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2005 Focus 2.0 Diesel Loss Of Power (Not Permanent)


Jaybatron
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Hi all,

not exactly a new issue here I see but I would like to elaborate slightly on the information other people with the same/similar problem have given. I have a 2005 mk2 focus 2.0 diesel estate, I bought it privately from a guy in Bristol 9 months ago. I paid £1900 pounds which seemed a great deal to me for what I was getting but gave it a good look over and drive and all seemed fine. I drove it the 120 miles home, no problem and for around three months it drove like an absolute dream. Then one day without warning it completely lost power, it was like driving a 0.8.

Ever since then it has done this every 3-4 days. There is no bang, and no black smoke but the lack if power is massive, putting your foot down hard doesn't make it rev any higher and if you keep it down and try to force it, it judders. The engine management light has come on twice over 6 months when it has happened but that's nothing in the 50-100 times it's happened. Now,the strangest thing I find in all this which I couldn't seem to find in other discussion's apart from one, is that turning the car off and then back on instantly fixes it-obviously until it happens again. I don't know much about cars but this to me suggests that there isn't a major mechanical fault as, if there was, the car wouldn't EVER run properly. That said, even when it is at full power these days it isn't as smooth as it was and always seems to be threatening to go again. So this has me thinking it is either a dodgy sensor or something is causing an incorrect mix of air/fuel. Most people with similar problem are quoting either map sensor, egr valve or dpf. To me the egr valve makes sense, especially if the previous owner had it cleaned as apparently this can give it a short term fix.

The other thing I forgot to mention is that it definitely happens a lot less if you keep the fuel topped up, and this has my local mechanic convinced that it's either the fuel filter or a weak fuel pump. The problem seems fairly common across focus and mondeo diesel's but there doesn't seem to be a definitive YES-this is the problem and this is how you fix it, so I was hoping people who have managed to get their cars running properly again could all put how they did it on here. I have registered the problem with Which as they are trying to put more pressure on car recalls and if this is a common problem it's not on. The power has gone on the motorway a couple of times and it's scary, I wouldn't want to have kids or family in the car.

In the meantime the car is having a new fuel filter in 6 days so I will post the result regardless of whether it works or not.

Sorry to ramble, any information would be massively appreciated!

Jamie

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Hi and welcome to FOC.

What sort of mileage do you do in the car?

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Moved to focus section

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It varies depending on how far away I'm working but for most of the time I've had it I was driving 40 minutes to Southampton and back every day. Over a year probably 10-15k.

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It sounds like it is going into limp home mode, have you tried looking on ford ETIS, or through your service history to see if your car has a DPF?

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Under the minor features is says stage iv+ DPF emissions. I don't know what stage iv is but I take that to mean it does have a DPF.

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How much of the service history do you have? On that age Focus, it will almost certainly be the old additive requiring DPF, which I believe needs topping up every 3 years and the entire DPF replacing every 6 years...

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indeed. It does sound like the old DPF issue. You may benefit fron taking the car on the motorway and driving along at red line revs just to force an induction, sit on the inside lane at 60 in third gear or something so then your not in the way, not requiring the boost, and it should help to clear the DPF.

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I've just had a good look through the history. There are reports from ford in 2009, 2010 and 2011 where everything is listed and how urgently it needs doing rated by green, amber and red. On the earlier two, under external, there are a list of obvious things and a blank box at the bottom. But on the 2011 one the blank box is filled with fuel additive 0.5 which is rated as amber and I don't think the previous owner had it done, that's a while ago now! This whole DPF thing seems a bit ridiculous, too late to feel sorry for myself though I guess. Cheers for the replies by the way.

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If it is going in to have work done, it will be worth them checking the additive level and also whether it looks like the DPF has been changed as per the service schedule for you car.

You may be able to use ETIS and generate service reports to determine when (and if) it should have been done.

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It should be topped up every three years, with EOLYS fluid, and then replaced every 6.

This comes down to every 37.5K miles for the fliud, and every 75K for the filter itself.

Your alternative answer is to have the DPF removed. Its much cheaper, will save you a tonne over the years and can be removed, and deleted for around 300 - 500 quid.

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It should be topped up every three years, with EOLYS fluid, and then replaced every 6.

This comes down to every 37.5K miles for the fliud, and every 75K for the filter itself.

Your alternative answer is to have the DPF removed. Its much cheaper, will save you a tonne over the years and can be removed, and deleted for around 300 - 500 quid.

Will it not fail the MOT doing that?

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Most if not all companies also do a remap to reduce emissions, most companies offer a guarantee that the removal will not affect MOT's.

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Best bet though to not throw money at parts and labour not required is to take it to a dealer and get it hooked up... The faults stored will point you in right direction and less money spent...

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I'd start with a good service and see how you go from there.

Fuel filters on the Focus can cause problems when dirty.

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It had a service including all the filters changed before Christmas. The only filter which didn't get done was the fuel filter as they didn't think they could do it without cracking the plastic housing because it was so tight. They have ordered the housing in preparation for changing the fuel filter on Tuesday and are going to check the error codes at the same time so I will ask to have the additive level checked too. I can see from the history the fuel filter hasn't been changed since late 2009.

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do you have any odd lights on the dash?

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No, everything is fine on the dash. I looked through the owners manual and there is no light specifically for anything DPF related or the additive being low. I guess when there's a problem the engine management light just comes on, which it has twice but only for until I stopped the car and then it's gone by the next journey.

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The fuel filter is way past it's lifespan.

I will be changing mine at least every year now after seeing how filthy mine was the last time around.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The fuel filter has been changed and was in desperate need of it. But unfortunately the problem remains and if anything is slightly worse, it's quite ropey and jumpy even before the power goes. Also I've noticed that revving it high, such as red lining it through 1st,2nd then 3rd seem to bring the power loss on. Does that hint at anything?

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Try a good injector flush like Wynns or BG244 from eBay.

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if you dont want to wait for eBay, pop to your nearest kwik fit, it seems they have started to stock it. At £20 its well worth the investment, made quite a difference on my car along with an oil / oil filter change...

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