Ford Focus 2008 1.6Tdci Diesel Problems. Chugging Stuttering

[decky_eire]

Hi all,

I don't make many posts here, like to observe and read through some of the posts more than posts.

Anyway I have been having issues with my Focus in recent months I have brought it to 2 different mechanics and they still happen. I thought I might post here and some of ye might be able to point me in the direction of the the root cause of the issue.

A bit of background on the car, its a Titanium Focus, 2008 with DPF 109BHP. I bought it in Doncaster 18 months ago and brought it over to Ireland, re-registered etc and am delighted with the car.

It have given me no problems until now. About 3 months ago I was driving home and the car started chugging. When I say chugging the car was simply cruising and it started kicking back at me or missing something for a split second, there was no loss of power just this kick from the front of the car back to me, and it can feel quite severe and uncomfortable.

Brought it to a mechanic who worked for Ford in the past and he told me the car had an issues with the Cat, DPF and the jets. So one jet was replaced, the Cat was replaced and there was some kind of liquid put into the DPF (or some little tank that is linked to it)

Drove the car for another 3 weeks and it was working perfect again, until the dreaded chugging started. Another mechanic told me the DPF was filling with soot, and to bring it out on the motorway and drive it in high revs to blow the soot out of the dpf. But the intermittent chugging continues.

I have observed that the problem occurs mostly when I go under a half tank, and gets more severe the lower the dial gets on fuel gauge. When I am about to come onto the reserve the car has cut out when i come to a stop if its been chugging.

(On a side note The fuel gauge in the past hasn't risen in the after i fill the tank immediately but that may not have be associated with this)

The local Ford dealer is looking at it also but they are saying its a different DPF set up on it as its a UK import and some little tank connected to the dpf that drops liquid into the dpf could be causing this.

Also some folks have told me that the focus has electric fuel sensors and electric pump and these may be dirty??

Nonetheless I am clueless with the nuts and bolts of cars. If anybody could shed any light on what I have just said I would be hugely grateful.

Dec

[Gombal]

Fuel filter already renewed?

[decky_eire]

Fuel filter already renewed?

A new fuel filter was put in it when the problems started because i got it serviced at that point.

Thanks for reply.

Dec

[martyntdci]

was going say fuel filter..... the dpf do you get a warning light for regeration? my dad does on his citroen vtr 1.6hdi...

These do need going for a run quite often mainly 50 in 3rd for approx 5-10 mins to clear blocked soot....

Tried blocking the egr valve off? as if its sticking it can cause a splutter throu the rev range.....

if you have picked up rubbish from the bottom of your tank the chances are good that ur fuel filter mayb clogged.....

If the gauge hasnt risen then check the electric feed to the tanks sender unit with a volt meter,, the wires are on the drivers side under the carpet at the rear....

as far as im aware the dpf set up is the same... there should be a filler tank on the rear byt he driver side axle (if im correct) and this gets fuilled with ellios fluid, to help with the regen etc of the dpf filter....

[decky_eire]

was going say fuel filter..... the dpf do you get a warning light for regeration? my dad does on his citroen vtr 1.6hdi...

These do need going for a run quite often mainly 50 in 3rd for approx 5-10 mins to clear blocked soot....

Tried blocking the egr valve off? as if its sticking it can cause a splutter throu the rev range.....

if you have picked up rubbish from the bottom of your tank the chances are good that ur fuel filter mayb clogged.....

If the gauge hasnt risen then check the electric feed to the tanks sender unit with a volt meter,, the wires are on the drivers side under the carpet at the rear....

as far as im aware the dpf set up is the same... there should be a filler tank on the rear byt he driver side axle (if im correct) and this gets fuilled with ellios fluid, to help with the regen etc of the dpf filter....

Thanks for your reply. With regards the DPF, I do not get a warning light for regeneration, but, my mechanic has said that through the onboard diagnostics he uses its signalled that the DPF is not regenerating fast enough, so he is talking to Ford tomorrow to get the Ellios fluid to refill the filler tank as when we looked in that tank at the weekend it seemed empty, so hopefully thats a step in the right direction.

Also what do you mean by blocking off the EGR valve?

Dec

[martyntdci]

Blocking the egr is a must for all tdci owners lol... it stops ur inlet getting clogged up with soot etc....

Gives you a much improved pull off, smoother rev range and helps the turbo spool better.....

A lad name lenny on here has done a how to guide on the 1.6 have a look..... if u had the 1.8 I could tell ya as they are different lay outs etc.....

Carnt you manually force a regen for the dpf...... I think lenny has had his removed also.... the 1.8 doesn't have 1 fitted....

[Gombal]

Because you say it's no problem with a full tank but it starts with a half tank it seems to me that it's something in the fuel supply. The pump and fuel level sender are one, in the same housing, so if there is a problem with the electrics over there it could be effecting the pump also.

Could be just a bad earth connection or corroded plug.

If it's your DPF it should have the problems always, full or half fuel tank would not make a difference i would say cause the DPF has no relations to the fuel tank.

If it's clogged it will be clogged with a full tank just the same as with a half tank ;).

The things you describe are typical for a bad fuel supply, (full tank no problem, half tank chugging/stuttering and tank low the engine stops), mostly a clogged fuelfilter. But if the pump has problems, worn/turning slower, it would give the same symptoms/problems.

[decky_eire]

Hi Guys, I will def look at doing the EGR change in the future.

Since I have talked to you last my mechanic and Ford have said the fact that my ELOYs fluid was low, and this could have been causing the chugging...

So they refilled the ELOYS tank....reset the DPF

I have no experience of this ELOYs tank, has anyone ever heard of it causing such an issue?

The car still chugged for 48hours after the replacement, but it has levelled off in the last 2 days I am going to take it for a long spin tonight to see if problem is persisting,

Could it take a while for the ELOYs fluid to regenerate? meaning should I expect the chugging to stop immediatly once the ELOYs fluid was inserted?

Thanks again,

Dec

[phantomthegrand]

Hello

Sorry I replied to wrong post re: my comment on cutting out. The eloys fluid is essential to mix with fuel to burn soot off. Make sure your oil level does not go above maximum on your dipstick, as fuel, maybe even eloys, can get into your engine if glitches happen with regeneration.

Go to Ford's Etis system and get actual build date on your car, some have a combined dpf/cat.

[decky_eire]

Hi guys, phantom thank you for your reply. I have blocked off the EGR and there has been no repeat of the issue since. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it does not reoccur.

Dec

[KiwiPolish]

sorry to bring up an old thread, but we have been having the same problems for seven months with our 2008 Titanium. It doesn't happen often, maybe once every six weeks or so, and only on long journeys (usually between Belfast and Dublin, usually around Newry). The tank is usually half full or less.

We've had it into Ford several times, we have done the airflow meter, the EGR, the injector washes, and the DPF was replaced at 75,000 miles (its now 96,000 miles). The fluids were topped up as well. The throttle body was cleaned and the ERG cooler.

It was connected up to a computer at a local mechanic's after Ford's last attempts to solve the problem proved unsuccessful, and the local mechanic's computer said it wasn't regenerating fast enough and there was a turbo overboost error. So a regeneration was done, and the following day the missus went up north, and the kangaroo hop happened again.

So decky_eire, did blocking off the ERG solve the problem? Or has anyone else got any ideas??

[phantomthegrand]

Hello, I believe blocking off is outlawed now so would fail MOT.

Seems you have tried everything, which adds to my possible theory (not trained - but seems no other explanation). I really do wonder if its ECU faults. If you read Honest John Focus Review - good and bad section - you will also see issues with later versions of non eloys dpf on 2007-2011 Focus. There are even issues with the post 2011 Focus too, see also Honest John, but Ford have developed software patches for the ecu for that later model.

In my opinion Ford must know cause of your (and my) faults, and it could be inherent ecu faults? It has to be questioned if Ford and their dealers know this, but avoid diagnosing it. If they did

1- they could have to pick up premature dpf failure costs

2- they could have to replace lots of ecus (it appears no upgrade on pre 2011 focus)

3- they would get less money they make reconditioning dpfs and selling on as remanufactured units.

Oh check oil level and if high get tested to see if fuel in the oil. Especially if overheat fan kicking in excessively and running on when car stopped.

[Shennas]

Hi Guys, I will def look at doing the EGR change in the future.

Since I have talked to you last my mechanic and Ford have said the fact that my ELOYs fluid was low, and this could have been causing the chugging...

So they refilled the ELOYS tank....reset the DPF

I have no experience of this ELOYs tank, has anyone ever heard of it causing such an issue?

The car still chugged for 48hours after the replacement, but it has levelled off in the last 2 days I am going to take it for a long spin tonight to see if problem is persisting,

Could it take a while for the ELOYs fluid to regenerate? meaning should I expect the chugging to stop immediatly once the ELOYs fluid was inserted?

Thanks again,

Dec

The eloys tank increases the temp. of the DPF during regen and therefore I would imagine that would be the cause of slow DPF regens.

I would further recommend forcing a regen and giving the car a good run to clear the DPF

[KiwiPolish]

We did force the regeneration and did a long run from Dublin to Belfast return, and the kangaroo fault still happened on the return trip.

OH is a panel beater so believes he could block it off and unblock it in time for the NCT (Irish MOT). He agrees with the theory that its probably a known (but unlikely to be admitted to by Ford) fault...

There isn't any fuel in the oil - he serviced it last week and it was spotless.

[TomsFocus]

Mine does this as well, always happens just before a regen starts (but not before every regen). Can't work it out but as its not often have just ignored it!

EGR blanks still pass MOT, not sure about the NCT though. Would be interested to know if it cures the fault though.

[phantomthegrand]

With mine after four or five occurences it totally blocked my dpf. Watch out for reduced mpg as with me that occurred before any fault lights showed. When they did it was the engine management, not dpf warning light. dpf was beyond point of regeneration.

I also believe ecu / sensor faults do not detect necessary fault code. I broke down with cutting out following the hesitstion events five times and no fault codes found by AA or dealer except that first time.

Dpf integral with catalytic converter on eloys model so £1,000 to replace.

Also watch out for carbon build up DV6 engine prone to this as will run hotter if regen/dpf/cat not working right.

[TomsFocus]

There is no DPF light on Mk2/2.5 Focus', ridiculous design flaw there!

If it'd been a VW you'd have an indicator that shows how full the DPF is getting.