S80: Engine Problems won't go away. What else could there be?

[venomtail]

Had my mechanic go over the car again to see if something comes up. Nothing did and he said it seems like the last issue is software related since everything else checks out and only the dealership is able to do that.

Went to the dealership and agreed that they will do a full on "investigation" part by part, step by step. Gave them a list of everything that's been done to the car, like in this thread and they began work.

3h of work later, I get told that they have no results after trying various things and want some 3 more hours, yet they ask £130 for an hours work. I'm already at £390 and they want another £390 with the possibility and no guarantees of finding the issue with.

In the 3 hours, they removed my exhaust, checked EGR, checked timings and replaced the tensioner as well are reprogrammed the injectors just in case electronically there's something wrong. No change.

Next they want to check every single injectors (even when all but 1 of them work just fine) and want to check the swirl valves. I would likely go ahead with this except for the £130 an hour asking price. I'm looking at another £600 with no guarantee for a fix, so I guess it's time to save up again. A Scania dealership asks only £70 an hour. Don't understand where this £130 comes from.

In the meantime, I've taken the car home and maybe I'll takle this myself while saving up. I guess it's time for me to become an expert on D5 engines

Glad to know at least that the EGR valves, DPF filter, its sensors and timing are not to blame as they're working fine. Not everything's a waste.

Really excited forwards to what will happen in the next few months.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by venomtail

Had my mechanic go over the car again to see if something comes up. Nothing did and he said it seems like the last issue is software related since everything else checks out and only the dealership is able to do that.

Went to the dealership and agreed that they will do a full on "investigation" part by part, step by step. Gave them a list of everything that's been done to the car, like in this thread and they began work.

3h of work later, I get told that they have no results after trying various things and want some 3 more hours, yet they ask £130 for an hours work. I'm already at £390 and they want another £390 with the possibility and no guarantees of finding the issue with.

In the 3 hours, they removed my exhaust, checked EGR, checked timings and replaced the tensioner as well are reprogrammed the injectors just in case electronically there's something wrong. No change.

Next they want to check every single injectors (even when all but 1 of them work just fine) and want to check the swirl valves. I would likely go ahead with this except for the £130 an hour asking price. I'm looking at another £600 with no guarantee for a fix, so I guess it's time to save up again. A Scania dealership asks only £70 an hour. Don't understand where this £130 comes from.

In the meantime, I've taken the car home and maybe I'll takle this myself while saving up. I guess it's time for me to become an expert on D5 engines

Glad to know at least that the EGR valves, DPF filter, its sensors and timing are not to blame as they're working fine. Not everything's a waste.

Really excited forwards to what will happen in the next few months.

I really think you need to consider whether its time to count your losses with the car. Not to sound negative, but you've spent a fortune on it & it seems that you're no further on.

You'd be better off saving up & using the funds you do save towards another car, not putting it towards more repairs on this one.

That's my honest opinion.

[venomtail]

In a funny way now I'm now even more motivated than ever to get my car fixed. I'm learning about VIDA much more, learning more on the D5 engine and I feel like progress is being made, even when it's a money issue.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by venomtail

In a funny way now I'm now even more motivated than ever to get my car fixed. I'm learning about VIDA much more, learning more on the D5 engine and I feel like progress is being made, even when it's a money issue.

That's great with regards to the learning, but you could use those skills on another D5 that actually runs properly!

I just think you have to have a cut off point, with all cars. I honestly, in my opinion, feel that you were at that point a good while ago. You're attached to the car & I understand that, but you have to have a good think about this one...

All I hear is this costs hundreds, that costs hundreds, mechanic checked this & that... the dealership can't even find what's wrong with it! You've spent all this money for literally nothing in return.

I'm not trying to be negative here, I'm just offering you honest advice... No way would I spend any more time or money on this car.

Count your losses & move on.

I quote part of your original post at the beginning of this thread;

Originally Posted by venomtail

I've spent so much money on it I will never be able to sell it and even get a quater of the value. Kinda hopeless. But incase I have no other options but to sell it, what does a limp mode running S80 go for? £200? £300?

So why keep spending more & more on it?

Sorry, I fail to see the point.

[Laird Scooby]

I agree there has to be a point where you cut your losses and move on, if you do, i wouldn't buy another diesel. They have become over-complicated due to the "need" for reduced emissions. As i've tried pointing out to many, no matter what you do to diesel and whatever DPF, cat or anything else you hang on it to catch those harmful emissions, they still pollute badly.

This was demonstrated very well recently for me. I live in a rural area where most cars are petrol. Normally if i blow my nose, it's a fairly neutral sort of colour.
However a few days ago i ad to go out for something and the journey took me to busy towns on busy A-roads/motorways with a much higher concentration of diesel cars.
Blew my nose earlier and it came out black.

I firmly believe that's a direct result of those diesel fumes.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I agree there has to be a point where you cut your losses and move on, if you do, i wouldn't buy another diesel. They have become over-complicated due to the "need" for reduced emissions. As i've tried pointing out to many, no matter what you do to diesel and whatever DPF, cat or anything else you hang on it to catch those harmful emissions, they still pollute badly.

This was demonstrated very well recently for me. I live in a rural area where most cars are petrol. Normally if i blow my nose, it's a fairly neutral sort of colour.
However a few days ago i ad to go out for something and the journey took me to busy towns on busy A-roads/motorways with a much higher concentration of diesel cars.
Blew my nose earlier and it came out black.

I firmly believe that's a direct result of those diesel fumes.

I could well believe that Dave.

An interesting feature my Dad looks at on his phone is the air quality meter of the weather app (iPhone). Throughout the lockdowns, these figures plummeted (cars not on the road as much etc). No doubt, those figures will go back up.

I own a diesel Volvo... its the second diesel vehicle I've owned since I started driving. I do think a petrol would be a better choice for me next time. Although, the electric vehicles are coming into force in the not too distant future I imagine. I don't think they're as "green" as they're made out to be either... I'm not convinced.

Oh, this just sprung to mind (off topic, but so what!)... I've come across your posts on the forums a lot over my time on here. We've even had a few conversations on threads too (hopefully more frequent).

I'd just like to say that I enjoy your posts, the advice that you give etc.

[venomtail]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I agree there has to be a point where you cut your losses and move on, if you do, i wouldn't buy another diesel. They have become over-complicated due to the "need" for reduced emissions.

Very true. This was the first diesel ever in the family and will be the last one. And back then when we bought it, everyone was pushing for diesels and in reality "how bad can a diesel be?" The whole point of a diesel was its simplicity compared to petrol but now there are no advantages with all the disadvantages.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

I could well believe that Dave.

An interesting feature my Dad looks at on his phone is the air quality meter of the weather app (iPhone). Throughout the lockdowns, these figures plummeted (cars not on the road as much etc). No doubt, those figures will go back up.

I own a diesel Volvo... its the second diesel vehicle I've owned since I started driving. I do think a petrol would be a better choice for me next time. Although, the electric vehicles are coming into force in the not too distant future I imagine. I don't think they're as "green" as they're made out to be either... I'm not convinced.

Oh, this just sprung to mind (off topic, but so what!)... I've come across your posts on the forums a lot over my time on here. We've even had a few conversations on threads too (hopefully more frequent).

I'd just like to say that I enjoy your posts, the advice that you give etc.

I used to work on what were classed as agricultural diesels quite a few moons ago Kev and i always had black tissues! Being agricultural, the emissions control varied from none on the older stuff to starting to improve (but nowhere near cars limits at the time) on the new stuff. Putting a 100kW generator on a load bank (basically a giant fan heater) and dropping full load on it always created a big black cloud, ten times worse with a 1MW generator! Nice job for a cold winters day though having a 1MW fan heater keeping you warm!

I have to agree on BEVs, while clean at the point of use their green credentials during manufacture don't stack up. Saw a report recently that suggested most would take about 70k miles to "break even" on the zero-emissions amortising the carbon footprint from manufacture. By then they'd be getting to the point of replacement so nothing gained. Factor in that not all electric provided for charging these beasts comes from renewable energy and suddenly their impact on the environment is as bad, if not worse, than the ICE propelled cars.

I think they will have their time but will be brief as many companies are still researching other propulsion methods. Someone, somewhere will come up with something that is free (or nearly) to produce and gives us zero-impact on the environment propulsion. I think it will come from magnetism, let's face it, we live on a huge magnet so it's a case of harnessing that resource and using it for free energy.

As for air quality, i remember when we had the no fly zone because of the Icelandic volcano spouting ash into the air. The air quality improved immediately and remained good until they restarted using aircraft. Bear in mind that during lockdown we still had air freight coming in but not during the Icelandic volcano incident. Would be intersting to compare the air quality between the first lockdown when the roads were deserted and when the volcanic ash was floating around with all aircraft grounded! We still had car travel during the volcano episode so would give an intersting pointer as to which is more polluting.

Thanks, i've enjoyed a lot of your posts too.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I used to work on what were classed as agricultural diesels quite a few moons ago Kev and i always had black tissues! Being agricultural, the emissions control varied from none on the older stuff to starting to improve (but nowhere near cars limits at the time) on the new stuff. Putting a 100kW generator on a load bank (basically a giant fan heater) and dropping full load on it always created a big black cloud, ten times worse with a 1MW generator! Nice job for a cold winters day though having a 1MW fan heater keeping you warm!

I have to agree on BEVs, while clean at the point of use their green credentials during manufacture don't stack up. Saw a report recently that suggested most would take about 70k miles to "break even" on the zero-emissions amortising the carbon footprint from manufacture. By then they'd be getting to the point of replacement so nothing gained. Factor in that not all electric provided for charging these beasts comes from renewable energy and suddenly their impact on the environment is as bad, if not worse, than the ICE propelled cars.

I think they will have their time but will be brief as many companies are still researching other propulsion methods. Someone, somewhere will come up with something that is free (or nearly) to produce and gives us zero-impact on the environment propulsion. I think it will come from magnetism, let's face it, we live on a huge magnet so it's a case of harnessing that resource and using it for free energy.

As for air quality, i remember when we had the no fly zone because of the Icelandic volcano spouting ash into the air. The air quality improved immediately and remained good until they restarted using aircraft. Bear in mind that during lockdown we still had air freight coming in but not during the Icelandic volcano incident. Would be intersting to compare the air quality between the first lockdown when the roads were deserted and when the volcanic ash was floating around with all aircraft grounded! We still had car travel during the volcano episode so would give an intersting pointer as to which is more polluting.

Thanks, i've enjoyed a lot of your posts too.

Thanks for your comment regarding my posts, much appreciated.

That's an interesting point about the electric cars taking a while to "break even"... I didn't think of that. That could take a good while, across millions or even billions of cars!

I hope a new propulsion method is identified soon. As I said before, this whole electric scheme isn't "green" when you dig deep.

I was reading on some other forums, just as you mentioned pollution & I come across something that I'd like to mention to you...

Many people travelling on the underground in London claim to have black tissues when they blow their noses. A lot of that is brake dust from the trains when they slow down & its also due to the high levels of iron in the tunnels. Some even claimed that it got onto their clothes, like white shirts were getting dirty around the collars & cuffs!

Breathing that in a confined space can't be good!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

I was reading on some other forums, just as you mentioned pollution & I come across something that I'd like to mention to you...

Many people travelling on the underground in London claim to have black tissues when they blow their noses. A lot of that is brake dust from the trains when they slow down & its also due to the high levels of iron in the tunnels. Some even claimed that it got onto their clothes, like white shirts were getting dirty around the collars & cuffs!

Breathing that in a confined space can't be good!

I daresay there's a lot of carbon in it as well - fairly sure brushless motors are a relatively recent thing and therefore i would expect most of the electric motors powering the underground trains to be brushed - carbon is the common material for them.

Must admit though, i've never looked into the motors for electric/underground trains - they may be brushless these days but i daresay historicallly the had brushes.