[Travelbug]

Hi All,

I would like to take help from you all tech gurus on the issue I'm facing for my first diesel car "Linea". It's a carefully driven 2010 model. From last 3 months I faced an issue whenever I'm trying to accelerate even nominally, Car feels dead, there is lot of black smoke on the rear bumper and "Check Engine" light comes up. I'm aware that sometimes check engine light glows when your battery is old but that's not the case here. I'll explain till now what has been done by the various Fiat dealers with zero output.
Issue:
1) No\Zero pick up.
2) Thick black smoke deposit on the bumper.
3) Car feels dead whenever need of acceleration.
4) Check Engine error come whenever trying to accelerate.

Checks done by dealers:
1) Turbo checked.
2) Various sensors checked.
3) Monitor the ECR or something values.
4) Cleaning up of exhaust.
5) Air filter and turbo main inflow checked.

Now all of these have bee done with no output and now dealer is telling that they need to open numerous inflow outflow pipes to see if any one of them is blocked as they feel that car is not getting proper air flow while acceleration and they want to keep my car with them for 3-4 days.
I've been to 2-3 dealers around faridabad and NCR region for this issue and the output is same. They will clean one or the other thing and then ask me to drive for 2-3 days and see if problem comes back. Problem is still there.

I know we have many Diesel cars owners on this forum and they posses quite good knowledge is this area due to their experience hence I would like to utilise that knowledge and get my steed back to normal.

Regards,
Vikas

[pdma]

Originally Posted by Travelbug

Issue:
1) No\Zero pick up.
2) Thick black smoke deposit on the bumper.
3) Car feels dead whenever need of acceleration.
4) Check Engine error come whenever trying to accelerate.

This should be a turbo charger (TC) issue.

I strongly feel that the TC in this case needs some through cleaning as it might have choked.I would also suggest that , you have them swap the current one with another turbo charger (may be from their test vehicle) to confirm. I read about a similar problem sometime back on another forum and the service center swapped the customers TC with a test vehicle TC and it worked .They eventually replaced the faulty TC.Kindly let me know the updates.

[akshay4587]

Have you checked the turbo/intercooler hoses,i suspect a leak somewhere due to a faulty hose.While you are at it,please get the EGR and intake manifold cleaned as well.

[lapis_lazuli]

Seems like Turbo and related components issue.

OTOH, is your car on the verge of expiring extended warranty? May be dealers tactics to delay diagnosis, so that the burden of repairs fall on you and they can bill a hefty amount. Will definitely be expensive out of one's own pocket.

Please write a mail to FIAT to keep this issue and non-resolution on record; and preserve all job cards. I sincerely hope it gets resolved. You might consider taking help of an outside mechanic, to have an independent opinion.
(Please read Directory section of NCR, and especially SS-travellers preferred mechanics in GK area.)

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by Travelbug

1) No\Zero pick up.
2) Thick black smoke deposit on the bumper.
3) Car feels dead whenever need of acceleration.
4) Check Engine error come whenever trying to accelerate.

I am no expert but from whatever I understand from the symptoms, I think the fuel is remaining unburnt. For acceleration, you need to be in the turbo zone, as one of the member already pointed out, the turbo is not able to pump enough air or it is totally malfunctioning. Secondly, did any of your dealers do the compression test? May be this could also be a reason for unburnt fuel and the subsequent inability to accelerate.

[khoj]

Can you be specific regarding which dealers you have been to thus far. Your location reads Blr, guess it is not updated.

Further, what is the harm in letting the dealer keep the vehicle for a couple of days if the leads to resolution. Unless of course you have no trust left in the dealer, which is understandable.

Originally Posted by Travelbug

I'll explain till now what has been done by the various Fiat dealers with zero output.

Now all of these have bee done with no output and now dealer is telling that they need to open numerous inflow outflow pipes to see if any one of them is blocked as they feel that car is not getting proper air flow while acceleration and they want to keep my car with them for 3-4 days.

I've been to 2-3 dealers around faridabad and NCR region for this issue and the output is same. They will clean one or the other thing and then ask me to drive for 2-3 days and see if problem comes back.

[scofield]

I had a similar issue with my 90hp, and it all came out to the faulty hose pipe which had a leakage. That happened around 60K odo for me. Fiat also recommends to change the hose pipe at that mileage.
Please get all the hose pipe changed specially the inlet ones which takes the hot soot in the radiator.

[narendra.vw]

Remove the cat & do a trial run. Since it's turbo don't worry about noise. Not much is heard. If things are ok please clean or change the cat

[Rovergen]

Pls do check the injectors , if it is pre 2011 Linea it is a known problem that one of the injectors fails , with out any indication .
Millage and pick up drops are attributed injector and that explains the smoke too .

ASS would have already checked this but just in case , try to check turbo hoses for any leaks or cracks .

[wanderernomad]

I second what Rovergen has pointed out. Its surprising that injectors have not been checked? Also since CEL comes on it would trigger a fault code. Which code is generated?

[a4anurag]

Could there be a compression leak, low compression in the cylinders?

Anurag.

[dhanushs]

The symptoms you have mentioned point out to a Turbo/Boost related issue. However, as the CEL has come up, there will be a specific code as to why the light has come up.

Please ask the showroom guys for the code, post it here. You might be able to get more detailed help, as a lot has already been done.

[Travelbug]

Originally Posted by pdma

This should be a turbo charger (TC) issue.

I strongly feel that the TC in this case needs some through cleaning as it might have choked.I would also suggest that , you have them swap the current one with another turbo charger (may be from their test vehicle) to confirm. I read about a similar problem sometime back on another forum and the service center swapped the customers TC with a test vehicle TC and it worked .They eventually replaced the faulty TC.Kindly let me know the updates.

Thanks for this suggestion @PDMA,I'm going to service centre today and will ask them to do it straight away.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

The symptoms you have mentioned point out to a Turbo/Boost related issue. However, as the CEL has come up, there will be a specific code as to why the light has come up.

Please ask the showroom guys for the code, post it here. You might be able to get more detailed help, as a lot has already been done.

Sure @dhanushs, I'll ask them the code and post it here.

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

I second what Rovergen has pointed out. Its surprising that injectors have not been checked? Also since CEL comes on it would trigger a fault code. Which code is generated?

Originally Posted by Rovergen

Pls do check the injectors , if it is pre 2011 Linea it is a known problem that one of the injectors fails , with out any indication .
Millage and pick up drops are attributed injector and that explains the smoke too .

ASS would have already checked this but just in case , try to check turbo hoses for any leaks or cracks .

Thanks for this suggestion @Rovergen/@wanderernomad, I was not aware that pre 2011 models are having these issues although I asked them during one of my visit to check injectors and they told that Ideally that part should not be touch and car has run only 45K kms so injectors will be fine. Any more details as to how they can check the injectors or how to identify the faulty one?

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Travelbug

Any more details as to how they can check the injectors or how to identify the faulty one?

When the car's ECU is hooked to a OBD II reader it will read out the fuel Rail Pressure and if I am not wrong they can check for injection pressure attained.

Here is a screen shot of the Torque PRO app with Fiat Diagnostic Tool. It reads out fuel injection quantity, pilot injection quantity etc.



Anurag.

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by Travelbug

Any more details as to how they can check the injectors or how to identify the faulty one?

The code on OBD will show if its a injection related issue. Plus, they can also plug in a laptop and do engine tests which would also help in determining if the fault is mechanical or electrical.