# Ducato Engine Management Light - Power loss



## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Well the journey up through Spain and France was going fine until today, driving through Montlucon centre went the light came on and power reduced on our 3L Ducato, noticed the cruise control also deactivated.

Progressed for about 15 miles with reduced power, climbs up hills requiring serious downshifting, stopped at a road works traffic control and decided to try Barryd's words of wisdom. :surprise: Switched it off for about 20 seconds then turned it on again. :surprise: Hey presto, full power but the light still on with cruise control back to normal. (Thanks Barry) :grin2:

Reached our stop at Loches with no further issues.

Have read the likely problem is the EGR valve, will now consider either cleaning or the blanking plate bodge. Will get a code reader connected when home to help confirm problem.

Any advice welcome.

Terry


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Can I ask, do you drive at a steady 50/55mph and gently accelerate without using high revs and selecting a higher gear as soon as possible.Do you use the cruise control a lot on motorways and what setting do you set it at.What is the mileage of your vehicle now.

cabby


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Am I not right is saying that diesel engines thrive best on being driven hard? I am sure that I also read recently that putting Redex Diesel into your fuel may help clear sludge/jams etc..

Meantime, would driving it harder help? If of course, you can....

We had an EGR and management light on our Citroen Picasso after driving steadily along the autoroutes back to the UK, we had it cleared at a local garage who said, no fault just EGR valve sticking as they are wont to do if driven "carefully". He also recommended driving a bit harder to ensure the blockage does not redevelop.

I have never tried Redex, may be others have found the same?

Redex pros and cons

I hope others can comment,

Dave


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

That is why I was asking, before suggesting a blast up the motorway.>> with revs over 2500.

cabby


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Can't help with the van problem Terry, but if you aren't in a big rush home we're near Civray not far from Poitires a bit west of you with friends from C'fergus and would be very pleased to have the chance to meet you. Plenty of parking and a Fiat dealer in town. And beer.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

cabby said:


> Can I ask, do you drive at a steady 50/55mph and gently accelerate without using high revs and selecting a higher gear as soon as possible.Do you use the cruise control a lot on motorways and what setting do you set it at.What is the mileage of your vehicle now.
> 
> cabby


No cabby, more likely around 55/60, and if the copilot isn't paying attention have reached the odd 70 > but do deliberately give the engine a blast at higher revs now and again to try and avoid the known EGR problems. The run up the climb on the A75 out of Montpelier a couple of days before certainly have given it a thrashing at higher revs.
Yes would use cruise control at other times. Mileage 15k on 2007 MH, 12k by me over the last 4 years.

Terry


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

erneboy said:


> Can't help with the van problem Terry, but if you aren't in a big rush home we're near Civray not far from Poitires a bit west of you with friends from C'fergus and would be very pleased to have the chance to meet you. Plenty of parking and a Fiat dealer in town. And beer.


Thanks Alan, but boat is on Sunday with a vets appointment on Friday at Sees. The beer is attractive but we are heading to Le Mans today, maybe next year or if your back home at any time give us a shout.

Terry


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I'd give it a good thrash in 3rd get it up around 3000 revs for a couple of miles on a decent road or Mway, sometimes switching off relieves the imminent problem as it has for you, but not always, I had an Audi 80 just the same, sold it like that too.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

UPDATE....
Started up this morning and no light :-D, had a good run up to Le Mans with no further issues, fingers crossed for the remaining journey home.

Terry


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## javea (Jun 8, 2007)

I posted some time ago about the ECU loom rubbing against the nearside chassis member on my Fiat X250 base.

Well another chafe point has now been posted on the Fiat forum here: http://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/443176-x250-money-saving-tip.html

Checked mine and indeed the loom had been rubbing against the metal tube in the photo. I have protected it for the future with convoluted cable conduit.

Might be an idea to check your set up as that might cause the light to come on.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

dghr272 said:


> UPDATE....
> Started up this morning and no light :-D, had a good run up to Le Mans with no further issues, fingers crossed for the remaining journey home.
> 
> Terry


Sounds very much like an EGR fault.....

if you get it read by connecting via the data port it will have a record of why the light was on....

Dave


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

The warning light came on whilst I was climbing up into the french High Alps. It eventually went off and stayed off when I came down to lower altitude. No record of it was retained in the ECU when next checked about a month later.


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## javea (Jun 8, 2007)

rayc said:


> The warning light came on whilst I was climbing up into the french High Alps. It eventually went off and stayed off when I came down to lower altitude. No record of it was retained in the ECU when next checked about a month later.


That's very similar to what happens with mine, over the Pyrenees from Donostia and sometimes the light comes on. A fault is recorded in the ECU as 'second fan is not coming on' but it is, you can hear it and the temperature never gets high. I am hoping that having found two chafe points, which have now been insulated, that it won't happen again.


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## RichardD (Sep 14, 2009)

I had the ECU light come on whilst touring northern Spain last year. Lost power but after we stopped to investigate it gradually came back to somewhere normal. Obviously you are taking it cautiously anyway.

Took it to a Ducato Camper dealer in Burgos who told me that the fault code was P0402 and when they checked their computer system the Fiat diagnositics for this code said that they should check the air intake box first as there had been issues with debris getting beyond the filter causing restricted air supply.

They took the filter box and associated tubes apart and found some leaves had managed to get under the filter and was partially blocking the air feed. I did not see the extent of the debris/leaves that they found but does give me cause for concern that it could get past the filter.

BTW, I'd only had the van serviced a few weeks before we went.

I thought this might only be associated with the A Class Rapido due to the difficult access to the air filter box, but the Spanish dealer said that the diagnostic was on the main Fiat system, so was relating to all X250 engines.

Richard


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

RichardD said:


> I had the ECU light come on whilst touring northern Spain last year. Lost power but after we stopped to investigate it gradually came back to somewhere normal. Obviously you are taking it cautiously anyway.
> 
> Took it to a Ducato Camper dealer in Burgos who told me that the fault code was P0402 and when they checked their computer system the Fiat diagnositics for this code said that they should check the air intake box first as there had been issues with debris getting beyond the filter causing restricted air supply.
> 
> ...


Thank you Richard, something else to investigate.

Issue repeated again today on the run from Le Mans to Sees, power loss for approx 5 miles, pulled into a lay-by and switched off for 10 seconds then restarted with full power, although light still on. Stopped at Sees for a visit to the vet, started engine and no light and got a great run up to Ray Nippers abode.

Terry


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

I had similar problems when I did the nc500 earlier in the year - quite scary to begin with! 


cabby said:


> Can I ask, do you drive at a steady 50/55mph and gently accelerate without using high revs and selecting a higher gear as soon as possible.Do you use the cruise control a lot on motorways and what setting do you set it at.What is the mileage of your vehicle now.
> 
> cabby


Yes, that's my style of driving exactly, tho I have driven it hard on occasion as advised when I reported my problem. However... 


Kev_n_Liz said:


> I'd give it a good thrash in 3rd get it up around 3000 revs for a couple of miles on a decent road or Mway, sometimes switching off relieves the imminent problem as it has for you, but not always, I had an Audi 80 just the same, sold it like that too.


Do you really mean drive at 3000 revs for a couple of miles Kev? I would find the engine noise excruciating, but if that's what it takes....


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