Poorly T Plate 1.8Tdi/tddi Focus

[Apex]

Hi there hoping you can help me :)

My Focus is playing up and before i spend any more money on it i would like some other opinions on what could be causing the issues.

Back Story:

Baught in September 2010, no issues at all, started first time on the button, fast forward to the cold snap we had in december car had been left for 4 days, it fired up but cut out 30secs later and would not restart.

Due to needing to get to work i made other arrangements and left the car for a week - finally get RAC out who diagnosed frozen fuel lines - car had been sitting in the shade at around -10 to -15 where it was (he tryed jump start, didn't work, sprayed some easy start into air box and it would turn but not on it's own) - Car is finally towed 9hrs later home where it sat for another week before i could have any one look at it.

Car back with me on Xmas Eve, me now 375 quid lighter (starter motor had been killed by the constant attempts to turn it over and a part from the injection pump (sits between the tank and the pump and operates electronicly) )

It was fine, no lumpyness, rough idel, smoke or knock, i had been to manchester and back and the car had been fine.

Q Wednesday last week when i went to start it for work and well it sounded like a bag of spanners and the volume of smoke :s

I've had the injectors looked at and 2 out of the four where blocked, these have been cleaned but this has made no difference; the symptoms i have are

Rough idel and allmost sounds like the car is going to cut out, and before where i could just slowly let the clutch up and th car would pull it's self now results in the car cutting out.

The volume of smoke out the back is worrying, it's white and smells like diesel (not black or blue/gray)

It sounds like a bag of spanners, it feels like it will shake it's self to bits :(

Lack of power, so in tandam with the rough idel is the lack of power and it will rush, before the car would easy pull from 1100rpm now it's waiting till closer to 1900rpm when the turbo kicks in and you get some power but it's still lacking the punch it use to give.

The car is not eating oil and theres no white resadue on the cap.

Before i go any further with this or spend any more money are there any options i an try before i decide what to do ?

Thanks

Andrew

[jeebowhite]

What car is it? model / year?

Sounds like it may have some guff in the fuel tank, leaving it standing and it froze then defrosted, then froze again, probably didnt help the matter, but it cant be helped!

How many miles have you done since the issue arose? you may find its worthwhile (depending how much fuel you have in the tank) just pouring some redex or another treatment in!

Due to the age of the car, and the problems you had, you may find it worthwhile checking the fuel / oil filters, as when frozen any guff / liquid in there may have clogged up the system.

[Apex]

T (99) Plate 1.8TDi/TDDi Focus - 98k on the clock - i had done 250miles before it started to smoke / knock feel worse then a tractor

There is just over 1/4 tank left.

I can get a full service kit for around 60 quid, would you say it was prudent to do this before doing anything else (bare in mind i am reluctent to spend any more money if this turns out to be a case of swapping parts till will find the cause)

Could the easy start that the RAC put in have caused a issue with the MAF or whould this have shown up straight away and not after 200 odd miles ?

Could the Knock and Smoke be caused by the timing being out (would have thought this would have shown up right away not after 200+ miles)

Piston Rings ? (would have expected black smoke and the oil to be going down)

I am running out of ideas and short of just taking it into a ford dealers and saying "fix it" which i know will cost more then the car is worth.

[jeebowhite]

OK, first of all, apologies, I should have read the header of the forum! *fool*

It could be a number of things, it could be the timing belt causing the spanner feeling as that does control quite a lot! as they tend to renew them in 2k time, then that isnt a bad shout!

The Easy Spray I dont know what it is that it really does to make the engine start so I couldnt comment really on that (maybe someone else can???) but depending on what the chemical is, It could be polluting the air going into the engine, but if that was the case, why would the RAC use it, so I think we are best placed to allow someone more knowledgable comment on that!

Piston rings, I agree you would expect to see black smoke if it was burning oil...

As for the service kit, I suppose it could help but I am at a loss now what to advise, as you dont want to spend too much at this stage, you may find it best getting the car hooked up to diagnostics but at a ford fee that matches your full service kit, you might end up spending more.

The rought idle could be down to the timing, or the idle control valves / sensors.

I'm probably just confirming most of what you already know so I think I will leave this one open to other opinions and see what else is said!

[Apex]

Local indy garage opinion currently based on details given; fuel related pointing towards the pump

2 local diesel repair places, fuel pump related going on details given

Eng firm that deals with replacement engines, fuel pump related and stated it's a common fault on these pumps

Can you see a pattern here ?

Anyway car's booked in for the local indy garage to have it hooked upto the Bosch diag machine and see what codes this throws out (£30 + vat, better then ford wanting 90 quid)

I've now found two places that do inpsection and repairs of your current pump/EDC unit fair cheaper then a brand new one (ford dealer i could expect to pay from £800 upwards....)

If the indy believes 100% that the pump is the problem i might before commiting to any work send the pump / EDC unit off for inspection

i've now contacted a third place that deals with diesel pump repairs and asked for a opinion