Please help ? We have only had our camper van , since last June , runs on petroleum / Gas , dual fuel , before Xmas , my partner was driving it & it seemed to go into slow mode , and couldn’t get above 30 mph , so drive home , ever since , it turns over after , charging up battery , but won’t start , is with a mechanic , at the moment, but he can’t find problem, also can’t find diagnostic port , where it is supposed to be , can anyone , help RAC been out , put on new battery , still wouldn’t start& my mechanic doesn’t think it’s the starter, any ideas , thx , Lou .
if your mechanic was any good he would know its highly unlikely anything of that age would have a diagnostic port and he will have to rely on basic training! i.e fuel, carbs, points battery etc etc
I would suggest you need to find a mechanic that knows the T25. They do not have a diagnostic port and the mechanic looking for one tells me he hasn’t got a clue about these old vans. Where about are you based? I may be able to recommend someone as I have a 1985 1.9 Petrol T25 myself.
Was it running on petrol or lpg when the problem occurred, and are you trying to start it on petrol or lpg?
Is it a 2.1 or 1.9 engine? Is it turning over and not firing or not turning over at all? If it is turning over I would start by replacing the inline fuel filter (should be under the van on the drivers side) and change the distributor cap and rotor arm. There are a few other bits to check but it will depend on whether it is a 2.1 injection or 1.9 carburettor model.
If your "mechanic" whips out a plug he will be able to tell if there is fuel getting through or if a spark is present (assuming he isn`t utterly clueless, but it sounds like that may be a dangerous assumption.....).
If there is fuel and a spark I`d be checking the timing, which could explain the sudden lack of power and the inability to start if there is fuel and a spark.
This unit is also particular about anti-freeze, using the `wrong` sort can corrode the head studs, leading to gasket failure and the associated problems.
Ok, in that case definitely change the fuel filter as a starting point. Check that you are getting power to the fuel pump and if so you then need to make sure that the fuel pump itself is actually delivering fuel. The whole procedure is described in the Haynes manual for this as it’s a bit longwinded to explain in here. If you are not confident doing this stuff yourself then you need someone to look at it that properly knows these vans as people that don’t can do more harm than good. I’ve used Peter Teather at Dubs on the Fritz a few times and he is excellent. He is mobile rather than having a workshop so comes to you. Be worth seeing if he would come out to you but may be a bit far as he is based in Dunmow, be worth a try though.
lpg fuelled vehicles will not start on lpg, they need petrol on initial ignition. if the lpg valve is stuck open then it wont start. i would start by isolating the lpg supply and treat it as a pure petrol engine and work back from there. as the vehicle is that old, i assume it has a valve saver fluid reservoir to top up (flash lube etc). it wont stop the vehicle from starting but it will ensure no engine damage is done by daily running on lpg.
i agree with other posters re a decent mechanic. in this case dont treat it as a motorhome, its a vw van/engine that just happens to be kitted out as a motorhome!
if you are starting on lpg the vapouriser can freeze if its not being heated by the engine coolant and has damaged/blocked your petrol injectors - so it wont then start on either lpg or petrol. your symptoms re poor running/stuttering suggest your injectors may be blocked or damaged.
check out go-lpg.co.uk/Do_I.html
if you have been starting it on lpg since june then you may have damaged the injectors by doing it,
i have had several lpg vehicles over the years and have prob done over 150k miles on dual fuel lpg vehicles. never had a problem starting on petrol before they automatically switched over to lpg, like the systems are designed to do so .....
so, have you got it started yet? there are a few excellent suggestions above, but any decent mechanic would be doing what those suggestions are anyway and to eliminate all possibilities
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