Technical Speedo/engine management

[Brian snail]

Hi, coming home today the speedo packed up and engine management light came on in red, everything else worked fine and engine ran as normal, only 30 mins from home so didn't stop till home, after a restart on the drive same issuse only preheaters now flash for a while then stop checked all fuses in nearside box all good? Any ideas?

2005 ducato x244 2.8jtd heavy chassis
Thanks Brian

 

[Communicator]

Hi Brian,

My immediate reaction is F11 blown. F11 is in the engine bay fusebox, with the main input cable and larger maxi fuses to your right, F11 is t,hird in from top LH corner. Rating is 15A, coded blue. A commoni cause of F11 blowing is a failure of the oil vapour heater, which in the UK may be unplugged without serious problem. To find the heater first locate the NRV which tees into the air filter outlet. Follow the smaller blowby pipe towards the engine. The heater is teed into this pipe, with the connector on the lower side of the pipe. Best view is from underneath the vehicle, oil vapour heater is in top RH corner of attached photo.

 

[Brian snail]

Hi Brian,

My immediate reaction is F11 blown. F11 is in the engine bay fusebox, with the main input cable and larger maxi fuses to your right, F11 is t,hird in from top LH corner. Rating is 15A, coded blue. A commoni cause of F11 blowing is a failure of the oil vapour heater, which in the UK may be unplugged without serious problem. To find the heater first locate the NRV which tees into the air filter outlet. Follow the smaller blowby pipe towards the engine. The heater is teed into this pipe, with the connector on the lower side of the pipe. Best view is from underneath the vehicle, oil vapour heater is in top RH corner of attached photo.

Thanks for your reply will check that tomorrow, we had a strong smell of hot oil after stopping the engine a couple of times on a recent trip, no smoke or loss of oil, smelt more like gear oil? Could that be related to the vapour thingy?
Thanks Brian

 

[Anthony489]

Hi Brian

I don't have all the data for the X244, but two possibilities spring to mind.

In the Engine bay Fuse Box is F11, which runs a number of components under the heading "Electronic Injection Secondary Services". These are mostly to do with emissions control, and the engine will run without them but will flag an error light. One of these components is the "Oil Vapour Heater" or "Blowby Heater", a small PTC resistive heater which stops ice formation in the breather hoses in very cold climates. This can go short circuit and pop F11, which will take everything else down. Fiat also decided to run the road speed sensor (K084) from this supply. This may have been so that the driver would notice if F11 blew, as the speedo would stop working ! I suggest you check F11, and disconnect and ignore the Oil Vapour Heater (2 pin connector) unless you live in the North of Sweden.

The other possibility is that the road speed sensor (mounted on the gearbox) has gone faulty. It also supplies a signal to the ECU, but this is probably not essential for the engine to run though its absence may trigger a warning light.

Edit: Post overlapped with Communicator

 

[Communicator]

Hi Brian,

A short time before your first post on this thread, I had taken a picture of the road speed sensor for my library. The sensor is near the exhaust pipe, so there is the possibility that any oil leak in this area could result in small quantities of oil reaching the exhaust pipe.

I have now extracted the sensor picture from my camera, and I will attach it along with my own diagram of the engine bay fusebox, which I have had to tweak and convert to pdf.

 

[Brian snail]

Communicater and Anthony thanks for your tips, so far found fuse blown, replaced it, disconnected oil vapour heater as advised, now restarting the engine the fuse is now ok, only still have the management light on and heater plug light flashing, not driven it to check speedo as on ramps at the moment.

Will I have to get it plugged in to clear the faults or is there a way round it? Don't have any diagnostic kit

Not had much time as BIL funeral today

 

[Communicator]

Brian,
I fortunately have yet to experience an EML on my x244, but if everything is OK, EML should go out when the engine is started. However it is quite possible that the ECU needs to see a signal from the speedometer sensor via the instrument panel, before the alarm is cleared.

In general stored alarms are indicated by the EML remaining illuminated until the engine is started. If the EML remains on, you have an active alarm. Not sure about the thermal starter light, but both fuel valve, and glow plug relay are supplied via F11.

On delivery the thermal starter light on my x244 flashed at startup. No apparent problems, and fixed under warranty. Attached are eLearn based drawings from my library, also for general interest, a link to "Motor Roam" where the operation of the cold starting system is described.

Please post eventual outcome.

 

[Anthony489]

Hi Brian

I don't know if it applies to your vehicle, but with some Fiats if a fault condition goes away then after a number of engine stops and starts (e.g. 6) the warning lamp no longer shows. The fault codes still remain logged in memory until such time as they are cleared via the diagnostics connector (OBD port).

I therefore suggest that in the first instance you just drive your vehicle normally for a few days, and with luck the warning light will eventually go out. Would still be a good idea to get the fault codes cleared before too long.

 

[Brian snail]

Anthony and Communicated great thanks for your expert help all good now, so to sum up f11 fuse replaced, oil vapour heater disconnected put cable in a plastic bag and cable tied up out of the way, several engine restarts still had fault lights on, but short drive round the block and eml out and speedo now ok
Thank You very much guys, great advice Brian

 

[sliderr]

Hi i think i have the same issue, can you advise where exactly this Oil Vapour Heater is located so i can disconnect it and test.

 

[Communicator]

Hi,
See attached view taken from below. Otherwise trace the outlet hose from the oil vapour separator, which connects to the air filter outlet via a non return valve (NRV). The heater is teed into this hose with the electrical connector facing downwards.
Given that you are in Sweden, the heater may be necessary in your colder winters.

Alan

 

[KennethFiat]

Hi Brian,

My immediate reaction is F11 blown. F11 is in the engine bay fusebox, with the main input cable and larger maxi fuses to your right, F11 is t,hird in from top LH corner. Rating is 15A, coded blue. A commoni cause of F11 blowing is a failure of the oil vapour heater, which in the UK may be unplugged without serious problem. To find the heater first locate the NRV which tees into the air filter outlet. Follow the smaller blowby pipe towards the engine. The heater is teed into this pipe, with the connector on the lower side of the pipe. Best view is from underneath the vehicle, oil vapour heater is in top RH corner of attached photo.

Thank you for a great help!! I save a lot of time not watching diagrams