Limp mode, engine management light, 2.0hdi

[JasonJ]

Hi all
So my newly acquired 2005 2.0hdi went into slow mo. Lacks any power and won’t high rev. Uphills require 2nd gear.
Shortly after, the engine management light came on and won’t go out with engine running or not. 
I’ll get a mechanic to get the fault up as soon as I can.
Reading threads on here, I just got confused. 
Can anyone give me any possible (or common) reasons for this please? Fuel? Air intake? Dodgy sensor? Breather pipe?
I’d just given it an oil and filter change. Don’t think that’s related but I’m clutching at straws here!

[saskak]

Hi all
So my newly acquired 2005 2.0hdi went into slow mo. Lacks any power and won’t high rev. Uphills require 2nd gear.
Shortly after, the engine management light came on and won’t go out with engine running or not. 
I’ll get a mechanic to get the fault up as soon as I can.
Reading threads on here, I just got confused. 
Can anyone give me any possible (or common) reasons for this please? Fuel? Air intake? Dodgy sensor? Breather pipe?
I’d just given it an oil and filter change. Don’t think that’s related but I’m clutching at straws here!

I'm have little knowledge of the 2L, but did this happen just after you replaced the oil/oil filter? Somehow it points to something was disturbed while you did the oil/oil filter change. I once did my oil filter (the 1.6HDi) and it was not tight enough and it was complaining of low oil pressure. Re-fitted it and the error disappeared.
It could well be a coincidence, but you have to wonder.

[JasonJ]

Yeah I do wonder. Give it a drive to circulate the new oil and found it on a go slow. Went back home and lifted the bonnet to find I’d not put the filler cap back on.. school boy error. Took it for a test run and it was fine. Next time I used it it was slow again. After about 5mins the engie management light came on and won’t go off.
Maybe I’ve knocked a sensor? Or disturbed a lead/connector? All looks fine but something is wrong.
I’d prefer to do the cheap or free options before splashing out on stuff that won’t fix it. All hints and tips greatly appreciated at this stage.

[saskak]

Make sure the oil filter is not cross threaded or not screwed enough with the correct torque.

[Kieron G]

Could you have got oil on a sensor if oil sprayed out with cap off. I had engine light on Dispatch 2.0hdi. I needed to change clutch and Dual mass flywheel. I cleaned flywheel position sensor at same time and engine light never came back on.

[cancunia]

It could be the MAF, not sure if / how an oil change would trigger that though. The fault code that I got on my 2.0 at the time mine went into limp mode indicated an EGR problem but it turned out to be a false airflow reading. Try disconnecting the MAF and see if that makes a difference to the performance.

[crossvale]

Don't know if this will help but I had similar problem (see previous post). Turned out to be low fuel pressure and new fuel filter seems to have sorted it.
Good luck.

[JasonJ]

Thanks all. These are the starting points I’m looking for. Not sure what or where maf and egr sensors are? Or flywheel sensor? Tried looking round from under and above the engine. used contact cleaner on the plugs and sensors that I can see. Fuel filter is the only filter I’ve not yet changed as my parts supplier is asking if it’s a Bosch or Siemens housing. I can’t see any markings to id it.
Nothing as yet has worked. Mechanic is diagnosing tomorrow. Perhaps I should get one of those reader thingys? But that’ll be another thread on its own.
I’ll keep this post updated to see where it’s going to lead. And not the breakers I hope.

[Taffy747]

On the tube running from the air filter, there is an electrical plug ( i think it is for the MAF ) between the battery and the engine.Did you unplug this and forget to plug it back in? Yes buy yourself a code reader ,it will not tell you everything but it will give you a guide as to where to start looking .

[JasonJ]

I took off this plug to remove the air intake as I replaced the air filter. I gave it a spray today with contact cleaner. No joy. The only thing I’m left with to do is drain and change the fuel filter.
Mechanic is going to read the codes off for me tomorrow, so watch this space.
I just bought one on eBay and hope it works/compatible/unbroken and in English haha
I may not be winning with this car so far, but I’m getting much more familiar with it trying to sort it out.