craig1410
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 posted on 9/2/06 at 10:31 AM |
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Diesel pre-heater faulty on my Alhambra - What is it?
Hi,
I am in a state of shock having been quoted £656 by Seat to fix my Alhambra which appears to have a fault with the diesel pre-heater. I was just
wondering if anyone out there has had any similar experiences with VW/Audi/Seat diesel cars.
The symptoms are clouds of steamy smoke (ie. a mixture of steam and smoke which hangs in the air a bit longer than pure steam and stinks of diesel)
shortly after starting the car and intermittently occuring when stationary along the journey. It is quite alarming when a cloud of smoke envelopes the
car at traffic lights and frightens the life out of passers-by who think you are on fire...
The smoke is coming from what I understood to be a diesel powered water heater located under the back seat on the nearside. It has a short exhaust
pipe which exits under the vehicle around the rear axle. When running it sounds a bit like a turbine which I guess is the pump.
Any ideas on how this is designed to work and if I have any alternative other than pay the £656 to have it replaced? There is no Haynes manual
available for the Alhambra...
Cheers,
Craig.
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ned
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| posted on 9/2/06 at 10:52 AM |
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Craig,
Is there no haynes available for the equivalent badge engineered model?
Isn't the alhambra the same as the vw sharon or the fordgalaxy (do they still make them?!)
My dad has a skoda which there is no haynes for, he uses the book from vw version of the car and its nearly all the same.
hope this helps..
Ned.
beware, I've got yellow skin
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craig1410
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| posted on 9/2/06 at 10:57 AM |
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Ned,
Unfortunately they don't do a Sharan manual either and the Ford Galaxy is quite different since it is a Ford engine and completely different
wiring system (which has a habit of catching fire apparently).
Thanks for the suggestion though.
Craig.
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muzchap
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| posted on 9/2/06 at 11:46 AM |
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Can you bypass it?
I doubt it gets cold enough here for Diesel to freeze... couldn't you just bypass it and cut the power to it?
Just a suggestion?
Or ring Traynors on: 01476 563756
These guys are the biggest breakers around and will prob be able to help you out... They are very reasonable too. I paid £60 for a BMW E46 Door,
everywhere else wanted £120
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If you believe you're not crazy, whilst everybody is telling you, you are - then they are definitely wrong!
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pbs
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| posted on 9/2/06 at 02:14 PM |
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Craig,
You sure that the Ford has a different engine to the Alhambra? As far as I was aware the diesels are are all VW units in all three cars.
Have you tried getting a quote from a Ford garage anyway as they may have cheaper labour rates than Seat.
Also on the off chance try Bridgend garage in Auchileck he may have the part you are looking for.
Build your own sports car for £250 my ar5e!!
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Danozeman
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| posted on 9/2/06 at 05:17 PM |
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All 3 1.9 diesels are the same engines.
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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craig1410
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| posted on 9/2/06 at 05:39 PM |
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Well I've made some progress since my last post. I found the SeatEnthusiasts website with an article on this very problem
here
This pointed me to a Ford Galaxy forum which you can see here
From reading these articles it appears that it might just be the glow plug on the booster heater which is causing the heater to flameout placing
unburnt fuel into the exhaust. Then when the heater does ignite, it burns away the excess diesel causing the smoke.
Anyway, the part number of the glow plug is 7D0 963 319 and it only costs £23.99 from one of the VW dealers in Ayr. I should get it on Saturday so
hopefully will be able to fit it at the weekend. It should only take a couple of hours to remove the heater and replace the glow plug and,
finger's crossed, that will fix the problem!
I phoned the Seat dealer to cancel my appointment and they said that they only repair this fault by replacing the entire unit and don't do
component level diagnosis or repair. Someone somewhere must be making a mint from reconditioning these things!!
Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I'll let you know how I get on.
Cheers,
Craig.
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wilkingj
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| posted on 9/2/06 at 10:52 PM |
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I have an Eberspascher heater on my Landy.. Jet engine noise is perfectly normal.
I get a whif of diesel and smoke when firing up.
Normally it starts slow with a blow though (Purging itself to prevent an explosion etc) to clear the system and have a known mixture in the
chamber.
Then I get a ticking... Thats the pump and igniter clicking.
Poof Of diesely smelling white smoke, which clears fairly quickly.
The the turbine noise increased as it fires up fully.
Mines a water heater, and pumps water round the engine (leccy pump). This also starts slow, ie to get the water moving without buggering up the
pump.
It all gets faster untill running at full speed.
Its smackeroo of a heater. 4kw output.
A bit Smelly (if diesel), and noisy..
Pisses off everyone in the carpark when going home as my Landy is warmed up, and windows defrosted when I come out of the office, as I have it on a
timer!. 
Mine was £880 fitted some 4 years ago.
Good but not cheap.
Mine a D4W, thats Deisel, 4Kw, and Water. they do a hot air version as well, but it wont pre heat the engine water.
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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craig1410
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| posted on 9/2/06 at 11:38 PM |
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Hi Geoff,
Thanks for your input, I accept that the jet engine noise and a small amount of smoke is normal but there is no way on earth that what it did this
morning was normal... It frightened the life out of both me and the passers-by outside my Children's school !
Even though I knew the car wasn't on fire I was still instinctively alarmed by it. I just hate drawing up at traffic lights now because
sometimes it billows smoke and other times it is fine. You can see people sitting in their cars looking around nervously wondering who is on fire!!
The good thing about the Galaxy website I gave you the link to above is that it has a complete pictorial procedure showing how to remove, disassemble
and reassemble the unit. Without that I would not have been comfortable messing about with a diesel combustion heater due to the safety aspects. I
just hope that it does indeed turn out to be the glow plug which is the cause...
Cheers,
Craig.
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 15/3/06 at 07:45 PM |
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Any news Craig? have a similar problem
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craig1410
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| posted on 15/3/06 at 08:11 PM |
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Hi,
Sorry, I thought I had updated the thread already with the good news that it was indeed just the glow plug which needed changing.
I followed the procedure detailed in the Galaxy website mentioned earlier in the thread and it took about 3 hours in total from start to finish. This
would have been about half that time but it was a horrible day and I was messing about with some plastic sheeting trying to keep the rain off. This
was destroyed by the wind and I ended up ducking in and out of the house between rain showers.
When I re-assembled the unit and started up the car I did get a fair amount of smoke to begin with but I think this was just unburnt fuel in the
little exhaust from the previous flameouts. Once this burned off I never saw any more smoke and the unit is working just fine to this day!
The unit is a bit fiddly to get out from under the car and you need to be gentle to avoid straining any electrical cables, fuel hoses or water hoses
but just take it slow and steady and you'll be fine. It's a job that would be a complete doddle if the car was up on a ramp or lift as you
would be able to see better and get better access but I just did it in my drive with the car on a trolley jack and with a block of wood as a safety
stop. The torx screws could be a problem on older cars but were okay on my 2002 car. Just make sure you clean out the heads with a pin or similar to
ensure complete engagement with the bit before you try to slacken them.
I could waffle on for hours but I'll stop there and leave it to you to ask me anything else you want to know.
Cheers,
Craig.
[Edited on 15/3/2006 by craig1410]
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