[craig2859]

Very stange one this, my 330d which I have owned for nearly 3 months now has only really done short Journies so far, ie a few mile each day and maybe a 20 mile trip out once a weekend, due to it having a few faults previous etc.


Anyway last night I took it out for a decent run with the family which was about 60 miles.

It drove fine for about 25 mile or so, and then it had a loss of power - ie no response from the throttle at all, it just sat on idle ....... however it only happened for no more than 5 secs (which meant I only slowed down, did not even have to stop), and then it was back to normal and never reoccured for the whole Journey .... in fact I forgot about it until this morning to be honest.



Any ideas ?

There where no warning lights or anything, just a 5 sec loss of throttle response !!


I dont suppose this could be due to its first decent run out in a while and the particle filter could it?




.

[Dr Dave]

Did the MIL lamp come on at all??

Any faults would be 'remembered' by the ECU.

[SiKkBaSs]

Dunno if you want to take this advice or not. Pick a night and really hammer her out a bit. Carlos is an advocate of this. Cleans her out good and proper.

[zltm089]

get it checked....those engine warning lights r a nightmare!!!

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by SiKkBaSs

Dunno if you want to take this advice or not. Pick a night and really hammer her out a bit. Carlos is an advocate of this. Cleans her out good and proper.

Also known as an "Italian Tuneup!"

[craig2859]

Originally Posted by zltm089

get it checked....those engine warning lights r a nightmare!!!

#

There was no warning lights whatsoever, it was so brief ie 5 secs I barely slowed down tbh, and its not come back since.


I am thinking of taking it for a good blast though - to visit a friend in Southampton which is a 3 hour round trip, now its had the alternator done, at least I know it won't die on me !!

[MIKEYBMW1]

Famous last words Buddy

[craig2859]

Originally Posted by MIKEYBMW1

Famous last words Buddy

I have been cursed !!!

Started her up this morning to go to work, and I have a whole list of warning lights including reduced power warning ......... exactly the same as it was prior to the new alternator being fitted


Car needs to go back in yet again to be looked at ..... its got a new alternator, and all the work is under warranty of course, but its really grinding me down now, there must be some underlying electrical fault.

[MIKEYBMW1]

Oh no ,I really feel for you mate, hope you get this sorted ,nothing worse is there .

[zltm089]

Originally Posted by craig2859

#

There was no warning lights whatsoever, it was so brief ie 5 secs I barely slowed down tbh, and its not come back since.


I am thinking of taking it for a good blast though - to visit a friend in Southampton which is a 3 hour round trip, now its had the alternator done, at least I know it won't die on me !!

seeee...told u , there wud be warning lights! ;-) ....and they are a nightmare!!!

[craig2859]

Yep - and I think this could be an ongoing issue !!

[craig2859]

Ok I keep getting the reduced power warning coming on now, no other warning lights.

It comes on a lot now, and when it does come on there is no throttle response at all it just sits at idle, and then 5 secs later you can rev it fine.

The car itself is not running rough, and it sounds fine.

When it went in last time, it has a new alternator fitted, new rocker cover gasket, new inlet boost pipe, new air filter.

Its a 06 330d.

Its going in on thursday to be looked at, but is there any areas you guys think it may be, either common faults or in relation to the stuff thats been done listed above !!

Fuel Pump ?
Vanos?
Software upgrade / Reset ?
DSC


Any ideas thoughts appreciated, as this car is not under warranty and I want to make sure I don't plow loads of money into parts which "maybe" causing it ?

Just took it for a quick 6 mile - Thrash, and it happened in total 5 times, light flashed on briefly (reduced power warning) - loss of power, 5 secs later power on as normal, and then the whole thing again, etc, etc.




A bit of "pre-knowledge" always helps too, before you get your eyes torn out by mechanics



Thanks

[Dr Dave]

Fuel Pump ? Doubtful, but possible I guess.
Vanos? Not fitted to your car nor any other diesels
Software upgrade / Reset ? Again, very doubtful
DSC - No


Any ideas thoughts appreciated, as this car is not under warranty and I want to make sure I don't plow loads of money into parts which "maybe" causing it ?

Something on the engine management side of thigs is where my money would be. A fairly simple fault code trail analysis should be able to point you in the right direction.

[craig2859]

Thanks Dave, I took it for a spin and turned OFF the DSC/DTC, and it did not change anything at all.


Hopefully it will be something "small"

But knowing my luck with this car, I doubt it !!

in nearly 3 months, its had over a £1k of work done on it (not all paid by me however only half)


.

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by craig2859

Thanks Dave, I took it for a spin and turned OFF the DSC/DTC, and it did not change anything at all.

Oh god not that old chestnut again!!!!

[craig2859]

haha, it was worth a try to tick it off so to speak.


If this problem - ie the reduced warning light only flicks on and then goes off and its not stored as a fault in your check control list at all, will it still be picked up when I take the car in, or it will be one of those things where unless the fault is actually there it can't be diagnosed?

Will the car store all the times it "flashed" up with a fault code?

Bear in mind I am not taking it to a Dealer but a BMW Specialist, who do have all the correct diagnostic equipment.


Could it be the DPF Needs replacing? Its just had a new air filter (as the old one was black), and the car is on 119k mileage now?

How do know if its regenerating at all ??


.

[yatin c]

no idea what it could be, but hope its not too painful on the wallet.

i do think the more clever cars we go for, the more problems we could encounter. might have to go for something simple, that does single figure mpgs, and high co2 emissions in the future!

[F104]

a wild shot, check item 3 at the end of your boost pipe (hope i've got the right model) . When you pull the boost pipe off it is likely closed. Gently rotate the valve open with your fingers and see what kind of a mess you have behind it (front side will be clean) . Maybe valve is nearly stuck in gunk and electric motor is struggling to open it from idle position
If so can can push it open and then pull the electrical connector off, so it stays open, just to test if it then behaves better

[craig2859]

Thats interesting as it has just had a new Boost pipe fitted, in the Jobs I had done prior ??

I took it out tonight for a blast, as when I drove to work this morning it was fine.

I drove it for 54 miles with no problems, and then it started again, on and off. By the time I had got home after 75 miles, it had happened about 4 times at irregular times.



.

[F104]

yes i noticed boost pipe was replaced, don't think it's directly related but do wonder why it was replaced?
My thinking is if engine runs fine most of the time it has to be irregular failure of one component. If this throttle valve doesn't open in time there might be some logic that stops fuelling the engine too as it knows it can't get enough air.

But like i said, a guess but maybe worth looking at. PS engine will/should run fine with this valve manually wide open (it's there to assist EGR rates), might kick up one more fault code but you have plenty already I guess

[craig2859]

Just got back from the Garage, and it seems as though the computer was throwing up a number of Throttle pedal potentiometer faults, which is designed to stop runaway throttle etc, so its looking like a new one of those ... £86 + VAT and fitting.

Job being done on Friday 13th .... as I am away until Thursday night.


Lets hope this IS the fault !!


Is it worth reseting the throttle just to see what happens, ie the adaptive throttle, Ign ON - Hold down throttle for 60 secs ... does this actually work, and make the throttle more "crisp".


From what I have heard it adapts to your style of driving .... if so I have been driving like an old man in it for a while now, due to the problems its had, and it needs to be out driving how it should be


.

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by craig2859

Is it worth reseting the throttle just to see what happens, ie the adaptive throttle, Ign ON - Hold down throttle for 60 secs ... does this actually work, and make the throttle more "crisp".


From what I have heard it adapts to your style of driving .... if so I have been driving like an old man in it for a while now, due to the problems its had, and it needs to be out driving how it should be


.

This method of resetting the throttle adaptation values does not work on the E9x cars. The only way of doing this is via a programming tool like a BavTech, Autologic, or BMW GT1