gauge that caused that as the video I took of the gauge showed the needle rise then suddenly drop and come back up again on the last turn over) and cylinder 2 only returned 1.5-2 bar.

 

I removed all 3 injectors, from cylinders 1 and 3 I had to use the puller to get them out, cylinder 2 however I took out first and was able to just pull it out by hand with pretty little effort and the copper washer came off in my hand once I had it out. I tried moving the injectors around to see if the problem followed (to see if it had anything to do with the loose injector and washer) but it yielded the same result. While doing this I also did the oil cap test (to see if it gets blown off the filler hole by crank pressure) and while testing cylinder 2 with original injector and injectors from other cylinders it still blew the cap off, but testing other cylinders with injector 2 didn't blow the cap off.

 

I've also had my endoscope down inside the injector bore hole to examine the piston. Cylinders 1 and 3 you could clearly see the injection pattern as darkened patches on the piston crown, cylinder 2 was very wet where you could see it had been injecting but not igniting. I couldn't see any noticeable holes in the piston but it was tough to see for definite, and unfortunately couldn't angle the endoscope to see the cylinder walls. I also got the endoscope down the air intake and the inlet valves do have a lot of build up on but all 3 cylinders were similar in that regard, I wouldn't say cylinder 2 looked any worse. I haven't been able to get to the exhaust valves as my god getting the exhaust manifold on and off is not an easy task!

 

I've had the rocker cover off and all valves are opening and closing as expected, none appear to be getting stuck open/closed. I tried to do a clearance test but I could only do it on a cold engine so don't believe the results were accurate. Cylinder 1 had 0.25mm clearance on the intake valves, cylinder 2 had 0.23mm, and cylinder 3 you couldn't push down on the hydraulic compensators at all so the clearance was 0... so this just made it all the more confusing!

 

At the moment I'm at the point of thinking it is going to be easier to get my hands on a second hand engine and just swap it out as to remove the cylinder head to check the valves you have to get the engine out anyway! Unfortunately I've got the CUTA engine which seems to be like gold dust and I can't find a replacement in the UK! I've found one shop on ebay that has broken a car that had one in but it appears they've already dismantled the engine 😢 I've managed to find a couple of CUSA/CUSB engines... does anyone know what the differences are between the CUS and CUT engines? Are the blocks and internals the same but with different turbos/coolers/injectors etc.? Would I be able to use the external parts from my CUTA engine on a CUSA/CUSB engine block to basically rebuild it as a CUTA or is it sadly not that simple?

 

Thanks again!

[nta16]

The only thing I can help you with is notifications (possibly).

 

Top right corner of this page, click on the bell symbol, this gives a drop menu with 'Notification Settings' at top right, click on that and complete as required.

 

HTH.

 

[TerFar]

It doesn't sound too promising! My experience from working on older engines (pre-electronics or computers) would be to remove the cylinder head next to get a good look. It may still be something relatively simple like the head gasket, but it's rather symptomatic of a piston head hole or broken rings. 

 

Sorry, I can't help you with the engine type differences. 

[nta16]

With my even less knowledge of the ancient technology that still powers most cars (my engine is only just 1950s technology) I'd go along with before taking the engine out take the head off, even as you strip down for that you might discover possible causes.

 

Good luck.

 

[PipH]

This one is on eBay at the moment.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323706905373?hash=item4b5e6f631d:g:8PUAAOSwfINccS8C

 

[t0mmygun92]

@PipH unfortunately they'd already broken the engine before I came across that one as well! 😞 scoured all over the internet and noone in the UK has got a CUTA engine!

 

@TerFar That was my next step until I had a look at the service manual... to get the head off you have to pretty much remove the engine anyway and then have the faff of tearing it down and trying to find the fault to repair it, and as I'm doing all of this on my driveway in a cold and wet England I really don't fancy that right now!

 

I've ended up getting an engine shipped in from the Netherlands! Should be delivered to me this week... annoyingly I'm also in the process of moving house at the moment so not what I needed! I'll work my way through it gradually and once I've got the car running again I'll strip down the old engine when it gets warmer again and find what the problem was and see if there what can be salvaged and sold on to hopefully help someone else who ends up in a similar situation!

[Manman]

Hello. I have skoda fabia 2016 1.4 tdi 90 ps CUSB.  The problem is error in cylinder 2 loww pressure. I reconditioned all 3 injectors, i repair the engine (segments, valves, all of this stuff) the error keep appear.  The car run well... i think...for a 3 cylinder 

The pressure in cylinders is about 18-20 bar. And i think 18-20 bar is the right pressure. Why you think should be 20-30 bar? 

@t0mmygun92