Fabergé Greggs: Xsara won’t start and it’s all my fault

[Fabergé Greggs]

So here’s where we’re at with the fleet.. 

 

We have the X1/9 in storage in Essex. I can never sell this thing. 

 

We have the Saab in regular use. God I love it. 

 

We have the LML in regular use.. Such a usable thing. 

 

We have a spare LML. 

Two weeks ago, I did a ride to Essex. Had a lovely chat with top shiter @Jerzy Woking. 

I did a drive home in the new fleet addition. 

I got home to London, had some work meetings, packed the van full of toys and drove to Devon by 11pm. Having a modern van is ace! So fast, cruises down the motorway with so much grace.. Such an adventure wagon. 

Had a blissful weekend whizzing around South Devon’s beaches on the scooter. I spotted what I guess must be @holbeck's c15 in Sidmouth. 

Back in London I collected @jollyfkr2's Pk50. 

Then I got drunk that night, woke up, rode through a thunderstorm to view this. I’ve always wanted a proper old large frame. I was soaking and hungover and turned down what was quite a good price. A couple of days later the vendor texted to say I could have it for OMG MEGA BARG. I said yes, which caused all sorts of “I’ve got too many vehicles” style of panic. I sold the PK to @purplebargeken. I listed the spare LML on Facebook, got pissed off and withdrew it from sale. 

 

I picked the Sprint Veloce up this morning… Swoon. 

It had a resto in 2010 at North London’s Retrospective scooters (not cheap), but is now a bit beat up from regular use (no worries there). It has a later PX engine and 12v electrics.. perfect as a base for a useable daily. There’s some issues at the moment, the PO tried to sort an issue with the gears, so it maybe needs an engine rebuild, or it could be as simple as some cable and clutch adjustment. We’ll see…. 

 

TL:DR, Bought a van, bought loads of Vespas, freaking out cos no money. 

 

[purplebargeken]

You bloody hero.

[holbeck]

I can confirm the C15 is still in regular use in and around the town of Sidmouth.

[chaseracer]

23 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

You bloody hero.

This, times eleventy.  FABERGÉBULOUS!!

[Cavcraft]

Basically, you've just won Autoshite, quite probably forever.

[barrett]

Hey, nice Viv! The number of times I have been left without a single working vehicle except the work Vivaro man. That thing has got me out of a lot of scrapes and never really complains*. Hateful as a passenger (nowhere for legs to go) but it drives as well as any car I reckon, and pulls like a train. First vehicle I ever saw 100mph in was a Viv.

*apart from once, when I took my missus to Northampton for her birthday (don't ask) and didn't want to take the R16 (only working car at the time) in case it blew up and left us stranded, and the clutch on the Viv went on our way back near Bedford. Just cancelled my AA membership because I couldn't afford it. Had to re-join at some insane price and got back to London about 8 hours later. Fucking piece of shit van. Later realised I could have started it in fourth and limped back like that but jesus, that was a fun way of watching a relationship get taken right to brink of safety and back

[Fabergé Greggs]

Yeah the Vivaro is ace! I just love the feeling of having a van, you feel like you could do anything or go anywhere at any point. The high driving position is bloody great too. Aside from my Mk2 Jetta GTi, I think it's the fastest vehicle I've ever owned. 

The sudden ability to transport Vespas is dreamy and yet clearly problematic.. 

[Jim Bell]

A van full of Vespas is absolutely the right decision, no matter what the circumstances are.  

[loserone]

A large van load's worth of vespas just buzzed past here.  Wouldn't like to have to overtake them all at once!

[HMC]

Nice fleet!

#numberplate nerd FBY—-H is not that far away from the reg on the interceptor that breadvan used to own.

[HMC]

2 hours ago, Fabergé Greggs said:

dreamy and yet clearly problematic.. 

Just about sums up my association with cars full stop.

[Fabergé Greggs]

16 minutes ago, HMC said:

Nice fleet!

#numberplate nerd FBY—-H is not that far away from the reg on the interceptor that breadvan used to own.

Top nerding! 

[Fabergé Greggs]

The Vivaro came with a selection of missing or mismatched hubcaps. 
 

I’ve always wanted some moon discs on something and in a rare moment of serendipity a set went well cheap on eBay.. 

what do we reckon? Steels? Track down some normal hubcaps? Moon discs? 

[DoctorRetro]

51 minutes ago, Fabergé Greggs said:

The Vivaro came with a selection of missing or mismatched hubcaps. 
 

I’ve always wanted some moon discs on something and in a rare moment of serendipity a set went well cheap on eBay.. 

what do we reckon? Steels? Track down some normal hubcaps? Moon discs? 

How about those baby moon fakes like I had on my Mini? Bit pricey mind. 

 

[Tickman]

The moon discs look alright on that.

 

[Cavcraft]

Please, not moon discs.

[Jim Bell]

Definitely the moon disks 1000%

[fairkens]

11 hours ago, Jim Bell said:

Definitely the moon disks 1000%

+1

[Fabergé Greggs]

 

[Fabergé Greggs]

Bloody moderns eh? 
 

The glow plug light on the Vivaro is increasingly staying on all the time. It’s also becoming increasingly sensitive to labouring in higher gears which is throwing it into limp mode. It’s the 2.5 engine which I believe to be a Nissan unit. 
 

A quick squizz at some forums suggests a variety of things, with something simple like glow plugs or wiring being a possible cause- it suggests that the glow plugs need to stay on all the time... Who knew? If they are at fault then you get a growl between 1600-2300 revs which I think this does kind of do. 
 

I’m gonna need a code reader aren’t I? Can someone point me in the right direction? I’m gonna say it again: bloody moderns! 

[barrett]

The moons look good at least! If you wanted to get carried away you could put some body-coloured placca panels on the back for the tout argent look, or would that be too much?

[juular]

I've got a Trafic which is the same thing basically.

The glow plug light is like a surrogate EML, it doesn't relate to the actual glow plugs say, oh, 99% of the time.

My bet is on either a MAF, which these eat like doughnuts, or something on the boost / pressure sensing side. I see this is a 2.5 which is hen's teeth and I don't know my round this, but all of these era vans suffer from poor plugs that let water in on the sensors, and brittle wiring that can break mid cable run, so going round with a multimeter, a can of electrical cleaner and some gt85 is a good start. The vac tubes also get blocked with crap which can cause hesitation and turbo misbehaviour. They are known for boost pipe cracks and poor retaining clips so always worth a check there too.

MAF units must be genuine OEM as any aftermarket one just either throws a code or basically makes it run like a heap of shit with no code.

Great vans though, I've had 3 and loved every one. I now have a 2013 with all the toys and it's every bit as good as the best motorway barge whilst having a full camper layout in the back. They get a lot of stick for some reason but it's the only modern I've actually enjoyed driving in a long time. Get it fixed!

[juular]

On 7/30/2020 at 11:40 PM, barrett said:

First vehicle I ever saw 100mph in was a Viv.

 

Funny that, first ton I did was on the Autobahn in my Trafic. Cruise control set to 120, it sat happily in the left lane with the needle sat at 115 (presumably around a ton real life speed) wafting past the showoffs in their VW conversions. It was quiet too. 

Great vans.

[Fabergé Greggs]

11 hours ago, juular said:

Funny that, first ton I did was on the Autobahn in my Trafic. Cruise control set to 120, it sat happily in the left lane with the needle sat at 115 (presumably around a ton real life speed) wafting past the showoffs in their VW conversions. It was quiet too. 

Great vans.

The only time I’ve ever driven on an autobahn was in a hired Ford Transit. Not a quick one either- some lowly spec one with a low geared 5 speed box. From memory it was flat out and revving it’s bollocks off at about 85-90mph. 
 

I drove that flippin thing from Glasgow to Newcastle, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Lulea (we’re talking practically the artic circle by this point) and back again. I was raging that the hire place that usually gave me brand new vans had given me a total shitter for that trip. 
 

Anyway, back to the Vivaro: £12 Bluetooth OBD scanner ordered for delivery tomorrow, Car Scanner app downloaded. Naturally all this is happening whilst on holiday. In the rain. Yay. 

[Cavcraft]

12 hours ago, Fabergé Greggs said:

Bloody moderns eh? 
 

The glow plug light on the Vivaro is increasingly staying on all the time. It’s also becoming increasingly sensitive to labouring in higher gears which is throwing it into limp mode. It’s the 2.5 engine which I believe to be a Nissan unit. 
 

A quick squizz at some forums suggests a variety of things, with something simple like glow plugs or wiring being a possible cause- it suggests that the glow plugs need to stay on all the time... Who knew? If they are at fault then you get a growl between 1600-2300 revs which I think this does kind of do. 
 

I’m gonna need a code reader aren’t I? Can someone point me in the right direction? I’m gonna say it again: bloody moderns! 

 

Seem to recall there was an issue with wiring on these, was it something about it chafing somewhere and causing a short.  If these are the same pumps as in the Navara then from experience they do like a sodding good hammering on a regular basis, i.e not being driven at 20mph all day round an oil refinery.

 

Do these have the same daft design as the earlier 1.9 versions, where water ingress starts playing havoc with the injectors and general area and/or getting them out when needed? If so there's a 'cure' of removing the cover and lobbing silicon around it, at least according to a garage owner I spoke to recently

[Cord Fourteener]

12 hours ago, Fabergé Greggs said:

 

I’m gonna need a code reader aren’t I? Can someone point me in the right direction? I’m gonna say it again: bloody moderns! 

Mine was a £20 eBay special and it's worth its weight in gold, bird poo, platinum, plasma, anti hydrogen, un-corrupted politicians... (It's not very heavy but very useful. You get what I mean...)

[Fabergé Greggs]

1 hour ago, Cavcraft said:

 

Seem to recall there was an issue with wiring on these, was it something about it chafing somewhere and causing a short.  If these are the same pumps as in the Navara then from experience they do like a sodding good hammering on a regular basis, i.e not being driven at 20mph all day round an oil refinery.

 

Do these have the same daft design as the earlier 1.9 versions, where water ingress starts playing havoc with the injectors and general area and/or getting them out when needed? If so there's a 'cure' of removing the cover and lobbing silicon around it, at least according to a garage owner I spoke to recently

It’s deffo got the water ingress problem and the injectors are visibly rusty. On Jerzey’s advice I’ve been getting pre-emptively liberal with the plusgas. 
 

It’s been doing mostly motorway miles so shouldn’t be too clogged up.. 

[Cavcraft]

The Plusgas sounds a very good idea and will hopefully stop any future problems, especially if you can seal the area too. The bloke at the garage told me that the later 1.9s were the worst, seemingly the earlier ones with a belt (as opposed to chain) are easier to get the injectors out. Reckons they had a chain version in and they couldn't get the faulty injector out no matter what they did, a diesel injection place also tried and in the end they had to buy a brand new engine!

Hopefully yours will be just the wiring issue, something tells me there's a repair kit for them with a longer wiring extension, if I can remember where I saw it I'll send a link over. The 2.5 ones are quite highly rated and sought after, so all being well it's an easy fix for you. 

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

seemingly this is the 2.5 renner G engine not a nisssan one

[juular]

All vans prior to the phase 3 2012 build suffered from a scuttle that leaked onto the head. It was much worse if you had the windscreen replaced as the fitter broke the seal and rarely replaced it.  The fix is as simple as some foil tape or silicone.

The 1.9 and 2.5 while the injectors can get rusty from this it generally doesn't cause a major headache. You can often get them out by loosening the retaining nut and running the engine until it chuffs - bingo injector out. Obviously a very very bad idea and you will die in a fireball etc.

The big problem is on the phase 2 2006 to 2011 2.0 M9R where the head is shaped like a bucket and the injectors literally sit in a swimming pool for years until they break, and then they are completely welded in. They also block the head from coming off so you are looking at major surgery to get them replaced and it's often easier to get a new engine.

The 2012 onwards phase 3 2.0 M9R has a different head, injector cover and injectors, and the scuttle seal was improved. 

My money is on wiring or plugs.

There is a blue plug under the fuse box in the engine bay that sits with the wiring tight at a hard angle and it eventually chafes or works it's way out of the plug. Many people cut the plug off and solder the wires then shrink wrap. Eliminates a LOT of French style electrical randomness.