RichardM

Hi Nev, Booting mine just gives you a nice smile as it kicks up the road like a Porsche, (well almost), no smoke, no complaints... just that she sometimes throws a wobbler and dies for no reason at all.. tootling along at 40 and woops off she goes (bloody hard to stear when there's no power steering to help out!). I can live withthe hot no start - sort of but the dying with no warning is dangerous. Ah well let's see what happens next.

if you don't have any problem starting then I doubt if there is anything wrong with the battery... these busses are very demanding on the battery when starting.

Greetings one and all (again). Still suffering the no start when the engine is hot (normal running temp). Swapped the fuel feed solenoid from my 'spare' parts Voyager. Started first time, took her for a run to warm her up, switched off, counted to 500 or so (cup of coffee actually), switched her on and up she fired. Delight, delight, delight. Set off for home, 4 miles later engine cuts out and won't start. Out with the cold start fired up and drove home only for her to die again as I was turning into the drive, managed to roll far enough to abandon her for an hour. Went back started fine, parked her up the drive and went to bed. Next morning started her up went for a nervous drive around the block, no problem. Today drove to town, road works everywhere, nervously arrived in town half hour later. Bought the paint, went to start... nope... out with the ether, brum brum and drove home. Now the question.. what the hell is wrong with her ??? Put your foot down and she rips through the revs like a banshee. Drives beautifully until she doesn't. Problem is I have no confidence in the reliability, especially when considering long journeys. I am not convinced she isn't sucking air in somewhere but after new filter housing etc. I don't know. Question 2 : Where is this air bleed valve (see attached of page [RG Diesel Supplement Page 14a.4..] do you have one ? Neither of the Voyagers I own have one. Does anyone have any idea how to check for air in the system? With the new air filter housing I ca attempt to prime the line But it never seems to get hard enough to prevent further priming and, as the fuel system has ?? a non return valve feeding excess fuel back to the tank ?? I would not expect it to go rock solid .. should it ? aarrggghhhh. Have a good day.

I had this same experience a few months ago. Why it happened I have no idea, but with these vehicles various problems both large and small seem to hover around the periphery and sneak up on you, rather like a poltergeist, so how to cure it - well for me it was like sorting the computer out i.e. rebooting the beast. How ?, disconnect the negative terminal on the battery (10mm spanner), go and have a cup of tea (at least five minutes) reconnect the battery - ensure all doors etc are closed before reconnecting, switch on the ignition, and see what happens... I did this and everything was tickety -boo until I started the car in town after being parked up fot the day and hey-ho had to drive home (8 miles) with the alarm blaring and flashers flashing again. Disconnected battery again, left it overnight reconnected and so far so good - but still have no idea why it threw a wobbler in the first place.

Just an update on the hubs I bought from GSF; they have performed flawlessly, great value for money.

Well done on rectification, (wish I had your patience !

I would suggest you have serious words with whoever rebuilt your rack, you should have recourse on them for full rectification.

OH Bignev... and I thought I was suffering..... I don't want to tempt fate but the only problem(s) I have are difficult to start when engine is hot, Very very occasionally she just dies whilst driving along (bloody difficult to steer when the engine dies) have to wait an indeterminate time and then away she goes with no apology, no explanation and performs faultlessly .. until the next time. In three? years have replace fuel filter assembly (understand this is almost an annual event). New camshaft sensor. Heavy battery drain (cured by pulling the amplifier fuse (must get round to fixing the fault rather than bypassing it)). New front hub assemblies, much quieter now. Oh and the interior mirror fell off one very hot day .. must get round to fixing that. Have had numerous cases of the old girl having a mental breakdown (Thatcham alarm detonating .. interesting how little notice people take of a car driving down the road with the hazard lights flashing and the siren announcing itself to the world), cured by disconnecting battery (took four attempts). Handbrake of course is working as well as can be expected under the circumstances (but it gets through the MOT (sympathy vote I think). I bought another GV about a year ago as a spare parts store, haven't burgled it yet, apart from removing the amplifier with the intent on replacing mine (see battery drain) but removing the rear o/s trim seems to guarantee breaking the trim's supports and until I get round to checking the unidentified (huge) diode (not shown in the manual) am not 100% convinced it's a fault in the amp itself - any ideas ? So it seems I should count myself lucky ??

Silly idea, but will suggest it anyway as it doesn't cost anything. Disconnect the battery for 15 minutes, reconnect it with all doors etc. closed and light switches etc. off, when I do this I also shove a bulldog clip over the bonnet microswitch and if you've got a heavy leakage current, which I think you mentioned previously, pull the audio fuse (pink 30A). Reconnect, wait a minute for the demon(ic) computer to check itself out and switch on the ignition......hopefully it may solve some of the problems, if not suggest you get your meter out and check the alternator wiring (continuity etc) , the wire colours I attached to the last reply will I hope help with this. Best of luck, keep us informed of progress, or lack thereof.

Correct Carrotts, the manual (all praise for it's accuracy!!) designates it as the rear power output (rear cig lighter); attached is list of fuse designations Fuses.pdf

So, as usual the manual for the 'Export Model' is BS. Hardly surprising considering my (limited) experience working on the old girl, I usually ship it off to my friendly garage as I have neither the enthusiasm, motivation or tool set to deal with her. I guess I'm lucky having a local garage that I trust, they are honest even to the point of telling me to get rid of the bus and buy something more reliable, but I'm 6'5" and it's the only car I've driven that doesn't require double jointed knees. It's also great to just drop the seats when I need a van rather than the hernia inducing removal of other vehicles.......

Sorry but the manual states ; OPERATION Refer to the proper Body Diagnostic Procedures manual for complete chime/buzzer operation and conditions for operation. Don't even know what this manual is, the only other reference is to use the impossible to find and bank balance draining DRB 111 scan tool. Hopefully it's just the buzzer / chime itself that has gone up the duff, assume its buried in the dash but I honestly don't know... Anyone out there with any ideas ?

The Voyager's parking brake is famous for being useless, especially on the export models that have a hand operated braking system. The Yanks have a foot operated system aka Mercedes and you can put a lot more force on the brakes with a size ten than you can with your arm. Just try pulling on the hand brake as hard as you can (use both hands and pull like buggery (you wont brake the cables - unless they are very badly corroded). Do this a few (many) times and see what happens (it doesn't cost anything anyway). This helped with mine, it's still pathetic but it got through the MOT. Don't know what year your vehicle is but this info from the manual (for what it's worth) for the 2005 on RG chassis model; The automatic-adjusting feature in the foot operated parking brake lever continuously applies minimal tension to the parking brake cables when the parking brake lever is in the released position to keep them in adjustment at all times. Due to this feature, the parking brake cables require no periodic adjustment. When the parking brake lever is applied, the cables are pulled, thus applying the brake shoes (rear drum brakes) or parking brake shoes (rear disc brakes) at each rear wheel. The brake shoes are mechanically operated by an internal lever and strut connected to the rear parking brake cables. An equalizer bracket is used at the rear end of the front parking brake cable to distribute tension equally to each parking brake cable. Vehicles equipped with rear disc brakes use a small duo-servo brake assembly mounted to the each rear disc brake calliper adapter as the parking brake. The inside of the brake rotor (hat section of drum-inhat style brake rotor) is used as the parking brake drum. Best of luck - edit your profile to identify your vehicle !!

Suggest if you're replacing the sensor check the rotor for corrosion, had to replace the n/s/f sensor for the MOT in December & the rotor's corrosion had built up so much that it scoured the sensor's bottom edge off (hence the ABS light on!)

I don't know if this is of use to anyone, it's the fuse's value & wiring relating to the above image... Fuses.pdf

Oh I don't know about that, at least if I say "got to look at the car" it gets me out of mowing the lawn or cutting the hedge (and sometimes get an extra cuppa as well!)

Attached layout of fuses (as per mine) ..but the fuse labelled Transmission does bugger all.... Apparently there is another fuse under the power distribution module adjacent to the flitch.. was searching for it some time ago but other things came up (don't you love the Yanks..?)

Well the hubs arrived after 2 days (blxxdy heavy) and checked them for shoulders and yup they have them. Arranged with Judds (friendly garage) to fit them today and apart from a few curses about everything being seized (the n/s had to be ground through to release it) job done and dusted. Driving the old girl back home was a revelation, so quiet ... I haven't done any mileage yet but the hubs certainly look the part, fit as per originals and were less than £85.00 for the pair. (Ebay GSF). GSF's item number for these hubs is 303770358853.When you order they ask you to supply your VIN and they then confirm suitability, as I said no mileage on them yet but so far an excellent buy.

Thought I'd drop this in from the manual... IGNITION-OFF DRAW TEST The term Ignition-Off Draw (IOD) identifies a normal condition where power is being drained from the battery with the ignition switch in the Off position. A normal vehicle electrical system will draw from fifteen to twenty-five milliamperes (0.015 to 0.025 ampere) with the ignition switch in the Off position, and all non-ignition controlled circuits in proper working order. Up to twenty-five milliamperes are needed to enable the memory functions for the Powertrain Control Module (PCM), digital clock, electronically tuned radio, and other modules which may vary with the vehicle equipment. A vehicle that has not been operated for approximately twenty-one days, may discharge the battery to an inadequate level. When a vehicle will not be used for twenty-one days or more (stored), remove the IOD fuse from the Integrated Power Module (IPM). This will reduce battery discharging. Excessive IOD can be caused by: ² Electrical items left on. ² Faulty or improperly adjusted switches. ² Faulty or shorted electronic modules and components. ² An internally shorted generator. ² Intermittent shorts in the wiring. If the IOD is over twenty-five milliamperes, the problem must be found and corrected before replacing a battery. In most cases, the battery can be charged and returned to service after the excessive IOD condition has been corrected. (1) Verify that all electrical accessories are off. Turn off all lamps, remove the ignition key, and close all doors. If the vehicle is equipped with an illuminated entry system or an electronically tuned radio, allow the electronic timer function of these systems to automatically shut off (time out). This may take up to twenty minutes. (2) Disconnect the battery negative cable. (3) Set an electronic digital multi-meter to its highest amperage scale. Connect the multi-meter between the disconnected battery negative cable terminal clamp and the battery negative terminal post. Make sure that the doors remain closed so that the illuminated entry system is not activated. The multimeter amperage reading may remain high for up to three minutes, or may not give any reading at all while set in the highest amperage scale, depending upon the electrical equipment in the vehicle. The multi-meter leads must be securely clamped to the battery negative cable terminal clamp and the battery negative terminal post. If continuity between the battery negative terminal post and the negative cable terminal clamp is lost during any part of the IOD test, the electronic timer function will be activated and all of the tests will have to be repeated. (4) After about three minutes, the high-amperage IOD reading on the multi-meter should become very low or non existent, depending upon the electrical equipment in the vehicle. If the amperage reading remains high, remove and replace each fuse or circuit breaker in the Integrated Power Module (IPM), one at a time until the amperage reading becomes very low, or non existent. Refer to the appropriate wiring information for complete Integrated Power Module fuse, circuit breaker, and circuit identification. This will isolate each circuit and identify the circuit that is the source of the high-amperage IOD. If the amperage reading remains high after removing and replacing each fuse and circuit breaker, disconnect the wire harness from the generator. If the amperage reading now becomes very low or non existent, (Refer to 8 - ELECTRICAL/CHARGING - DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING) for the proper charging system diagnosis and testing procedures. After the high-amperage IOD has been corrected, switch the multi-meter to progressively lower amperage scales and, if necessary, repeat the fuse and circuit breaker remove-and-replace process to identify and correct all sources of excessive IOD. It is now safe to select the lowest milliampere scale of the multi-meter to check the low amperage IOD. CAUTION: Do not open any doors, or turn on any electrical accessories with the lowest milliampere scale selected, or the multi-meter may be damaged. (5) Allow twenty minutes for the IOD to stabilize and observe the multi-meter reading. The low-amperage IOD should not exceed twenty-five milliamperes (0.025 ampere). If the current draw exceeds twenty five milliamperes, isolate each circuit using the fuse and circuit breaker remove-and-replace process in Step 4. The multi-meter reading will drop to within the acceptable limit when the source of the excessive current draw is disconnected. Repair this circuit as required;

Redtop batteries (AGM) tend to be 810 /60Ah - but your battery should cope though not ideal, but if you have left her idle for a couple of days you may have encountered the dreaded parasitic drain (masses of previous posts on this topic)..Check this (carefully), after charging your battery with a muti-meter (set on Amps range) by disconnecting the battery negative lead and connect the meter in series (negative terminal on the battery post, positive on the earth lead with the meter leads placed in the correct sockets (if necessary). Ensure doors etc are shut, set the interior lights selector to permanently off (most down position) and strap a clamp on the bonnet-open microswitch. Wait a couple of minutes for the system to complete it's check cycles and then see how much current the system is pulling. If it's higher than (50mA ?) you have a problem. There are lots of problems reported with the audio amplifier.. including mine, I 'solved' mine temporarily by pulling the audio fuse and shoving it back if I go on a long journey.

Isn't that what wives are for ?

I don't want to appear the forums harbinger but.... If you have the OE installed radio / cd / amp then without a degree in electronics or the willingness to buy a soldering iron and hammer then you stand very little chance of integrating any hands free kit with the audio system. There are one or two detailed postings on the forum regarding this question, peruse & scream... Ah, the fun and enjoyment of the Voyager, but at least the default audio system sounds good... even if it does drain the battery of many owners. SORRY.................Richard

I'm about to replace the front wheel hubs on my Voyager - only 92K on the clock but she's getting very noisy and some (minimal) vibration on the steering wheel. I have ordered 2 hubs from GSF via ebay, have read on a previous post that there may be compatibility problems with the wheel studs. I assume I can swop the studs from the existing hubs but not sure, any info would help as I want to get this process over as quickly and painlessly as possible! Cheers Richard

Having searched for one for ages I wish yJ1850ou the best of luck. Search through the forum for OBD & scanner and peruse the results. The 2006 uses PCI bus ( J1850 PWM on pin 2 (4&5 Ground)). Pins 7 & 15 indicate SCI but haven't figured out how to talk to it yet.. Pin 9 indicates Flash Programme Enable which may have some relevance to the SCI bus but again haven't any more knowledge than that. According to some the only way to dig deep is with the DRB111 reader but others say this is obsolete re the later Voyagers - don't know, never seen one, they're vastly expensive and apparently as rare as hens' teeth. So, review the forum, search the net & if there are no problems, leave well alone (advice from me and my bank manager)

P0406 is associated with the EGR (Exhaust gas recirculation valve / sensor - it appears to be a common problem with the Voyager diesel - obviously the petrol version is not immune. You may be able to clear it with a good long run but no guarantees.