K11 power problem...

E

Eggenberg

Hello again gang.

Well, after over a year of relatively trouble free & happy ownership we seem to have a problem with the K11.

My wife has on 3 occasions experienced complete power loss. No warning, normal driving conditions but afterwards there's a strong smell. The AA man (yeah, had to get the car towed to the garage one time) said "Oooh. That's you catalytic converter" but the cat's been passed as OK (car went through it's MOT last week and sailed it apart from a couple of minor welds.)

So, today it's happened again, same scenario but my wife managed to drive the car back from Edinburgh to Dunfermline and get it to the garage who, for a 2nd time, can find no fault.

Now today, she's just decided to mention that whenever she goes to fill the tank with petrol, instead of the tank filling up completely the pump's are clicking as though the tank's full but when she starts the engine the tank's only approx half full. Fuel economy's seemed to have gone to crap too. Whether this is related to the power loss.....?

Any ideas before we lose the plot?
 
ignition switch might be on a downer
filling fuel -----handle is positioned almost upside down 10-11 clock position
didnt the garage plug the car in diagnostics? oh well of course they did same as mine and it came back with nats fault and the eng check was continiously flashing,,,,,,after replacing ignition switch, light stopped flashing fuel economy was unheard of dredfull it was,coolant temp sensor cured me.
may or may not be your problem
 
the 1st garage may have meant the cat's overheated somehow n the honeycomb has collapsed, blocking the exhaust, causing high backpressure & flow and so reduce power

the clicking fuel filler is probably a common rubber breather pipe that's kinked over the yrs so gas can't be vented fast enough and so the filler pipe fills up too quickly triggering the pump to shut off
try rotating the nozzle abit and when the pump clicks, wait afew secs for the air to vent out the tank and fill up a little slower
 
@ R-SEG-SR - yeah, full diagnostic was run when 1st major power loss meant the AA had to drag the K11 back to the dealership. No issues were found at that time, car was taken for a run-in afterwards with no repeat of the problem.

@ pollyp - the car's with the mechanics tonight and due to be taken for a long drive by them tomorrow to see if there's a repetition but I'll have my wife mention the overheating cat/collapsed honeycomb scenario to them to see if that is a factor they've taken into consideration. I assume that a problem with the cat would go some way to explaining the recently terrible fuel consumption?

As to the non-filling problem, I had an inkling it was the breather-pipe but thought it best to mention it just in case there may have been a connection to the bigger picture.

Thanks for the pointers so far folks ;)
 
was it a power loss at idle or when under way eggenberg ? and did the dashlights go out ? and would it not restart/turn over ?
 
On the move frank - and no, the lights never went out, the engine was still "on" but had no juice to give and re-started after my wife had switched the engine off. Maybe I should have worded the original post better, sorry for any confusion.
 
if the mpg's also worsening, aside from the incomplete filling up of the tank, i think maybe the O2 sensors getting old n failing, which makes the ecu run in very rich safe mode (poor mpg), which could've showered the cat with unburnt fuel and when the hot exhaust ignites the unburnt fuel, the honycomb burns up (eggy smell) and collapses (poor power output)
 
It's a W reg, should've said that early on I guess.

My wife says the smell was defo not eggy but more like burned fuel. I wasn't present at any of these episodes so I'm not in a position to do the bloke thing and contradict her with superior olfactory diagnosis :D

Assuming the cat needs replaced, how much are we looking at here, approx? Obviously I'm concerned about throwing money at a 10 year old car...

Also, would a potential problem with the O2 sensors not show up on the diagnostic or would this issue only present itself when the power loss occurs?
 
Eggenberg said:
It's a W reg, should've said that early on I guess.

My wife says the smell was defo not eggy but more like burned fuel. I wasn't present at any of these episodes so I'm not in a position to do the bloke thing and contradict her with superior olfactory diagnosis :D

Assuming the cat needs replaced, how much are we looking at here, approx? Obviously I'm concerned about throwing money at a 10 year old car...

Also, would a potential problem with the O2 sensors not show up on the diagnostic or would this issue only present itself when the power loss occurs?
Click to expand...

Depends where you buy the cat from. If you go to Nissan for it, expect to pay MEGA money for one. Also I think there is a motor factors in the Elgin industrial estate. They might be able to get you one at a cheaper price.
 
Forgive my thickness when it comes to cars folks - like I said in my first ever post - pc's, shotguns & air rifles then I'm yer man but cars? Not got a Scooby, sorry.

IF the fuel's ignited inside the cat, would this not have completely destroyed the honeycomb or would this destruction be a process that will happen over time the more this issue occurs?

@ Scott - which Elgin industrial estate are you referring to mate?
 
The fuel couldn't have completely ignited in the cat, there's very little O2 left in exhaust gases...
 

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