Help needed! Broken down in 35C France... Turbocharger maybe??

[pappajohn]

That appears to be the starter motor¿

And the only thing behind that would be a dropped spanner!

 

[YoungDave]

Whilst I can can't see because of what what gus-lopez thinks is the starter motor, after an extended feel around I cannot feel the bit coming down from the black box in Lenny HB 's diagram

 

[royw]

Where are you located ? I live in france and can offer a workshop and pit for you to work in if nearby I am 30km south of Bergerac. Secure parking etc no cost to help a fellow..

 

[Steve and Denise]

I will bet money it is the drain off the condenser/oil separator back to the crank case.

Basically the black box collects the fumes from the top of the engine then separates the oil out and let’s the oil run back down to the sump.

 

[spitfire]

Where are you located ? I live in france and can offer a workshop and pit for you to work in if nearby I am 30km south of Bergerac. Secure parking etc no cost to help a fellow..

If he could tell us where he is as you say there must be one of us near

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[Just smiffy]

use a small mirror up there to see..

 

[Just smiffy]

If he could tell us where he is as you say there must be one of us near

He has..

 

[Lenny HB]

If he could tell us where he is as you say there must be one of us near

He is in the Massif Central, he posted a map in post #18

Edit:
I'm not as fast a Gary.

 

[spitfire]

He is in the Massif Central, he posted a map in post #18

Edit:
I'm not as fast a Gary.

He is a fair bit from us :-( We had a similar problem with our 1999 Fiat so will get back to you

 

[Bessy765]

If it’s around a 1973 Fiat it may well have a turbo, the cooler is on the nearside of the radiator it looks like the pipe from the inter cooler to the intake manifold.

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[pappajohn]

If it’s around a 1973 Fiat it may well have a turbo, the cooler is on the nearside of the radiator it looks like the pipe from the inter cooler to the intake manifold.

It's a 1995 but that pipe is far too small for an intercooler... Looks about 15mm to 20mm internal. I would expect at least 50mm

 

[YoungDave]

spitfire thanks so much for the offer. With relations with my better half getting too strained we are now on the back of a depannage. It's actually lovely to be able really enjoy the scenery - oh the passenger's life!!!

Some one will hopefully be attaching the breather tomorrow, I am sure for an extortionate sum. Thankfully our RAC cover is paying for the tow.

Would any French/French-speakjng FUNsters be able to tell me in French what we collectively think the problem/resolution is?

Thanks again so much everyone. The fun is a really special community to be a part of.

 

[klaatu]

We are about 200km to your NW. If your van is driveable that far, and you have no better options, I can at least offer you somewhere to park and another pair of eyes to look at the problem.

Edit: I see you are now in capable hands.

 

[WJACC]

spitfire thanks so much for the offer. With relations with my better half getting too strained we are now on the back of a depannage. It's actually lovely to be able really enjoy the scenery - oh the passenger's life!!!

View attachment 411243

Some one will hopefully be attaching the breather tomorrow, I am sure for an extortionate sum. Thankfully our RAC cover is paying for the tow.

Would any French/French-speakjng FUNsters be able to tell me in French what we collectively think the problem/resolution is?

Thanks again so much everyone. The fun is a really special community to be a part of.

Where did he say he was taking you? It wouldn't be a complete surprise if he didn't just take you off the motorway at the nearest exit....

 

[tacr2man]

A half decent mechanic should have that hose sorted in 1/2hour or less so dont let them get one over on you . What caused it to blow off is more of a concern . as it may be down to engine wear causing excess blow by !

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[YoungDave]

Thankfully WJACC to a VW garage where we can spend the night and they will look at it tomorrow - from what I can establish in my broken French!

 

[YoungDave]

Okay thanks for the advice tacr2man

Engine wear - does that mean looking at a new engine?

 

[YoungDave]

klaatu thank you so much for the offer nonetheless

 

[The Coops]

If you are struggling I have some friends about 40km from you who might be able to give you a drive to rest on, hes not a mechanic but a fantastic chef! So it might be a win win! Let me know if you need a driveway and I will contact them to see if they will accommodate you while the problem is sorted

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

A half decent mechanic should have that hose sorted in 1/2hour or less so dont let them get one over on you . What caused it to blow off is more of a concern . as it may be down to engine wear causing excess blow by !

Seems to be lots of jubilee clips on the various hoses in the photos, sometimes not the best clips to use, but as the loose open hose has a jubilee clip still attached it looks as though its just popped off. Can't be that difficult to put it back to the correct location, when it's viewed on a garage ramp

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[dunnah01]

I doubt the engine would really notice a dislodged breather pipe beyond covering something in oil mist. It sounds much more like high turbo boost blowing the pipe off. It's too small for the main inlet pipework but could well provide a pneumatic signal to another component. The mechanic needs to check the wastegate actuator is functioning correctly and not allowing overboost.

 

[spitfire]

Was just about to reply as we are just home ourselves from our concessionaire!
Glad you are sorted . Can give you my phone number if you have problems with the garage . My french is pretty ok but technical less so but usually get there lol Hubby is an engineer but his french is not as good as mine !
Usually the garage allow you stay at their place so if they don’t offer ask .

 

[YoungDave]

AC/DC that is an incredibly kind offer. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon we'll be on our way again, but I'll keep that in mind. Thank you.

Jimbohorlicks yep, fingers crossed. Out of interest what's better to use? All the jubilees were present when I purchased the van but maybe I can slowly replace...

dunnah01 thanks - I will try to get that across in my best French...!

spitfire thank you - maybe if you could send that to me that'd be handy (just in case!) - thank you!

 

[spitfire]

AC/DC that is an incredibly kind offer. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon we'll be on our way again, but I'll keep that in mind. Thank you.

Jimbohorlicks yep, fingers crossed. Out of interest what's better to use? All the jubilees were present when I purchased the van but maybe I can slowly replace...

dunnah01 thanks - I will try to get that across in my best French...!

spitfire thank you - maybe if you could send that to me that'd be handy (just in case!) - thank you!

Have sent in a message Where are they taking you to ? Good luck

 

[lunarman]

Thankfully WJACC to a VW garage where we can spend the night and they will look at it tomorrow - from what I can establish in my broken French!

If you are having a problem understanding the French perhaps a call out to yodeli could help. Frankie has helped a number of stranded funsters in the past she is hailed as a star.

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[YoungDave]

Thanks lunarman - I'll drop Frankie a note !

 

[Canyon904]

Seems to be coming out of the crankcase, so probably breather hose, as noted above, start engine & put hand over it, if it blows air and a mist of oil, it is a breather hose. Why it blew off could be the ambient temp plus age or something much more serious, such as dropped a piston ring, you would know if a piston was holed as it would be only running on 3 cyls. Motor having no go is worrying cos a breather hose off should not affect performance.

 

[Steve and Denise]

Seems to be coming out of the crankcase, so probably breather hose, as noted above, start engine & put hand over it, if it blows air and a mist of oil, it is a breather hose. Why it blew off could be the ambient temp plus age or something much more serious, such as dropped a piston ring, you would know if a piston was holed as it would be only running on 3 cyls. Motor having no go is worrying cos a breather hose off should not affect performance.

It might if it’s dumped all the oil and the op in their own words said they are not mechanical

 

[Ninjabob]

Looks to me like crankcase breather pipe that probably connects directly to this weird box

Not neccesarily the exact same engine type but looks promising.

 

[YoungDave]

***UPDATE: THE SAGA CONTINUES***

Good morning FUNsters. Hope you're all well and had a good night.

Posting an update as to how we've got on from last night until now. The skinny is that the problem is not resolved, so if anyone has any further ideas following the below they would again be really appreciated.

1. Decent night's kip in the garage forecourt
2. Got seen by the mechanic at 08:10 - pleasantly surprised
3. Conveyed that perhaps the missing hose was the reniflad de carter - crankcase breather - attaching to "the black box", showing the mechanic pictures of same/similar engines kindly shared by Ninjabob and Just smiffy
4. Van goes up on the ramp - the mechanics re-attach the loose hose to the black box, €87 and some paperwork later - off I merrily go.

When I get to the first 8% incline - of which there are many, I, unfortunately, find the same problem is persisting.

After speaking to RAC European Assistance, they currently expect it will be hard to find a mechanic to reassess the problem due to the holidays, this may take some days. At present we are not sure. The garage that completed the failed repair also cannot fit us in for 15 days to run further diagnostics.

As such, this may have to be a case of find a way to repair myself come hell or high water. Hence this post.

Firstly, to have another go at describing the problem when driving:

- On the flat I can gain speed, moderately less effectively than usual, with my typical gear changes on the nose of 20/30/40 mph to conserve fuel.
- Uphill - I gradually lose speed, ultimately managing 20mph/30kph on an 8% incline in 3rd gear without losing speed.
- Sound - typically when giving the accelerator some welly, a reassuring roar comes out (I think from the turbo). Instead, I the sound is like a gentle hiss.

In relation to a previous comment it definitely does has a turbo. Helpfully I have found one of the same engines that is in the van on ebay -<Broken link removed>.

As a recap, yesterday we got these pictures of similar engines. The crankcase breather needed to reattach to the bottom left of "The Black Box". After looking around and having a good feel, I couldn't find any connection in that location to reattach the hose to.

The garage, seemingly also couldn't as they attached the hose to another piece of hose, and attached that to a separate point on the black box. To clearly describe this, I have sketched out what they did.

What they did

The red hose is the loose hose. We think this should've connected to Point B. Point B is really obscured/inaccessible - assuming it in fact does exist! What they noticed (they showed me) was that point C was missing a hose. Explained that a piece was missing, and proceed to make and fit a further piece of hose connecting the first hose, via a new hose, to Point C.

Point C is clearly visible (also missing a hose) on the Engine pic from eBay below.

Engine pic from eBay

In Engine pic 2 below, a hose is present - connected to Point C - going somewhere out of shot.

Engine pic 2

Now sat here in the shade of an abandoned shop, my best diagnosis is that:

1.The Black Box blew hoses of BOTH Point B and Point C in my diagram when the problem occurred yesterday
2. I now have a hose that should be connected to Point B, incorrectly connected via another hose to Point C

Given this, what I now need to work out (assuming this issue is the full extent of my driveability problem), is:

3. Where Point B is. Perhaps I lost a component on the road, but for love nor now money can I find the place where that hose should attach.
4. Where the hose that should be connected to Point C is - and where it connects to

I'll keep you all abreast of updates as I continue to try to solve the problem - just writing this down has helped actually - but once again any and all suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks FUNsters and all the best,
YoungDave

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