Eberspacher won't start

AdeOlly

AdeOlly

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My previously perfectly well behaved D3LC has thrown a wobbly. Over the last couple of trips it's been more smokey starting culminating on Sunday evening with clouds of smoke then a refusal to keep going. thinking the glow plug may be fouled I whipped it out only to find it clean but lots of carbon below. I carefully scraped away the worst and put it back together. Now when I switch it on all it does is briefly make a ticking sound that I think is the fan spinning then coming to a halt. i've checked all connections and am totally stumped. What have I done to it?

I have the 7 day timer for control and this shows no errors.

All suggestions gratefully received.
 
Theory

I dont know the answer I'm afraid, but have had dodgy starting from my Ebby. The ticking noise is probably the fuel pump (annoying noise) so you are probably pumping fuel. You say originally that smoke poured out, which suggests that the fuel was not being burned but merely evaporating to a degree. You do not mention any smoke after cleaning the glow-plug. Could it be that it is there where the problem is? Maybe it was dysfunctional and is now completely broken.
No expert, just putting my tuppence worth in as I appreciate the advice I have had from others in here.
 
The ticking sound is usually the small fuel pump ( or it is on my mine)
If this is working, the fan is running then I would start off checking
a) the thermostat is made thus asking for the unit to start up
b) the thermal fuse ( if you have lots of carbon in the chamber then heat transfer may be impaired)
c) the glow plug is still functioning corectly. Check voltage is at the terminals.


If these are ok, then you are into the joys of step by step circuit diagram tracing and checking.

Brian
 
Lets back track. It was working but starting to run badly (could be coked up or fuel or pump problem) you attempted to fix it and now it doesnt work at all. Your actions were sensible but did you take out and clean the gauze screen ( I usually have to replace them)
What could you have done to make the situation worse ? damaged the glow plug? ...check its resistance. made a bad connection ? etc etc. If you focus first on what you may have done to make things worse it may save time.
If nothing comes to mind ( sometimes simple like flattening the battery with all the testing!) you will have to start from first principles and do some step by step checks as per the recommendations above. Have you got the manual?
Let us know how you get on
 
As to the original problem, do you have a silencer fitted? I ask this as I recently had a problem with it smoking badly and stopping.
It turned out that the silencer had got bunged up with carbon and then the rest of the eber carbon-ed up as it wasn't able to breathe properly. I cleaned the combustion chamber out, renewed the glow plug screen and removed the silencer (inserting a plain pipe in the gap) and away it went...supey twist.
PS, it didn't give any error codes either.
 
A manual? We have nothing except a small bag with a fuse in and Ebby written on it.
Any directions to pdf for manual for old [circa '88] most welcome
 
Let say first that I'm no engineer but the symptoms you describe are similar to the problem we had with ours. After a lot of faffing about we found that it was a slightly low voltage, apparently ebers are very fussy about their electrical diet. We now use ours reliably when we are motoring or have shore power and don't try when under domestic batteries alone.
 
pcatterall said:
Lets back track. It was working but starting to run badly (could be coked up or fuel or pump problem) you attempted to fix it and now it doesnt work at all. Your actions were sensible but did you take out and clean the gauze screen ( I usually have to replace them)
What could you have done to make the situation worse ? damaged the glow plug? ...check its resistance. made a bad connection ? etc etc. If you focus first on what you may have done to make things worse it may save time.
If nothing comes to mind ( sometimes simple like flattening the battery with all the testing!) you will have to start from first principles and do some step by step checks as per the recommendations above. Have you got the manual?
Let us know how you get on
Click to expand...

The gauze screen was stuck fast, and as I do not have a spare (though about to order one) I didn't want to destroy it getting it out. It looked like the bottom half was coked up. Should it have a base on it?

Battery should not be the problem as shorepower was connected and battery charger on, but I will check the voltage at the heater just in case an iffy connection.

The ticking noise is not the fuel pump; it no longer tries to pump fuel. The only sign of life is that slight ticking that lasts three or so seconds when it's powered on. I'm sure it's the fan being gven power for half a second and then spinning down with a blade knocking something. Coke maybe?

If it's not a power problem is it possble the ECU has gone pop? Anyone know how can I test this?

Thanks for the responses.
 
Case snagging fan blade was a good suggestion especially as we should still be looking for something that 'you may have inadvertantly done'.
pump will not work if another fault is detected at switch on.
You should have been able to download the manual from the espar site so you can check off items like heat sensor, glow plug etc..
I still fancy something simple like a disloged connection why should the ecu decide to fail just when you decide to clean the glow plug? etc.
 
Thanks Stork_III, for that - I now know what the funny looking piece of metal in another bag is for. It's a glow plug! Do I dare touch the system, which seems to work perfectly - as long as I leave it alone
 
So having acquired a new glow plug, gauze and various other items, I attempted to get my heater working this afternoon. And I succeeded :)

Checked the supply voltage as suggested: 13.4v. Unplugged and replugged the ECU multi-plug, tried a start up - no joy. Decided I'd try replacing the glow plug first as this was the only component I removed last week. Much to my surprise, after putting the new one in the heater started up as normal!! To look at the old plug there is nothing obviously amiss with it, though clearly its resistance was outside parameters as far as the ECU was concerned - my meter showed 0.1 ohm. Goodness knows what I did to it when I took it out last week.... maybe it was the way I looked at it! I then set about trying to replace the gauze. Flipping heck, ended up wrecking the thing to get it out, but no matter all back together with a new one and given a thorough test.

Thanks to those who responded.
 
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