MMM – September 2019

September 2019Need technical advice?[email protected] 165

MMM recommends ApprovedWorkshops TECHNICAL

Q

Why does myPeugeot motorhome

keep stopping with the EM light on?

Recently myPeugeot-based motorhome

broke downwitha complete loss of

power afterthe engine managementlight

came on.The AAcame tomy rescueand

managed torestart the engineeventually

bydepressingthe acceleratorpedal fully.

Eventhenit was slow tostart.They

connected acodereader, butthere were no

stored orpending faults shown.

I continued onmyway home, followed

bythe AA, andbroke downagaintwice

with the sameproblem and managed to

restart after waiting aminute ortwo.

When Igothome, I connected acode

readerandalsofoundnostored orpending

fault codes.

I tookit for arun andthe faultrecurred

with the enginemanagementlight on,

butit now justwentintolowpower mode

insteadof losingpower altogether.

The ABS light is alsolit, butthis may

bedue todisturbing awiring connection

when Ichecked all visible connectors

before the run, sothis maynot be

connected tothe main fault. Pleasecan

you advisewhat the problemmaybe?

Rob Brookes

A

While I havelittle experiencewith

Peugeot engines, thereis something

aboutthis problem that hasmybrain

buzzing.While the Fiat andPeugeot have

completely diferent e ngine management

systems, the CAN busor‘body computer’

is very similar and mayreact inthe same

wayto particular problems asthe Fiat

units do. hefaultwithloss of power can

becaused bymanythingsandsomeof

themwill bePeugeot-speciic, but afaulty

injectorortwo would certainly beamong

them. hereason thatI suggest injectors

is because onEuro5 Ducatos (Iamaware

that this vehicle is a Euro4, butbear with

me), if thereis a serious enoughfaultwith

the injectors, theABS orEBD warning

lights will comeon duringthe event. his

is a peculiarity of the sequencein which

devices areconnected to the CAN bus

network andit seemsthe only waythat

the undetermined faultcanbe lagged to

the driver.

I wouldtakethe vehicle to asuitable

workshopwhere tests canbecarriedout

and irst among those tests should bean

injectorleak-oftest, which will, without

too much trouble orcost, indicate if one

of the most commoninjectorfaults is

present.If theyarewithin tolerance; the

garage should beable to delve deeper to

igure outwhat is goingon.

NickFisher

Thankyou for looking intothis. This

certainly soundslikea possible cause.

These systems aresocomplexnow!As

advised, I havetaken it to aPeugeot dealer

forfault diagnosis, so fingers crossedI will

wait forthe diagnosis, butwill certainly

mentionthe possibility of faulty injector(s)

if its tests areinconclusive. I will keepyou

informedof the outcomeof this asit may

prove useful toyour other readers with

similar problemsin future.

Rob Brookes

The July issue (p212) had a very

interesting feature about suspension

and levelling systems.

While air susp ension can,it seems,

allow for apotentially heavier payload

(an issue that is also covered by an

articl e in the same edition) in addition

to ‘optimumride comfort and on-road

stability’, my questionis whether they

are mutually exclusive with regards to

levelling systems? Is ther e an ything

on t he market that can achieve those

comfort and stability functions while

driving, in addition toachieving alevel

pitch when arri ving on site?

I ha ve a Chausson 630,on a Ford

Transit chassis, andmy aim is to try

and find something thatcould do all of

these. Unless I ammissing something,

such a product would give the a bove

results butthose mentioned/ava ilable

seem to doone (suspension) or the

other (levelling on site).

Jerry Aldous

A

It’s a really interesting point.As

ever, the answer isn’t quite that

simple, though! In the caseof your

Ford Transit, which uses McPherson

struts andeithera connected semi-

independent axle (if FWD)or a solid

axle (RWD)you’re limited inthe

amount of levellingyou canachieve

with asemi-airsystembytheleaf

springs andtension in the frontsprings.

If you it arear-only semi-air system

with individually adjustableairbags

you’ll beableto achieve alimited

amount of levellingcontrol, but this

will belimitedbyaxle extension

anddroop and the weight acting on

yoursprings.

Ona previouscampervan Iowned,

which hadindividually adjustable semi-

air front andrear, I found that Icould

achieve alittle bitof levelling front to

rear, butonly a limited amount from

sideto side.

Overall, I’m abig fanof semi-air

(especially ontherear of a coachbuilt)

as it gives such an improvement in ride

quality andstability for themoney.

You canhavea full-air suspension

system– where theOEsuspensionis

replaced bya set-upthat canberaised

entirely byair– installed butyou needto

weighthebeneits against thecost and

this wouldnot beas eicient atlevelling

as a levellingsystemthatuses hydraulic

(or electric) ramsto level the’van.

Peter Rosenthal

Q

Can air suspension improve the road holding

and also be used for levelling?