Really strange fault (FORD GALAXY II (WA6) 2008 Diesel 2.0 TDCi)
Hi, I've been experiencing a really weird electrical fault that seems to be mechanically induced. First I will go over the symptoms. This fault only appears when I'm turning right or if i hit a bump or something else that rattles the car a bit. When this…
Hi, I've been experiencing a really weird electrical fault that seems to be mechanically induced. First I will go over the symptoms. This fault only appears when I'm turning right or if i hit a bump or something else that rattles the car a bit. When this happens it seems like a large part of the car loses electricity. I can hear the relays clicking and the battery and oil lamp will blink in harmony with the clicking. I have begun to describe this as the car getting a "seizure". If the car happens to get a really hard and prolonged seizure, if I for example turned hard right in a long turn, the radio will dampen and lights will blink and dim in sync with the relays. Sometimes the clock on the interface will reset. If I happen to be accelerating in gear when its having a seizure, the car will jerk violently forward (I believe this happens because the injectors are turning on and off just like the relays). If i don't accelerate and have it in gear you won't experience any jerking. If I clutch during a seizure the engine will stall (this probably happens because the engine no longer is driven around by the wheels. And so it stalls because it doesn't get consistent fuel from the injectors). The thing is, no matter how hard i turn to the LEFT it won't trigger the fault. I should also mention that I've been unable to trigger the fault when the car is stationary. If i turn the wheels when stationary nothing happens, and if i try shaking the car nothing happens. Sometimes after a seizure the tachometer will drop to 0 and stay at zero while the ESP-lamp will light up. It will stay like this until I restart the car, but I can drive it normally and rev the engine even with it at 0. My theory so far is that this is purely an electrical fault, and that the movement of the engine when turning right happens to trigger something. Either a harness/cable with bad connection or a groundpoint that loses contact when the bodywork warps following the engine moving. To try and narrow it down I've tried using a multimeter and FORScan. I only have the demo version of FORScan so I've only been able to look at one parameter at a time when checking live data. Here are some of the codes I found via FORScan that I think are important: IPC: U3006 – Control Module Input Power Circuit Voltage Below Threshold ABS: U3001 – Improper Shutdown P0335 - CKP Sensor A Circuit Signal Frequency Incorrect These codes seem to indicate a dip in voltage going into the PCM and elsewhere. The CKP sensor code I think could be a consequential error caused by the dip in voltage. I tried recording the livedata from different modules and see what happened to each when the car was experiencing a seizure. The test consisted of me driving jerk'ely around in a circle to the right: B+- Battery Positive Voltage: Went from 14.4V to ca. 12V BCMii.MAINECUV - Main ECU voltage supply: Went from 14V to 11V OBD2_PCM.VPWR - Control Module Voltage: Went from 14V to 11V From this it seems that the alternator cuts off charging or something making it drop from around 13/14 to 11/12 volts. I think these short disconnections that happen during a seizure could still make the modules drop all the way to 0V, but because they are so short they can't be picked up by FORScan before they're back up again. Here are the different tests and results of using the multimeter to record MAX/MIN voltage: Battery Positive - Fusebox Main Positive: Min = 0.025V Max = 0.086V Battery Negative - Engine Block: Min = -0.014V Max = 0.055V These tests should suggest that there's nothing wrong with the connections and cable between the battery and the fusebox. It also suggests that there's nothing wrong with the ground between the engine block and the bodywork, and nothing wrong with the main ground from the battery's negative terminal. I still can't rule out anything from these tests as I found it pretty difficult to use the multimeter and drive at the same time. So the values aren't fully certain. I should mention that I've also tried poking and shaking alot of the cables available in the engine bay, in hope of triggering the fault and narrowing down the cause. This of course hasn't been effective. Now for the things I have tried in order to fix it. I have brushed and polished all the ground cable lugs that where fastened to the bodywork, so that they have a clean metal to metal connection. I've also tried a different battery to see if it would do anything. None of these have helped so far. As of now I have disassembled and taken out both the main ground from the battery and the ground from the engine block. The intention was to see if there was any resistance spike while wiggling the cable. And ofcourse yet again nothing. This has begun to drive me a little crazy, but I am determined to find out what this is and finally fix it. This fault just appeared one day without any particular events preceding it. I would gladly appreciate any input or experience on the matter. Car Info: FORD GALAXY II (WA6) 2008 Diesel 2.0 TDCi 103kW/140PS
Collected discussion
Moderator Announcement Read More » Thanks for posting on r/MechanicAdvice! Please review the rules. Remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. Post's about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or r/Diyautobody/ Tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
That voltage drop is wild, dropping from 14 to 11 under load while turning right screams a pinched or stretched harness somewhere. The fact it only happens on right turns and not left makes me think the engine torque is pulling a connector or wire bundle just enough to lose contact I'd get under the dash and follow the main harness from the fuse box through the firewall, might be chafing against the steering column or getting yanked when the body flexes. The IPC and ABS codes both point to a power interrupt so you're probably on the right track with a bad connection rather than a ground