# Our Lexington broke down



## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

I own a 2005 Lexington on a Ford Diesel cab and it broke down in Germany 
a month ago, turn the key and the starter motor turns and nothing happens, its not getting diesel,all the Ford dealers in France or Germany cant fix it so it as been brought back to Westcrofts on a lorry its been in Westcrofts two weeks now and still will not start, if you own a Ford make sure you are well insured when you go abroad, I will let you know what happens when its fixed 
as a simular thing happened to you.
Paul


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## 101411 (Oct 15, 2006)

*starting problems*

Hi,
Im no mechanic but it sounds like an immobiliser/alarm problem. I had an Iveco van with a similar sounding, fault drove us mad!!! Eventually took it to an autoelectrician who diagnosed the fault in seconds, put a new ignition system in (the chip reader had failed) and a new key and hey presto no more starting problems!!!

Not sure if your lexington has a chip in the key but id start there if i were you.

Let me know how it all ends.

Thanks

Dazzer


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## TonyHunt (Oct 10, 2005)

sounds like a similar problem I had with my ducato. Problem started one day when I used my hazard warning lights and their fuse blew. 10 minutes later I stopped in a layby to look at a map and our ducato wouldnt restart. Called out the RAC man and he straight away found the engine management 20amp fuse had blown also for some unknown reason. Going back to the hazard warning light fuse we were towing our car on an A frame at the time, with all four hazards on each vehicle just wondered if perhaps we needed a heavier relay switch maybe. Does anybody know if its possible to get one.


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi tony don't know if you can, but you could wire a separate relay up for the tow electrics and energise its coil from the existing one.

Olley


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## TonyHunt (Oct 10, 2005)

Thanks for the suggestion olley will consult my auto electics guy.


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

*lexington non-start*

Hi Paul,
sorry to hear about your problems, the only place that I know of that may be able to help you is:
Mildenhall auto centre
9 chiswick avenue
mildenhall 
IP 28 7AY
01638 713692
A freind of mine has a 2005 BT cruiser and he had a recall notice from ford about a software upgrade for the ecu and had to go there to have it done. Apparently they look after all the american vehicles on the airbase and are one of the only places in the UK with the right computer gear for your vehicle.
Hope this helps.
Regards Duncan


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

*Lexington broke*

Hi Duncan 
thanks for the info, my RV is at Westcrofts were it was recovered to 
way back in august, they have checked the ecu lead, and as they are main importers the repairs can be done under Fords 3 year warranty, the problem is in the cylinders they need 500 psi to fire and there is only 258 psi there, they have a new diesel pump and new seals they are now waiting for a compression tester to test each cylinder, I have been pushing them, they have all the computers and are in touch with Ford, the main problem seems to be as the 6 ltd engine is new, no one in the uk as had this happen before WHY ME. 
Paul


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi Paul has anyone checked the valve timing? a sudden loss of cylinder pressure if true is unusual, but one cause could be if the valve timing has jumped a tooth.

Olley


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

*Broke Lexington*

Hi Olly
its in the lap of the gods its been at Westcrofts since Aug, I wen up to see them, about a month ago unannounced expecting to see it in the corner of a compound forgot but its right in the middle of the workshop takin up space they are still waiting for bits from the US
Paul


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

*Broke Lexington*

Just to keep you all posted our Lexington is still at Brownhills/ Westcrofts
Broke they have been waiting since sept for parts from Ford to fix it, 
Last week I nearly blow a fuse :evil: and they have given me a loan RV,
lets hope it don't break down
Paul


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi Paul sorry to hear your still of the road, August to November seems a long time to wait for spares. Don't blame you for throwing a wobbler.

Olley


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## 99181 (May 12, 2006)

hi paul .... what part is needed might have one in the shed!!!
dave


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

Hi Dave
6ltr TD Ford engine and a team of mechanics who know what there doin
Paul


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## Superk (Aug 22, 2005)

I don't know where you are in the country but these guys in Braintree, Essex, sole activity is the service and repair of US vehicles - they get spares delivered every week from the US and service cars and trucks including ambulances. Despite many experts and many £'s spent I was unable to fix my RV's wipers - they fixed them in less than five minutes at no cost.
http://www.avsamericancars.co.uk/


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*RV*

Hi

I am amazed at this. One thing though, if the chassis/engine is under world wide warranty, presumably the dealers are being paid/will claim for all the time that van has been there, receiving attention.

My blood is boiling for you with this one Paul and I really hope it comes good very soon or you.

Russell


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

*Re: Lexington broke*



paulharrison said:


> they need 500 psi to fire and there is only 258 psi there, they are now waiting for a compression tester to test each cylinder,
> Paul


Hi Paul just been reading that post again, diesels have typical compression ratio's of between 15-22 to 1 which would give a maximum pressure of around 320 psi, so were do they get 500psi from?

Second point, how do they know yours is only 258psi if they are awaiting a compression tester? 258psi equals about 18-1 which seems about right.

Olley


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

Hi Olley
A bit more news the tool they were waiting for as arrived and its a bit more than a compression tester, what it does is shuts down half the engine
so it can run on four cylinders, it blanks off four cylinders they set it up and the engine fired on the first side, then on the other four no joy
the oil seals add gone in the head so they have got to fit new seals and injectors,make any sense to anybody ?

Paul


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi Paul good to hear that they may be getting somewhere with it at long last. In my previous post about cylinder pressures I was wrong, I forgot about the heating effect when compressing air which would make the pressure rise  

Olley


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## 88781 (May 9, 2005)

Hi Paul, now they know what's wrong, how long before it's repaired?

Regards Dave


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## 91645 (May 1, 2005)

Hi there:
My first Winnebago Winnie Minnie was based on a Ford E350. It was a diesel oil fired engine. On our first trip to Holland the engine did not start after a stop to fill the gas tank. After a lot of phone calls a truck picked us up the next morning and dropped us at a Ford dealer near Maastricht. They first checked for the crash relay. This one cuts off the fuel pump at the impact. If I remember well there was not one. After some start attempts someone noticed that the V-belt was not turning. A further check revealed that the AC compressor was the bad wolf. The rotor seized. They found a defect Ford Mondeo compressor which could be fitted. The AC system was emptied and the old compressor removed and the Mondeo compressor was installed.The V belt was too wide and cut to size. Root cause: Ford forgot to fill the coolant with lubricating oil and this caused the rotor to seize and the whole system failed: no injection pump.
So check for the V belt.


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

Hi Dave
The injectors were leaving Fords on tuesday so hopefully Westcrofts had them on thursday, the guy there told me they had to drop the engine to
get at the head so lets hope it all goes back together, I have a loan RV off them and we are going to Burford next weekend, but it would be nice to have mine back, Its been there since last aug

Paul


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Hi Paul
Glad to hear that things are starting to move now with your problem motor..... 
I was at Westcrofts on Saturday with some friends and the sales guy (well boy would be a closer description) was to busy chatting in his office to connect up an RV we were looking at, to the mains supply (they had not got the correct connector to connect their cable to the plug fitted to the RV.......), or get a battery charger so that we could hear the motor run.....
In all we were kept hanging around in a cold, dark RV for the best part of an hour before we realised that we were the butt end of the salesmans joke (he was in a nice warm office, whilst his customers were standing in the cold Ha Ha Ha.....) Maybe spending £36,000 wasn't enough to get him excited???? 
So Lord only knows what they would think about having to fix a broken motor..... I sincerely do hope that they are capable of working this out for you and getting you back on the road in your RV mate......

Keith


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Westcroft*

Hi Keith

Well Westcroft's are part of the Brownhills Group.

Russell


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

Hi Keith
That sounds about right when I phoned Westcrofts no one returns your calls until you pester them, I bought my Lextington at stratford show so never shared your experience of them but, I went up there in November to try and sort my RV out and every body was in a meeting but the same young fellow you seen, it was only when I drove my car in there workshop and started empting my RV and then some one came to see me, I told them how p-d off I was and I wanted my money back they gave me a loan RV which in ok but it don't fix it.

Paul


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## 101411 (Oct 15, 2006)

Hi Paul

Any news on the engine repairs? Your previous post said part would be in a couple of weeks ago.....does she live???????

Keep us informed

Thanks

Dazzer


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

Hi Dazzer
The engine is now running the motorhomes still at Westcrofts waiting for the right dash board from fords, when it was built it was fitted with a petrol dash not diesel yet it says Diesel Fuel Only on the dash, and over a period of time this as damaged the engine because there is no preheat to the glowplugs as this starts at a sender unit in the Diesel dash
so the engines been startin on cold Diesel for 12 months, this as blown the seals in the head, because its a big V8 they recon it would take a while to break it?
Paul


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## G2EWS (May 1, 2006)

Bxxxy Hell,

What a fundamental error that is. The wrong dashboard!

Who would have guessed that!

I hope they get it right for you Paul.

Regards

Chris


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## zaskar (Jun 6, 2005)

paulharrison said:


> ...............................because its a big V8 they recon it would take a while to break it?
> Paul


I've heard from various sources that you're looking at 10 to 15K (possibly more) 8O before the V8's are properly bedded in!!!!


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

Hi Zaskar
Thats right and its only done 6000 I don't know how Ford could fit the wrong dash but they did, just shows how important it is to buy from a main dealer 

Paul


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## paulharrison (May 1, 2005)

My Lexingtons Back after 6 months it was delivered back by Brownhills,
next problem they had left the water in the pipes and they froze, I had told them to drain it down but thats brownhills had to have new taps and a new pump, I have driven it twice it seems ok but the test will be next week towing a trailer full of Locks to the Newark show. I will keep you posted Paul


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## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

Paul, hope things are now on the up! See you around!


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## 101411 (Oct 15, 2006)

Hi Paul

Not heard from you in a while, is the Lexington now fully fettled and shipshape and Bristol fashion??


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