Oh no....a new issue for my tb45e. Where to look?

[ozzymalone]

Hi All,

So the missus has called me today and said that while driving the GU TB45E (Dual Fuel) she heard a small *pop* noise (she thinks it felt like somewhere in the middle of the car- transfer case? idk) and smelt something (sorry she is a bit non-descript) and the car began to run rough and have severely lacked power. She was running on lpg at the time but said it didn't smell of gas and the tank was still half full so shouldn't be a back fire. She crawled to a servo, filled up the petrol and swapped fuel supply. Still happened while running on petrol. Completely down on power and mentioned going up hill was at walking pace and turning the motor seemed to run rough very rough.

I am stuck at work so obviously haven't had a look but stressing myself silly in the meantime. Any thoughts of what to look for when I get home? I have just replaced a hose in the cooling system and everything here was tested a ok afterward so thinking perhaps a driveline or diff issue? Perhaps chewed a tooth in the diff or worse something has gone bad in the trans (Auto) or transfer case for some reason.....I am quite hopeless with all things mechanical so sorry for the bad write up...any suggestions in the meantime will be muchly appreciated.

When I get home I will have a squiz and see if i can see anything obvious but unsure of how to do some of the tests on the transfer case/driveline myself.

Once again, all of your help and input is appreciated.

[BigRAWesty]

Do you guys Run maf sensors?
Thinking dis a backfire affect a sensor??

[Bob]

Try disconnecting the Battery for 30 Minutes (to reset ECU) and then try.
Clean MAF sensor if you know how. There is a thread on here how to do it

Cant see how running rough would have anything to do with Transmission

[ozzymalone]

I have a feeling it does run a MAF sensor. In the last 1000 k's I have replaced the intake plumbing as I blew a hole in the last one under a backfire situation (Ran the lpg too low). Has run perfect since replacing the plumbing so I wouldn't have thought the MAF would be the issue but it did cross my mind. What would you suggest Westy's?....MAF cleaner? I have recently done a little bit of offroad wheeling so maybe dust could have covered the sensor?

[Evo]

Hi mate,

Im far from an expert, but if it's running rough and down on power, I would be more inclined to look at the motor rather than driveline.
Wondering if it's something to do with timing/ignition to be gone on both fuel types.
Throwing things out there, maybe a vac line has popped off or blown.
Be interesting to know what sort of smell, if it was an electrical, or rubber, or oily type of smell.

I have the same motor in my GU, but is manual, so maybe someone with knowledge on the autos might be more helpful as I don't know if they are vac controlled, cable controlled, or computer controlled, because it might be something simple on trans, if it seems to be middle of car.

If you can possibly find out and provide more info on the sound and smell, might narrow it down a bit.

Cheers

Evo

[ozzymalone]

Will try get more info tonight....I have read your whole saga Evo and hope you can get to the bottom of it soon. Fingers and toes crossed for you and I alike mate.

[BigRAWesty]

I have a feeling it does run a MAF sensor. In the last 1000 k's I have replaced the intake plumbing as I blew a hole in the last one under a backfire situation (Ran the lpg too low). Has run perfect since replacing the plumbing so I wouldn't have thought the MAF would be the issue but it did cross my mind. What would you suggest Westy's?....MAF cleaner? I have recently done a little bit of offroad wheeling so maybe dust could have covered the sensor?

Ha. No idea mate. The symptoms you were describing sounds maf like.

Um, as above, disconnect the battery and turn the lights on to drain the circuit.

If you know how to clean em do that to..

[Evo]

They do have a maf, also what type of gas setup do you have, as in mixer, injected?

Hoping to get a step closer to my issues tomorrow, hope yours don't take as long to solve.

Evo

[Kevs GU]

Gday ozzymalone, I have the 4.8l dual fuel had a similar thing happen lose of power on both fuels,we found that the main muffler had collapsed restricting the exhaust flow new muffler problem fixed.Just a thought.
Cheers Kev.

[ozzymalone]

Ok dokey. So got home and started with fluid checks to err on the side of caution....all levels good. All belts where they should be. Kicked it over on petrol and the idle was extremely low and rough. Took it for a crawl around the block. Found that the take off was erratic, low powered and all together no good. Once moving and down to second gear she seemed to run almost perfect. Stop, and try take off again and back to square one. It seemed worse on a downhill take off which is odd. So started thinking either maf or air/fuel mix.

Popped the bonnet and low and behold found the centre butterfly nut on the air box loose....thought to myself, "Wow! You might have just figured this out yourself". Tightened it back up, checked the rest of the intake plumbing in case another leak was present but no luck. Went for another little drive......seemed better but certainly not fixed. Still erratic on takeoff with gentle throttle. Hmmmm. Will go disconnect battery shortly and see if a half hour rest is what the doc ordered.

In the meantime any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also is the maf on this model look different to that of the one posted in ynots/Tony's write up? Will post a pic of what I think it is after dinner