Injector Fault repaired but now Polution error.

Hi All,
First of all let me explain that my knowledge of cars is pretty bad so please forgive me if I sound stupid.
I have copied/pasted an email I sent to a mechanic I know in Spain and I will continue this message at the end.
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We where in Spain for New Year and on the 3rd January I could smell diesel and had to drive Sues cousin back to Alicante airport so I drove slowly and on the way back I popped into Montesinos to see you about 10:15 but you where closed.
I drove straight to a garage by the Lidle on DreamHills and the garage bloke told me straight away before even looking at the engine that one of the injectors was damaged.The back of the car was covered in Diesel and diesel was by the front right wheel.
When we lifted the bonnet You could see that by the first injector it was wet so it seemed he was correct.
He quoted €380 to fix with a refurbished injector and as the car was not safe I had no choice.I picked the car up on the 5th and he told me the smell of diesel will eventually go,On the 7th (I never drove it on the 6th as everywhere was shut) I got the orange engine light on and an air pollution fault flashed up.
I took the car back to him and he said it would cost about €900 to fix so I called him a few choice names I told him I would take the car back to a mechanic who I could trust and he then plugged his scanner into the car and reset the warning lights.
When I got back and restarted the car the warning lights came on again and the car is not in limp mode but does seem a bit sluggish.
I had to come back to the Uk so had no time to do anything, the car passed its ITV in December and everything else works fine inc the aircon but my question to you is do you think it’s worth getting fixed or as the car has done about 200,000 kms am I best just getting another more modern car.
Then I would be left with a C3 that has had tons of money spent on it by both its previous owner and myself and it just seems a shame not to fix it.
I can accept the damage to the pollution system because diesel was just being thrown through the exhaust (I think) but if we repair it I have googled that if other injectors fail then the same could happen.

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I have Just spoken to the mechanic in Spain (whom I have used) and he thinks it was probably the overfill that was the problem because if the injector was replaced it would have needed to be programmed by a diesel specialist.

Based on the above does anyone have any idea what has gone on ?

Cheers
Nick

Hi nickjarrod

nickjarrod wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 9:42 am but my question to you is do you think it’s worth getting fixed or as the car has done about 200,000 kms am I best just getting another more modern car.

If you are paying anyone to fix the injection system of a 2006 diesel C3 then it is probably going to cost you more than the car is worth.

I don't think you need a more modern car, this has it's own problems. The thing to look for is low mileage and a full service history.

Injectors can fail due to a lack of maintenance and seeing as all injectors have all covered the same mileage, they all have similar wear and life expectancy.

To test injectors, do a simple leak-off test.

nickjarrod wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 9:42 am When I got back and restarted the car the warning lights came on again and the car is not in limp mode but does seem a bit sluggish.

You need to read the codes to see what brought up the 'engine fault light' - use this OBD2 reader (here) to get the code. This can help you identify the fault location.

nickjarrod wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 9:42 am if the injector was replaced it would have needed to be programmed by a diesel specialist.

Do you have the 16 valve or the 8 valve engine?


If you have the 16 valve you can program the injectors with lexia but you would need the correct numbers from the new injector......

nickjarrod wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 9:42 am Then I would be left with a C3 that has had tons of money spent on it by both its previous owner and myself and it just seems a shame not to fix it.

If you can't do it yourself, it will cost cost cost. Probably cheaper to swap a replacement engine in.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply, unfortunately the car is in Spain and im not back there till March so will have to wait till then.

My big concern is that the car is currently in Airport parking so I hope it will start when I get there. In Spain the value of cars are rediculous with a C3 with an ITV and say 200,000kms being worth about 2,000 euros, the car has been serviced when required and as I have said I have a mountain of paperwork covering all the work done.
I will update you once I get to Spain and I have an OBD2 reader that I used on my old Ford Mondeo so before I take the car to the garage there I will get the readings and post on here.

Cheers

Nick