New Berlingo owner (badly running berlingo) :(

[Richard1192]

Hi all,  im new to the berlingo family,  i have just bought myself a 2004 berlingo van with the 1.9d engine.  it was all going well, ive had it less than a week, and ive started converting it into a camper, then tonight while driving home from the local wood suppliers (to make my bed), my van started to loose power, and not be able to go over 50mph,  then as i put my foot on the clutch and brake to enter a roundabout, the engine died and it struggled to start (it had started to take longer to start today, longer than usual) it started running again, started to drive off (still with power loss) then cut out again when i got to the next roundabout. i managed to get home but kept cutting out everytime i had to clutch in/brake) does anyone know what this could be, im new to these vans and have had it less than a week and only done about 60 miles in it,   its done 149,000miles and seemed to drive fine up until now (other than a bit of a heavy/stiff clutch). any help would be greatly appriciated!!

[Jed Clampit]

Hello Richard welcome to the forum first thing you need to do is change the fuel filter let us know how you get on and go form there then we can look at other thing's has for the clutch the cable mite be frayed or dry and need oiling to free it up so have good look at the cable

[3rensho]

Hi Richard and welcome to the forum.

[pk7478]

clutch the cable mite be frayed or dry and need oiling to free it up so have good look at the cable

It is very bad idea to use oil or grease in a clutch cable.

[Tree]

fuel pressure sensor packing up? Do these engines have one even?

[bikergraham]

clutch the cable mite be frayed or dry and need oiling to free it up so have good look at the cable

It is very bad idea to use oil or grease in a clutch cable.

Hi PK.Is there any reason why you have said that ? Maybe its the severe cold over there,dont forget we are in dull old wet England and the wet weather can cause problems with cables ! it tends to be a very normal practice  over here and well worth the effort.Ive been oiling motorcycle cables for over 40 years and its never given me a problem, they even make a tool just for that job.

[pk7478]

Hi Graham. On the roads dust and mud are everywhere. Especially in the engine compartment, because during driving it works like dust camera of a vacuum cleaner. This 's**t' clings to oiled surfaces to units or to cables  and these parts begin to work with increased wear.
Oil in the clutch cable is an enemy of a self-adjustment mechanism. It must be dry as a clutch.

PS. Motorcycles have perfect ventilation of all units

[geoff]

Cables from new have Teflon liners for smooth operation and freedom from maintenance .... yippee !!

Unfortunately the liners wear over time and you either replace with new or lubricate.

When I got my van 60k miles ago the clutch cable was almost seized it seemed so not wanting to spend I removed it, flushed with diesel and then lubed it with oil, the auto adjuster I lubed with moly grease ( CV joint grease ).

I had an immediate improvement - revelation moment - and more importantly the benefits have maintained themselves over the last 60k miles.

[bikergraham]

Thank you Geoff for your input,most eloquent and well explained as always.Sorry PK i understand where your coming from but dont agree but very best regards anyway.

[Richard1192]

Hi all just a quick update, took it back to the garage with the new filter! after running it after a few minutes with the new filter and no change in engine, we noticed that there was air bubbles going through the fuel pipe from the filter housing to the injectors, after putting on a new filter housing all is good again.

but we noticed that the fuel level went from 1/2 tank to empty, for no reason while fitting new fuel filter, so im wondering if it has also got a faulty fuel gauge or something, i put £30 pounds of diesel in and its gone to just over half a tank again, just wondering if faulty fuel gauges are common, and easy to fix? thanks again for all your help guys!