2008 Nissan X-Trail diesel problems.

Nekarsulm

Hi all, wife has an X Trail, and on saturday it stopped several times when she was driving.
Restarted after a brief spin of the starter, and kept going another twenty minutes. Not got proper power.
Sounded like a diesel filter to me, so fitted one this evening.
No better at all.
Discovered diesel running from the under engine tray, so removed it.
There is a rigid steel pipe pointing downwards, bolted to the rear of the gearbox, and a steady stream of diesel coming from it.
No sign of any other pipe to connect to it.
Anyone know what this is, or, if it's some kind or drain pipe, why its flowing out diesel now?
Our local Nissan garage is up for sale and not really functioning...
Thanks in advance.

Nekarsulm

Nekarsulm wrote: »

..........
There is a rigid steel pipe pointing downwards, bolted to the rear of the gearbox, and a steady stream of diesel coming from it............

Is that a line from the tank perhaps?

Nekarsulm

Augeo wrote: »

Is that a line from the tank perhaps?

It's not, Augeo.
Tank lines are plastic.
I'm afraid it might be some kind of drain from the diesel pump, and that the pump is fecked...

Irish Steve

I would be more inclined to think that it's a drain pipe from the filter area, and there is an issue having changed the filter.

Nekarsulm

Thanks Steve, unfortunately nothing so simple or cheap.
An injector has failed, and started pressuring what would be the excess fuel line on a normal, old school diesel engine.
This line (and the other three) run to a kind of non-return valve located on top of the cylinder head.
The pressure from the failed injector has burst the valve.
Due to the shape of the cylinder head/rocker cover, diesel can pool there, and there is a steel drain pipe from the area.
As it's a Renault engine, normal garages cannot remove these injectors.
Some kind of hydraulic puller, with a "pulse" type action is needed and it's on it's way to a diesel specialist now.
Best case scenario seems to be 4 injectors at between 145 and 185 euro each ( depending on brand) new non return valve, and new steel lines between the diesel high pressure pump and the injectors, as these cannot be re-used.
Plus labour, plus vat.
Add in labour and I can see the bill heading for €1500.
And hope the injectors come out cleanly...

Irish Steve

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Thanks Steve, unfortunately nothing so simple or cheap.

Ahh, not nice. I feel your pain.

Just spent a cold evening putting a new injector washer into my Picasso, the old one had started leaking, fuming and leaving carbon deposits all over the place, so it had to be sorted before it became a much bigger problem. No 4, so all sorts of things had to be taken off to get to the injector, and in the end, it was easier and quicker to remove the bonnet and scuttle in order to be able to see into the injector hole and make sure that all the deposits had been removed, and that the seat area was clean. Sounds like yours is a lot more complex, I wasn't aware that there were problems getting Renault injectors out, hopefully it will all work out OK for you.

Nekarsulm

So to finish the saga...
Injectors came out cleanly, one had failed,one on the way out and the last two still OK.
Replaced all four with new, plus a steel fuel pipe, total with labour and vat was 1250 euro.