Navara D22 - Engine malfunction light

[vcbb]

In travelling up the top end of oz, on the corrugated roads, my engine warning light has come on many times. Sometimes I get a flat spot below 2k revs.
The manual suggests it is either water in the fuel filter or a MAJOR problem. I have bled the fuel filter, (mostly air??), then it is alright for a couple huindred k's?
Any ideas?
Brian

[Peter @ Aawen4x4]

If you are getting air out of the fuel system every time you bleed it (or even just once, really) then you NEED TO FIND OUT WHERE IT'S GETTING IN!! The air in the fuel system, especially if it is a fair whack, will be more than enough to set off the engine malfunction light AND it'll give you a really flat flat spot below 2,000 revs. Basically it means that the injector pump can't pump fuel until it's moved all that air, and while it's doing that, it'll be spinning uselessly, probly not able to suck anything but air until it gets up over the 2,000 revs!

The fact that it's taking a couple of hundred k's between events is a worry, that's NOT very long time in the real scheme of things. Look for perished fuel lines, or loose joints, or even loose pick-up cover plates on the fuel tank! Do you have an aftermarket fuel tank fitted? Check that the plate over the pick-up & sender unit is firmly bolted down. One place that often gets missed is the return hose from the injector line between the injectors back down to the pump. That hose often perishes but isn't noticed because it is under all sorts of things, like the inlet manifold, the back of the pump, all the injector lines, etc. If it has cracks in the external hose, replace it! Replace any fuel hose that looks suspect; replace any hose that has a kink in it; remove and replace any section of pipe that has been crushed or kinked; search for these things and find a place that air could be getting in.

You aren't running the tank down too far below 1/4 full are you? Modern engines really need you to refill fairly well as soon as you get to 1/4 of a tank left, or about 10-15 litres or so, simply cos they almost all, petrol AND diesel, use the fuel as coolant and lubricant for the pumps! Get lower than that and you are damaging things!

Don't ignore the engine malfunction light. Once might be a short term issue that can be shrugged off if it goes out an you continue without any further issues, but coming on twice or more??! That means something is WRONG! Leaving it to keep doing this is going to be causing more and more damage!! Fix it FAST! Today, or earlier if you can!

[PK1]

Check my reply on your other thread.
PK

[benixau]

Last time (ok, the only time!) this happened to me was when I was using bad fuel. Unfortunately for me I had put about 50L of it in the tank. Basically because I had put it through the system for so long it had ratsh*tted my fuel filter.

If it is bad fuel then you will find that at cruising speeds you will get sudden power loss when you try to climb a hill. To test, go up a mildly steep hill at 80 in fifth (about 2000 revs to keep it near the top of the torque curve). If you have to keep depressing the pedal in and you don't hear the engine change tone like it normally does - Bad Fuel.


Remedy: Take it to Nissan.

Hope this helps.