Eberspacher D4 problems

mcanderson

mcanderson

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Having previously praised my Eberspacher D4, today it has let me down. I turned on the controller like normal (heat/fan switch and a rotary temp control dial) and all I got was an acrid white smoke/mist and then the whole thing shut itself down. It wouldn’t work in either fan or heater mode. I checked the fuses and both the 20a and the 5a are fine.

I got to the heater unit and it is in a tight spot to get at as it was installed by the Beneteau factory in 2005. The fan spins fine and the connections all look good. I have our boat ashore and it was running on mains power at the time.

Any suggestions?

I live in Edinburgh so if anyone knows of good service agent please let me know or if you fancy lending a hand.......
 
Eberspacher

Hi Mcanderson,
I had similar problem with my D5. Have you had it serviced since fitting, it sounds like the ignition is failing.
I hope I'm not the bearer of bad news but my unit required a new control board at about 4 1/2 years, not cheap.
If you have studied the fault listing and no joy, it could be time to call the cavalry, before you do so, take the unit out and have a look inside, this will at least save some time and expense even if you can't see any problem. Good luck.
 
Thanks

I've studied the fault finding, but it doesn't really lead me anywhere. I am hoping for divine intervention from a helpful forumitte before I start pouring more money into my favourite hole.

We've had the boat for just shy of 2 years and we've never had it serviced. I will try to find out from the previous owners.

What was the rough damage for a new ECU? And was that with the eber still onboard or had you removed it?
 
Eberspacher

Cost of new board and service, remove from boat, sit on a workbench, refit to boat with new exhaust £ 350 incl VAT.
Taking it out of your boat and refitting yourself will no doubt save 1 - 2 hours charge out.
 
Thanks

Oh well. It's only money and you can't take it with you.

Now back to praying for someone to come along and offer a low cost easy fix.......
 
Update

I went back down today hoping it may have "fixed" itself. No such luck.

When I turn it on to heat nothing happens. When I try it on cool/ambient air again nothing happens.

Any suggestions?
 
I believe there is a glow plug or some igniting device that sets off the vapourised fuel. As it seems you have unburnt fuel exhausting this would appear to be the problem. Why nothing is happening on the cool (summer air recirculation) setting is a mystery.
Some previous threads have suggested low battery charge, are you on shore power and are the batteries fully charged?
 
Thanks again.

I have searched here and wider to see what I can do. However, the options are fast running out. I am on shorepower and have charged batteries so I don't think low voltage is the issue.

I am open to suggestions, but I think I will be pulling it out and sending it off for investigation. Unfortunately Edinburgh doesnt have the greatest leisure maritime infrastructure and support.

Any suggestions where to pack it off to?
 
So it was originally trying to ignite but when it didn't, it closed itself down.
I'd go for removing the glow plug and see if it's covered with black gunk and needs a wire brushing....... it can get covered with so much carbon it doesn't glow red any more....
Got a feeling there is another shut down mechanism also - if it tries to re-start more then 3 times (not sure of the exact number), it won't even get to trying to power up the glow-plug and pump.
 
The white smoke does indicate that for some reason the heater wouldnt start but excess fuel in the system was being blown out.
ECU failure is all to common on D2s and D4s and is worth looking at in the early stage.
You can take your ECU to a dealer for checking or possibly post it to me if you want to save money! A new ECU should cost under £200, these are the later series ( having been modified) to date ( touch wood ) I have had none of these fail.
Meanwhile try all connections. Just got one old customer up and running by phone, eventually it was just a bad connection at the main 16 pin connector.
Good luck
 
Pcatteral,

You sound like you know what your talking about. Would you mind if I PM'ed you to swap numbers so I can get some more advice?

I am running out of hair the rate I'm pulling it out.

Thanks to all those helping.
 
Before doing anything, try removing both fuses for a short while, this gets the Eberspacher to reset. Then replace them and try to start it again.

The fuel pump has a very small filter at the inlet point, check that this is clear. Dirty fuel is a common cause of problems with the Eberspacher.

If the above fails then follow instructions to run self diagnostics, this will give you an error number which references an error message. You will then know where to go from there.

The error message should tell you if you need a new control unit.

If it is a glow plug problem then it can be removed (with the special tool), cleaned and replaced, if it is faulty then you will need a new one (Glow pin with socket wrench 12V 25 2069 01 03 00) If you get one of these then look after the special spanner it comes with, you cannot buy them without a new glow plug. Also do not forget the small gauze vaporizer (Glow pin screen with tool 25 2069 10 01 02) that should be replaced at the same time. I have taken several of these units to pieces and completely decoking them before replacing with new gaskets. If you are going to do this then make sure you smear the gaskets with copper grease when replacing. This ensures easy removal next time and may save you using new gaskets in future.

It is not all that difficult to do all this yourself. I have some documentation that maybe of help, if you would like a copy then send me a PM with your email address, I will email back to you with attachments.

Good luck, George.
 
jparham said:
So it was originally trying to ignite but when it didn't, it closed itself down.
I'd go for removing the glow plug and see if it's covered with black gunk and needs a wire brushing....... it can get covered with so much carbon it doesn't glow red any more....
Got a feeling there is another shut down mechanism also - if it tries to re-start more then 3 times (not sure of the exact number), it won't even get to trying to power up the glow-plug and pump.
Click to expand...
We need to lay the 3 strikes and you are out urban myth to rest, it doesnt happen on the latest ones. It only happened on the early D1Lcs etc. As to wire brushing the glow plug, I despair, its one good way to break the relatively delicate spiral of wire!
If you read the original post, it wont even attempt to start, the guy has checked the power supply to it and that is ok so the only other thing to check is the overheat or the power supply to the fuel pump (the prestart check includes a check on the continuity of the pump), if those check out Ok then its the ECU, they use a similar one to the D2.
Stu
 
Thanks

I'll have a look, but I'm sure its clear.

I will try George's suggestion with the fuses and filter, but I am resigned to having to pull the whole unit out.

Does anyone have a well trained small monkey that is skilled in the use of hand tools I could borrow?
 
Update

After a struggle and some low level swearing I managed to get the Eber out of the depths of the hull. For other Beneteau 323 owners who have the Eber located aft of the cockpit locker I found that if you remove the fixed section of ply floor in the cockpit locker it was easier. Note- I said easier, not easy. Thanks to the help I had received from Petercatterall and Skipper Stu I then managed to test glow plug, flame sensor, pump and fan all working fine. This leaves the ECU as the next logical step.

I have sourced a new ECU (today is my birthday and I was given £500 to spend on what ever I wanted for the boat, so there goes a lot of it) and if it arrives by this weekend will hopefully be bench testing a working D4.

I will post another update and if people think its handy some photos of the testing procedure I went through with my Multimeter as well as readings.
 
Whoa! Don`t spend the money yet. I`ve had all the problems reported, pulled out the unit, replaced various parts [all on a new installtion]. Called in the eberspacher cavalry who took the unit away and bench tested it. Worked perfectly!. The upshot was bad fuel. Marine red diesel can be of a very poor quality and of low calorific value. On both occassions when I have uplifted fuel from a certain local marina, the Eberspacher doesn`t work afterwards. Recommendation from the cavalry was to refill with forecourt white diesel. Did this to boost the fuel quality; Problem cured, eber now starts. try this cheap[er] fix first!
 
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