Gombal: Ford Fusion 1.4 Tdci Trend 2004

[Gombal]

In my case with the Euro-4 engine i have an electronic EGR valve and a throttle valve.

The Euro-3 had a vacuum EGR and no throttle valve.

The latter was easy, you could just simply remove the whole EGR sh.t and you were done.

Sadly, in my car the ECU is a bit smarter. I also have more sensors then the Euro-3 version. (Manifold pressure and inlet temp behind the turbo)

One of the main differences in EGR control philosophies between the vacuum EGR and the electronic EGR is that the latter is smart.

The vacuum EGR just gets some input to open more and less and that's it.

In my case the EGR valve is used to let the engine warm up more quickly by closing the throttle valve partially to create a vacuum and thus drawing in more exhaust gasses. One way the ECU controls if everything is going ok is to see decreasing flow through the MAF (partially closed throttle valve so less air drawn through MAF). I don't think it's controlled by the vacuum measured by the MAP sensor cause i've already seen vacuums of -150 mbar after the turbo and no errors.

But to continue, if the ECU gives the throttle the command to partially close it expects to see less flow through the MAF. But because i removed the disc from the throttle valve nothing happens with the airflow! So instead of seeing decreasing airflow the MAF keeps seeing the same airflow.

So if, for example, it expects to see 100 ltr/min but it sees 150 ltr/min it generates an error cause for that specific rpm, gas pedal position, temp sensor reading etc the airflow is to high.

In a vacuum EGR system you will never see this error cause the compressed inlet airflow can not be restricted because of the fact it doesn't have a throttle valve. It will only generate this error if there's something wrong with the MAF itself or it's electronics.

In an electronic EGR system the P1030 error can also be generated when the throttle valve will be stuck (will also generate an other error because the throttle valve will send a signal to the ECU if it's open and if the situation is different as expected it will generate an error) but also if some smart asss removes the disc from the throttle valve ;) .

So you didn't misread it, theoretically i can't be getting to much air, a diesel always works with a surplus of air. But because of the programs in the ECU regarding the EGR and throttle valve in my case i can have to much air. Not for real but only in the software.

You don't notice anything when driving it because the engine likes the new situation better but the software doesn't know.

If i want to get rid off it the easy way i will have to get a remap so the software doesn't look at the throttle valve and airflow anymore.

But that will be the last resort.

Simply because i hate to spend so much money for some bits and bytes and i think i can also defeat it mechanical if need be. That's why the first draft was with the EGR valve working with clean air. And i like to improve things if i think i can, if you do it yourself it will be a lot more satisfactory ;)

If the ECU isn't capable of adapting to the new situation i already have thought of a new solution, not involving my leaky EGR valve but a reed valve, just like in the inlet of a 2 stroke. Then it's easy to defeat the ECU, the throttle valve can maintain it's original disc, all the controls can be original but instead of inhaling exhaust gasses it will be inhaling fresh air so it will be just as good as now, without the throttle disc, only a bit more complicated ;)

Long story but i hope it's clear, other wise just ask and i will try to make it even clearer!

[Gombal]

And just to show i'm not smarter than any of you (maybe can google a bit better ;) ), here's where i got my info:

inlet stuff.pdf

[Gombal]

Drove another 130 km's today, no error reappearing!

Especially installed my 7" tablet with Torque Pro to log a handfull of sensors and to see some live data whilst driving. Will have to compare the logs to logs i made a few months ago, i'm curious if i can see a big difference in boost and air flow. The boost i already know but just to confirm. The airflow should be higher because of the removed throttle disc.

I thought of it today but if i didn't have the Scangauge or Torque and didn't blank of the EGR i would never have known that the EGR valve was leaking.

Wo knows how many people are driving around with a leaking EGR valve and never know other then the car not performing like it should (but they probably don't know that either because it degrades gradually).

I deliberately took a different road this morning to work, outside temp was exactly the same as yesterday but i wanted to make sure the error wouldn't reoccur. And the best way is to drive a little slower so country roads instead of motorway. That way the throttle valve gets more input so the change of the error reoccuring is much bigger. But i'm glad to say, this is one of few the things that's well designed in the car, the ECU has already learned that there will be a bigger amount of air going through the MAF at all times so i'm pleased with that. Saves me the trouble of making an extra, reed valve controlled, inlet which bypasses the MAF. Already looked at the internet but loads of reed valves available for mopeds so it wouldn't have been a big problem.

Just wondering now if it would have a positive effect on my fuel consumption if i had a MAF bypass. But as i don't know the exact calculation and inputs which influence the amount of fuel injected it's hard to tell. And just to make a bypass to test, i kind of had it with the throttle and EGR now, it's working now so don't want to spoil that.

Again was amazed on how the car pickups at very low rpm. Drove to the city this afternoon, in 2th and 3th at 750 rpm (idling speed) and doesn't matter how you throttle it, very slow and gentle or fast and much, it just revs without any hesitation or judder. When the EGR was still connected and not even partially blanked you immediatly got the feeling it was a rodeo horse trying to throw you off. The car wasn't even drivable at idle speed than.

What a change in character and no more avoiding the city and Always gearing down to keep the revs up. Now you can just idle along with the traffic, what an increase in peace and rest to drive!

[Gombal]

Did some math and this is what i can see till now. Bear in mind that this is just a moment in july i compared with a moment today. Same speed/rpm only thing i can't influence is the outside temp, today was 6 degrees colder in comparison to july.(15 today, 21 in july)

This is what i see:

July : Now: Difference in %

Intake Manifold Pressure: 1.11 1.32 Bar (0.11 and 0.32 Bar boost that is) 18.7

Manifold Air Flow: 19.09 27.19 g/s 42.5 (No wonder i got error P0103 the first time)

Fuel flow rate 49.85 75.83 cc/min 52.1

RPM both 1780 to 1790, 80 km/hr.

I know this is just one sample, will have to see what happens after a longer time period. If the fuel consumption stays higher that will be a good reason to deploy the fresh air intake and put the throttle disc back in, than the MAF does have a role in the amount of diesel injected. It could also just be the colder outside temps, i have seen this behaviour before, 20 degrees or higher is more fuel efficient at the same speeds and weather conditions than lower temps.

Today it was a little windy, don't know if there was any wind when the july data was collected.

That won't change the amount of extra air going into the engine (being measured by the MAF that is, in july the same amount went into the engine, only 19.09 gramms were measured, the other 8 gramms were exhaust gasses, unmeasured by the MAF), this will stay the same from now on because the throttle valve has no function no more.

[Gombal]

Well, 2 days later and 3 errors further. Always the P0103 and always when driving 80 km/hr.

If i look at the Torque data i can't see any strange air flow, sadly it doesn't record the error but if i look at the time it occurs i can see just a slight increase in air flow. Think the air flow is just on the edge and it just needs a little bit to go over the edge and generate the P0103 error.

Gonna install my homemade disc in the throttle to see if it's enough to keep the error away. Also curious to see what the effect is on the airflow in general. (And hope it's all i have to do to fix it ;) ) If it won't fix the problem or generate another one i will first make a new disc with just a hole drilled in, still thinking about the right size of the hole. If it generates an other error i will make the fresh air bypass so the ECU will think everything is normal but in reality it just gets frsh air extra instead of exhaust gasses.

I'm also seeing that the fuel rate Torque displays and logs is not the right one. If i look at the difference between the Scangauge and Torque the Scangauge has the right numbers.

Don't know if it's right or possible but it looks like Torque displays and logs the base fuel map instead of the corrected overlay one.

Pity cause it makes the numbers useless. But i'm glad the Scangauge is the right one, otherwise the fuelconsumption would be really bad.

[jeebowhite]

To be honest, Torque is good, but on occasion its calculations can be a bit whack!

my car can do a maximum so far of 450 miles to a tank. Given that after a quarter of a tank, Torque was estimating I could travel this far, and at 50 miles to go on the computer, Torque suggested about 130...

To get it truely accurate, you have to have your numbers perfect in the advanced settings of Torque.

I tend to use it for live data though, and generally its very accurate, just not things that require calculations (MPG, Miles to go, fuel remaining / used etc)

[Gombal]

Don't get me wrong, i really like Torque, can read a lot with the Scangauge but not all things. Torque has a lot more data. And you can log them and that's the best part of it. Also the live data is nice indeed, especially when i change something.

I haven't changed anything in the advanced settings, for the fuel consumption i use the Scangauge, it's self learning and after about 5 - 10 times refuelling spot on.

Strange thing is though i haven't changed anything in the advanced settings of Torque but it reports that the amount of fuel injected is about 50 % more than 2 months ago. Maybe if i feel like it i will try to fiddle with the settings in Torque to see if i can get it more acurate.

[Gombal]

Went to the scrapyard today. Wanted to find out if i could fit a Mercedes W124 armrest to the back of a Fusion.

Before destroying my own seat i wanted to know how the frame of the back of the seat was constructed.

Reason i want an W124 armrest, it's not fixed in the middle on the floor but on the back of the seat and that way it doesn't matter in what position your seat is, it's always the same lenght without having to adjust anything.

And it's much wider and i can flip it up to get acces to all the things below it. In case of the Fusion that's just the handbrake lever but when doing maintenance on it i don't have to remove anything.

Saw that it's no problem so when i'm going to fit it, it will be here in my thread with pics ;) .

Also saw that the 1.4HDI (Peugeot) was still standing there so i removed the intake and got it for 30 euro's. Not my best deal but this way i can clean that and it will be a straight swap with my own, polluted, one.

Also picked up 2 side mirror glasses somewhere else, one from a 1996 W210, one from a 1989 W124 (both Mercedes)

Took them apart and got the thermostats of them.

There were a few mk6 Fiesta but only one still had a side mirror glass in it, pried it off, wanted to see how it was fixed. Wasn't a heated one so before i make any big changes to my wiring i first want to make sure mine are heated.

At least i now got 3 thermostats, one old one which switches on at 5 degrees and of at 15 degrees. The newer, better, ones switch on at 15 degrees and off at 25 degrees.

First had the old ones in my Benz and the 5 degrees is sometimes to low. Switched them to the newer ones and never had any problems with fogged up mirrors again.

[Gombal]

Just had a look behind the passenger side mirror, it's heated!

And an other good thing is, there plenty of room and the cables are easy to reach and have some slack so i can incorporate the thermostat in the housing.

On the original Mercedes mirror the thermostat is fixed to the backside of the mirror with double sided tape.

That's the way i also want to fix it to the Fusion's mirror. Will have to remove a bit of plastic from the base plate in the mirror housing so i can do that. As far as i can see i have room to to that.

After that it's just a matter of soldering the thermostat in between one of the cables.

The biggest job will be the wiring in the car, i have to disconnect the cable at the right point from the original cable harness. Have to do it in such a way that the rear window heating will still work.

But i have the electric diagrams of the Mercedes and the Fusion so i know the cable colors and that make's live a lot easier ;) .

[Gombal]

Nothing done, just a historic moment on the way from work ;) :

[jeebowhite]

looking good!

so now your a thermostat controlled heated mirror man?

[Gombal]

Not yet James, sometimes i also have to work....... ;) .

Will have to rewire some things at the fusebox, could go with a fuse adaptor but i rather do it the right way. Sadly the weather forecast is rain, rain and rain for the next days so i hope it falls somewhere else so i can do some work on the car :) .

And if i install it, off course there will be photo's to proof it! It's an improvement i think everone can do and it will cost almost nothing. So i hope to do it this week or weekend before it gets really cold.

Already missed it this morning, car was completely wet including the mirrors with dew. With the Benz the dew from the mirrors would dissapear very rapidly after starting the car. Didn't see anything happening on the mirrors this morning after switching on the rear window heating.

Will try again tomorrow and otherwise i will have to measure if there's any power going to the mirrors. if i look in ETIS outside temp isn't a condition for the mirrors to heat up.

[Gombal]

Had an other look at my side mirrors, will have to remove a fair bit of plastic in the mirror itself.

The thermostat will have to be attached to the backside of the mirror. This is because if the mirror reaches 25 degrees the power will be switched off. If it sinks below 15 degrees it will come on again.

If i don't attach the thermostat to the backside of the mirror the power will stay on always beneath 15 degrees and the mirror will keep on heating up. That won't be very good for the life expectancy of the heating wires on the backside of the mirror.

First thought of putting the thermostat in the door or even inside the car but that will only work for a short while till the mirror burns through ;) .

Also had an other look at my fusebox, will be a lot of work if i want to do it "factory" style. So there are a few spare places in the fuse box and one of them has switched power, perfect for my need. So i'm gonna get the power from there.

Also will have to track down the right cables, will cut them beneath the A styles. After i remove the Original mirror heting fuse the wires will be no problem, they will be dead.

Hope i can get it in this week, temperatures will drop to just above 10 degrees coming days so a lot colder in comparison to now.

[Gombal]

Sadly still no automatic heating mirrors, can't get a fuse holder anywhere, hopefully tomorrow and if not i'll have to order something online.

Did something else though this afternoon.

Missed my armrest a lot so i took the armrest from the Mercedes and put it in the Fusion. Took about 1,5 hour, think i spend 30 minutes on just trying to get the nuts on the bolts!

First took the backrest adjust knob of, just pull real hard or put two screwdrivers behind it.

Then removed the plastic pieces on both sides of the seat so you can see the hinges.

Then loosened the upholstery so i could slide it up.

Before i did that i first looked at how high the armrest should go, measured the hight on the Mercedes because i know that height was perfect.

Used one of the holes that was already there and drilled another one below it. Then cut a hole in the upholstery, small enough to not see it when the armrest is on, big enough to get the attachment through.

Then i screwed around for about 30 minutes with the bolts and nuts and after that i decided to do it a bit different and then it went in in 5 minutes .

Put the upholstery back, the plastic pieces and the knob and i'm now the very happy owner of a frontseat armrest!

Also got my oil in and the liquid gasket for the sump, i want to take it of to see if there's any residu or goo in it and above all to see if the oilpump inlet filter is clean.

Just to be sure and this way i will know the condition of the engine and i will be sure it will not get any oil starvation.

[Gombal]

Odometer: 151436 km

Did some maintenance today, changed my oilfilter and oil.

First drove about 30 km to get the engine really hot.

Then drove it into my "garage", is a partytent but is very nice to do something on the car with a roof over your head.

Removed the oildrain bolt and let the oil out, let it drip about one hour, in the meantime i changed the oilfilter.

Probably didn't wait long enough because when removing the oil filter cap about a glass full of oil fell out across the front of the engine.

Then i remembered that the last time i changed the oilfilter i had exactly the same! Still don't know why they designed it like that, must be done by a drunk frenchman. There's no way you can change the oilfilter without spilling oil all over your engine. I did put an old rag around the filter but even that didn't help.

Think next time i'm changing the oilfilter i will jack the car up at the left side so the filterhousing will be a bit more vertical. Don't know if it will help but we'll see. And next time i'll wait half an hour or hour before removing the oil filter, maybe that helps.

Put in the new filter with a new O-ring.

Then i thought about my air filter so changed that too, had a new one laying around and if i compared the old one with the new one it's not too soon. And an airfilter doesn't cost that much so will change it everytime i change the oil.

This airfilter has 11847 km on it so a cold direct air intake is nice but will foul up your air filter a lot quicker.

Didn't change the fuel filter, think i will change it next time, because of the amount of kilometres i drive a year i will have to change the oil twice a year so once a year for the fuelfilter will also suffice. (i think ;))

When putting the oildrain plug back in i wanted to do it right, 34 Nm according to ETIS. Last time i just thightened it by feel but it's a small bolt so easy to destroy.

Geban with 28 Nm, 30 Nm and at 32 Nm i heard a cracking noise! Immediatelly removed the bolt, checked the thread in the crankcase and the plug itself. Nothing to see so i put it back in. But when thightening the plug the head suddenly fell off!

Luckily i could get the rest of the bolt out of the crankcase with my fingernails, already thought i stripped the thread out of the crankcase but luckily that's ok.

Also had a spare one lying around, last time i bought 2 new ones so i now know i will change the plug for a new one everytime i change the oil, don't want to get anymore problems.

After that i topped up the engine with new oil, Ford 5W30 so i'm good for another 10.000 km. (I know Ford says the interval is 15.000 km but i will change the oil in spring and fall because i don't want to do it in winter in the snow and cold on my driveway.)

(Mmmm, i moved to Windows 8.1 but now i can only upload 1 photo at a time and i can't add it to the post like i want. Will have to see how to fix that, must be something with Flash or so)

[Gombal]

O, almost forgot, i have a inline fuse holder so i hope to get my automatic heating side mirrors in this week or next weekend!

It's not quite the one i wanted but it will do the job.

[jeebowhite]

Not bad at all, glass fuse?

[Gombal]

No ceramic, luckily i have a bunch off them, my Mercedes uses the old ceramic ones.

[Mikey923]

Hi Arjen !

How did you get on with the cold air intake? Very tempted to do it to my Fusion.. Did it make much difference ?

Also, does your centre console get in the way of the handbrake? Going to buy a cheapish "DIY" one from eBay if it doesn't I reckon!

You've given me plenty of idea to think about :D

[Gombal]

Hi Mike, long time no see/hear ;).

I didn't change anything after i did the front intake mod (post 17 of this topic). If i look at my Scangauge i see only a little rise in temp after driving a while.

Overall you could say that when driving anywhere above crawling speed the temperature measured by the MAF (it not only measures air flow but it also has a temp sensor in it, at least in my case. You can see it when looking inside the MAF) only rises 1-3 degrees above the outside temperature. And 3 when it's warmer outside, 20 plus degrees, 1 to 2 degrees when it's not so warm, under 20 degrees outside.

So if i would move the airfilterbox, (and the battery, so a lot of work) i would only gain the 1-3 degrees. If it would be 10 to 30 degrees i would do it but for a measly 1-3 degrees i won't bother.

Must say i don't know what the rise would be with the original 90 degree bend in the air intake cause i destroyed that when making the direct cold air intake.

Also measured the rise in temp after the turbo, air temp rises about 10 to 15 degrees (outside temp was between 15 and 20 degrees), in summer it will rise a bit more i reckon but an intercooler also has some negatives, more turbo lag because the turbo has to pressurize a larger volume of air. So maybe an intercooler will help but i really like the way the boost comes in now so i don't want to ruin that.

My armrest does get a little in the way for the handbrake but as i can lift it up it's no problem. And to be quite honest, i never ever use my handbrake, Always park in first gear and i don't even use it when driving away on a slope, i just have a quick foot from brake to gas pedal ;).

[Gombal]

Drove to work the last days, nothing special but normally i take the scenic route, only 80 and a little 100 km/hr roads. I know i can get 22 km per litre (a bit over 62 mpg) when i do that.

This week i took the motorway, about 45 kilometres 120 km/hr and 25 km with 80 and 100 km/hr. One way so 130 km per day.

One day i even drove 130 km/hr (as is allowed) both ways.

After filling up i was very curious what the fuel consumption would be (i knew it wasn't that bad because i already had 700 km on the odometer.)

To my great surprise it was 19.37 km per litre (54.70 mpg).

I'm amazed at how economical this car is!

[jeebowhite]

No doubt in thanks to all the cack you have removed and all of the effort you have put in to loose the weight and the useless systems!

[Gombal]

Did remove some useless stuff (DPF, Cat and EGRpipe/cooler) Not much weight removed otherwise.(I think i replaced the removed weight with other stuff, bag with some tools and oil and spare bulbs in it in the boot)

I think it's more because of the mechanical impact of the removed/disabled parts that the mpg stays that good even at higher speeds.

Must say i still want to test the same without the powerbox, think the mpg will be a lot lower then but at this point that's only a assumption.

I was planning on running the car without the powerbox in winter (outside temps under 0 degrees) to save the IP the extra stress of having to compress the cold, thick diesel to an extra high pressure because of the powerbox.

But i'm not yet convinced that will be necessary, at the moment i'm measuring my fuel temperature when it exits the fuelfilter. I can see that at the moment the temperature of the fuel will rise about 5 to 12 degrees above beginning (outside temp after a night on the driveway). This is with outside temps ranging from 10 to 20 degrees outside.

I will let the extra temp gauge (just a simple outside temp gauge with the sensor made to fit the outside curve of the fuelline and attached with some tyraps and some foam to insulate the sensor and not let it be influenced by radiated heat from the engine.) sit till it gets really cold so i can see if the fuel still rises the same amount.

Did see that turning the powerbox up 1 turn resulted in a rise of 2 degrees extra in fuel temp.

Didn't expect the fuel to rise this much by the way but this proves the splashpot in the tank works.

[Gombal]

Little sidetour.

Bought 4 steel rims with wintertires, second hand, 2 tires with 5 mm, 2 with 6 mm left. 185/60-14, one inch smaller compared to my current wheels but the size Ford says will be ok.

Looked for 15 inch but these were almost a steal so couldn't let them go.

Have to get them this Sunday.

Went to the scrapyard after work, got some wheelnuts for steel rims and also found some hubcaps, 2 different styles, 2 of each but all from Ford. Will have to look for a matching set but for now they'll do.

(And yes, there are 17 wheelnuts but that's better than 15 ;) )

[Gombal]

Got my winter wheels today, drove 400 km to get them but as said, they were cheap and i don't mind a bit of driving.

Not the best tires on them, 2 Maxxis presa snow wintermaxx and 2 Trayal T-200. If i look them up on internet they don't get really good reviews but we'll see, i'm not a racer so i'm curious to see how they work.

And if they don't work like i would like i will get some other tires, the price i paid for the complete rims and tires is about the same as they ask for just steel rims on internet.

The lowest mpg in the meantime was 1 litre per 18.1 km. (51,1 mpg) Not bad but the outside temps are dropping so i expect an even lower mpg in the next weeks.