60 replies to this topic

[dogdays1]

The reason I know about this fault is that it happened to me . My Focus would not start one morning so I got the AA out. The car started for him but he did his diagnostic and suggested that it was either the EGR jammed or fuel issues.. So I took it to Ford. They found a blocked fuel filter and also the air was not very good either, they also cleaned the EGR. All this 3 months after a service. Since then starting has never been a problem.Though the EGR did stick once on the Motorway.

[mkelbie]

Mine is still starting now after a new seal on the fuel filter. Hopefully it continues but any issues again I am going to have to pay ford prices to find the fault

[jeebowhite]

fuel filter seal sounds about right, with any fortune it should stay well, but do keep us in the know, it will be good to know thats the issue for definate as we can add it to a general fix list

[Stoney871]

It is always recommended to change the fuel filter seal at the same time as the filter, over time the seal loses flexibility and when undone and retightened it doesn't always seat properly.
Even a tiny bit of air into the filter housing will cause fuelling problems and starting problems.

[mkelbie]

Thought I would update this thread and see if anyone thinks there's a connection. Car is having problems again

 

 

I had the fault with it not starting and the fix seemed to be the fuel filter seal but now I have the same engine warning but experiencing a different issue.

 

A month ago I had a similar problem and I called the AA out who said no fault code was being given so they took it into Halfords because I have the repair cover. They told me a pipe was split and they replaced that, AA paid the warranty, I paid the £35 excess and since then I haven't had power loss issues or anything like that until today.

 

Upon leaving work today my car shuddered slightly and the engine light came on and loss of power, no smoke or anything pouring out the back but it just felt lagged, its shuddered again and light went off power resorted. I got about 5 miles and it did the same thing again only this time it stayed on and I had loss of power so I stopped on the hard shoulder. The AA came out and couldn't find any faults nor was the ecu giving a fault code so they have recovered me to the Halfords again.

 

I am just a bit worried now whats happened, the car starts 1st time and doesn't throw out any smoke (it does 1st start in the morning) but I don't understand why it works for a minute then the fault comes and I have a loss of power. I was recovered to the garage drove round the Halfords perfect then when I parked the car the warning came back so there is definitely a fault, I just hope its not expensive.

 

If anyone has ideas I would be grateful because Halfords will charge me a fortune in diagnostics fees if they cant find the fault.

 

Car has done 97,266 miles now and isn't due a service, cam belt is due around 120K/10years but I will get then done relatively soon from now if I can fix this power issue.

 

Any help would be great!! I suspect turbo or EGR valve like suggested with my previous fault, air lock is out the question as it starts of the key.

 

Thanks

[Stoney871]

If it kicks in when the turbo should be spooling up then I'd say it's a turbo fault, if it's once the engine warns up then I'd say EGR.
Tbh I'd get codes checked with Ford as their diagnostics probably go deeper than halfords. (dedicated system as opposed to a generic one).

[mkelbie]

I don't think its turbo because (don't quote me on it) but if it a turbo has gone then surely its gone? Wouldn't work for 10 minutes then play up again then work?

 

Only time noticed the power loss was actually when the dash says Engine System Fault

 

AA checked it and there was no fault code, I will try explain to Halfords I'm not paying for them to tell me nothing so it may be worth going Fords then, I can still claim a repair but AA pay Halfords direct so through fords I would pay 1st.

 

That's if the claim is even valid.

 

What sorts of problems can you get with EGR and is it expensive to clean/repair?

[dogdays1]

If I were you I would get some injector cleaner, put it in the fuel tank then give the car a good belting down a fast road not sparing the revs. I suspect its your egr valve sticking but cannot be sure. If you only use the car for short Journeys and drive carefully the Ford diesels do not like it and act up. Ford ecu error codes are not very good and an engine light on does not always register. You really need to be connected up when driving the car under hard loading to get a true picture of whats happening. If the egr needs cleaning buy some egr cleaner and squirt it in via the maf sensor pipe where it joins the inlet manifold. Get someone to hold the revs at 1000 rpm whilst you do the squirting. Th engine revs will go up and down but don't be frightened. As for Halfords, are you sure they are the people to find difficult faults on a modern engine.

[mkelbie]

It gets 120miles a day on the motorway so there shouldn't be a build up.

I may try the cleaner and a hard drive. Only reason I chose halfords was its AA approved. They sort out the warranty claim direct so I get my car repaired and no messing about with payment.

Fords would be the best so I will see what gets said in the morning @ halfords and if I don't think I am getting anywhere I will go fords.

[mkelbie]

Halfords have just phoned me. Said they have found what they think was the problem, glow plugs putting the car into limbo mode hence loss of power.

They have done a road test and are doing a 2nd one to confirm it but they think its sorted now. I hope it is but I didn't think glow plugs would cause loss of power? I thought they would cause start problems so can anyone confirm or offer an input?

Thanks

[Mike77]

There was a bit of a debate a while back regrding glow plugs, I was under the impression that modern systems like ours, the glowplugs are not just there for starting, but also the will continue to operate while driving to burn off excess fuel to reduce emissions. From what i've now learned from here is, I was correct, BUT they only operate for up to 5 mins after starting (basically until the choke would be warm enough to shut off) then they are not in operation. Mine did throw up a light, and did suffer from the 'limp mode' situation, but upon checking mine, all 4 had given up the ghost. I was also getting ploom's of smoke from the back on the first start of the day, and this also took longer to start than normal.

    The thing I couldn't understand was this,,,,,, if the glowplugs only operate for 5 mins max after startup, why would the car go into limp mode for this problem if it was at operating temp, which would mean the glowplugs were redundant at the time, so shouldn't be sending any info to the cars brain to trigger the light ??? Guess I'll never know, but what I do know is, once new ones were fitted, my problem was gone, and all has been good since.

[mkelbie]

How many miles has your focus done? It does look like its glow plugs for me which is why am I confused as I thought the same, they only operate until the car warms up.

Mine has done 97k now and it was perfect when I got it last year with 53k. All off 2012 it was flawless. Only spent on services and discs/pads. Just this year alone I've had 2 pipes split on me, it was airlocked and wouldn't start and now this glow plug issue.

It's due an oil change, wheel bearing on both front wheels, cam belt and tyres. So it may be time to let it go :-/

[dogdays1]

I really do not see what glow plugs have to do with things once an engine is running. I have no doubt a glow plug had failed but once an engine is running they do not come on again, nor are they needed till its cold. Sounds like tosh to me!

 

If you sell cars every time they need a set of tyres, a simple wheel bearing, or cam belt you have to be very well financially found.The Endura engined Ford diesels can do very high mileages without problems. Mine has done 165,000. It has had one cam belt and new rear suspension bushes plus the usual brake parts. It still does not use oil and goes like a rocket. If only a new Ford still had this engine, not the Puegot diesel.

[mkelbie]

I didn't think they did anything once the car was running but even fords have confirmed the power loss could of been the plugs. Car started perfect this morning, didn't throw any smoke out the back or tick over lumpy until warm. Drove 60 miles to work and no issues or loss of power. Hopefully it's all sorted then.

It's not that I want to sell because it needs a bit of maintenance, it's just it's reaching 100k and as it is now its a good buy for an average driver but the high annual mileage I do it will have another 30K+ on it next year so Im just a bit worried it might not be up to it anymore so not spending money on it and I should sell it now.

[Stoney871]

A diesel will happily do twice that mileage and still keep going.