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Primastar (vivaro) Woes

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snozz

snozz

Full Member
Dec 9, 2009
877
3
Otley
Ready to mend then sell my Primastar (Nissan badged Vivaro/ Trafic) - really fed up with it... Belt went last week that damaged 2 valves - £862 later running again. The very next day, alternator light came on - £203 later new alternator. 2 days later, driving up a hill, the glowplug warning light came on and all power lost...any ideas what this may be? Feeling like it could be one of many things - have read about how it could be the turbo or one of many sensors or turbo solenoid. Not EGR I don' think as I blanked that off back in August and it's done over 4k absolutely fine. ARRGHH!!!! Really annoyed as we've just spent the summer converting it to a campervan with rock and roll bed and elevating roof. :(
 
I think you would need to have the codes read, there are too many interlinked systems on a modern diesel to diagnose it otherwise. There is probably a forum that covers one of the variations of this van, they could probably point you in the right direction as to the glow plug light illuminating to show a fault, but I would have thought turbo egr or most sensor problems would illuminate the engine check light. Best of luck with the repair.
 
Sorry to hear of your woes. First thing I'd do is disconnect the battery for a few hours, or remove the main power fuses. This should re-set the ECU and if it's just a glitch in the system everything should be fine. If the light is still on then ??? May be worth checking if one of the turbo hoses is off or loose.
As Baldy-old-troll says above, you'd need the fault code. Some vehicles have a sequence of turning the ignition key on/off several times which will make lights flash on the dash which will be a code, again, as above, it might be worth checking on a forum.
Got to admit I did look at the Vivaros, etc; but they do seem a bit problematic. Modern diesels are a pita, way to complicated for DIY diagnosis and repairs.
Good luck with it.
 
Sorry to hear of your trouble. Dogoak gives sound advice on resetting the ECU however I fear your original problem may not have been the alternator but something else causing the alternator to fail and it has happened again but showing in a different way .
I don't believe it's s turbo fault but with a fault code it's difficult to tell. The must be someone local to you who can read the fault codes.



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I had an 04 Vivaro... probably not surprising to anyone who knows about them that it broke down on the M56, the engine rev'd to the maximum and despite trying to stall it, removing the key, it kept going until it was on fire.

Two police cars, two fire engines and a highway agency 4x4 later... I was left to have it picked up by the AA... sold it for parts.

Apparently some turbo seal problem that drags oil into the turbo and causes either engine seize or fire. Great design feature! They fixed the problem with the more modern version, but I won't have one again. If I go for a van again, it'll be a Transit.

Had many issues with the Vivaro... and one of them sounds similar to your problem... it was some sensor that needed replacing. I know where it is in the engine bay, but no idea what it was called. Not much help, I know.
 
Thanks for the replies. Turns out it was a pipe that had come off... (or not been tightened properly). Seems to be running ok now. However currently sat in my wife's Megane awaiting a breakdown truck as it's developed an ignition fault and won't start. Cars - don't ya just love em!!

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