Van went dead whilst driving 30mph on a country lane

[TobyGilden]

Hey I picked up my first t25 this weekend.

me and the van.jpg

I love it, but I have given it a good check over and found some flaws.

I went on a drive last night with some friends to show the van off a little, we drove down some country lanes and pulled over at a local land mark, I sat in the back with them, but left the engine running, all of a sudden the engine cut out and the battery died. We managed to bump start it and carried on with our journey home. However about 10 minutes later, whilst I was doing about 30mph down a lane... at night..... the van cut out and the battery died again, I very quickly put the van into 1st gear and let up the clutch, which brought everything back to life, butt it shook me up, what could this be? An old faulty battery? A faulty alternator? Or could it be fuel starvation?

When I got home from work today I decided to have a look in the engine compartment to see if i could spot anything out of place or disconnected, the problem is I dont really know what I am looking at/for.

I did however notice that there was some fluid dripping down from a tube, I have taken a picture, i can't seem to attach this one. I will try and post it in a minute.

Also I was a little concerned that the van was a little smelly inside (fumes) so I got out my flue gas analyser to check the levels of CO (carbon monoxide) in the van and it was as high as 60 ppm, I checked the seal around the engine cover, and that is complete - could it be a faulty exhaust perhaps?

[TobyGilden]

enginehose.jpg

This is a picture of the blue hose that seems to be leaking, what runs through this hose?

[kevtherev]

please expand on "it cut out and the battery died"
Is that the engine stalled and there was no ignition light?

if so you need to make sure the earth to the battery is a shiny clean connection to the van chassis, and the terminals are clean and the clamp is tight.
Next you need to check your alternator output with a meter.

does the ignition lamp illuminate when you turn the key in the ignition?

Did the starter turn the engine over when it stalled?

Your issue also smacks of a faulty fuel pump, a blocked or old petrol filter

[kevtherev]

enginehose.jpg

This is a picture of the blue hose that seems to be leaking, what runs through this hose?

Coolant runs through it
It's not standard hose, I would replace it and use proper hose clips

Also your distributor is 180 deg out.
Looking at the picture the brake servo hose looks like it's not connected, I'm sure it is but a better picture would confirm

[TobyGilden]

Sorry,

So when the van cut out, it almost sounded like it was choking - which made me think that there was a lack of fuel. But when I tried to start the van up again, I had nothing, no lights, no LED for the ignition, the starter motor didn't turn over either. I took the van out for a drive earlier on, and it sounded as if it was close to stalling, so I put my foot down and all was ok again.

sorry if I don't sound like I know what I am talking about, I have no clue.

[marlinowner]

When the engine cut out whilst driving, did the lights go out?

Oops, you answered my question before I asked it...

[TobyGilden]

Yes the lights went out - there are very little electrics in the van, but what is there all died.

[marlinowner]

It does sound like a bad connection at the battery.

[TobyGilden]

Would a bad connection at the battery cause the engine to die? The battery is underneath the passenger seat. What do I need to do to improve the connection?

Thank you very much for the advice.

[TobyGilden]

Another thing to mention, is that neither the fuel or temp gauges work, and the dash doesn't light up at all - could this all be down to an electrical issue possibly?

[kevtherev]

As the gauges and lights all work with electricity I would say yes

These problems need a methodical approach.
first off is to make good your battery connections... + ve and - ve clean the terminals with emery and the earth contact with the chassis with emery cloth
then check your alternator connections and check the out put from it
then clean the earth crowns till they shine on the left behind the glove box.

After you have completed this, tell us what you find.

If the alternator is not charging the battery it will die in a short time as the engine eats it
If the earth crowns are not clean the lights will not work
the gauges we will tackle later

[TobyGilden]

Hi Guys,

since I have got home from work I've had 4 new tyres fitted. And done some investigation into the van;

With the engine running I did a voltage check at the battery and I was only getting around 12v, so I went to the back and checked the 3 connections coming from the alternator (as suggested by Kevtherev) - it turns out that these wires have completely had it, and are only holding on by a few strands.

With these wires is it a case of stripping them back a bit and re-connecting the spade connectors? or does the whole wire need replacing?

Cheers

Toby

[Ralf85]

Change the wiring if it's that bad and replace the regulator pack on the alternator. My guess is the brushes are virtually worn out. It is a cheap fix and takes 10 mins to do. Try and get a 14.5V one if you can, but a 14V one will do!

[marlinowner]

If you strip back the insulation and the copper is nice and shiny then it will be ok to remake the connections, with soldered terminals. If the copper is discoloured/black then you need to go back until it is good, you may have to replace the whole cable.

[TobyGilden]

OK cool, I will go and have look now, what sort of wire would I need to get as replacement? How can I check if the brushes are worn out in the regulator pack? And where would I look to find replacements - I have given it a quick search and there seem to be a lot of generic brushes out there.