Ford Focus Mk2 Common Problems Thread

[Tdci-Peter]

10 hours ago, Giorgos-A4074 said:

I have found this Forscan OBD2 compatible. Would it be ok for me?

It sounds fine from reading the eBay entry. If it is not Forscan & Ford compatible, you should get your money back as the trader claims it is!

Forscan is not as convenient or easy to use as a simple self-contained OBD2 scanner. But if there are additive or DPF problems, or ABS, steering or body related problems, then Forscan is much more likely to tell you something about them than a simple scanner. I have both, a basic U480 scanner bought quite a few years ago, which is dead easy to hook up for basic engine problems, and Forscan for deeper problems & investigations.

And I have used them quite a few times on my 10 and a half year old, 160,000 mile Ford!

---------------

This is my standard intro to Forscan:

Forscan is a powerful Ford specific system, Cost is about £15.00 for the interface. It needs a computer of some sort. (COM port, USB, bluetooth or WiFi interfaces available). You will find a lot about ELM327 & Forscan on this site, which together provide a very comprehensive diagnosis & maintenance tool. James (jeebowhite) has done a nice guide: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=21196

The Tunnelrat ELM237s have been reported to work well by several people, and are stated to be compatible with Forscan and ELMConfig. (No personal experience or particular recommendation!)

http://www.spanglefish.com/TunnelratElectronics/index.asp?pageid=516992

Forscan works best on a Windows laptop, with a USB ELM.  Forscan is also available for iOS & Android for some tablets & phones, using USB if available, or bluetooth or WiFi ELMs.

Wireless ELMs are often not as reliable as the wired ones. Also they are rarer in the "modified" form which is needed to access the 2nd Ford bus system. This 2nd bus is the MS-CAN bus, and links all the car interior electronics like door modules, and the BCM (aka GEM). But a standard ELM will still work with all the Underbonnet Modules (PCM, ABS etc) and with the IC (Instrument Cluster).

The Forscan programme is free (in Windows format) and you can get it from:
http://forscan.org/download.html

Note: Simply reading the codes can do no harm, and does not change anything. Just do not reset the codes (and you would have to ask the scanner to do this) if you are going to take the car to a garage.

[Giorgos-A4074]

20 hours ago, Tdci-Peter said:

It sounds fine from reading the Ebay entry. If it is not Forscan & Ford compatible, you should get your money back as the trader claims it is!

Forscan is not as convenient or easy to use as a simple self-contained OBD2 scanner. But if there are additive or DPF problems, or ABS, steering or body related problems, then Forscan is much more likely to tell you something about them than a simple scanner. I have both, a basic U480 scanner bought quite a few years ago, which is dead easy to hook up for basic engine problems, and Forscan for deeper problems & investigations.

And I have used them quite a few times on my 10 and a half year old, 160,000 mile Ford!

---------------

This is my standard intro to Forscan:

Forscan is a powerful Ford specific system, Cost is about £15.00 for the interface. It needs a computer of some sort. (COM port, USB, Bluetooth or WiFi interfaces available). You will find a lot about ELM327 & Forscan on this site, which together provide a very comprehensive diagnosis & maintenance tool. James (jeebowhite) has done a nice guide: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=21196

The Tunnelrat ELM237s have been reported to work well by several people, and are stated to be compatible with Forscan and ELMConfig. (No personal experience or particular recommendation!)

http://www.spanglefish.com/TunnelratElectronics/index.asp?pageid=516992

Forscan works best on a Windows laptop, with a USB ELM.  Forscan is also available for iOS & Android for some tablets & phones, using USB if available, or Bluetooth or WiFi ELMs.

Wireless ELMs are often not as reliable as the wired ones. Also they are rarer in the "modified" form which is needed to access the 2nd Ford bus system. This 2nd bus is the MS-CAN bus, and links all the car interior electronics like door modules, and the BCM (aka GEM). But a standard ELM will still work with all the Underbonnet Modules (PCM, ABS etc) and with the IC (Instrument Cluster).

The Forscan programme is free (in Windows format) and you can get it from:
http://forscan.org/download.html

Note: Simply reading the codes can do no harm, and does not change anything. Just do not reset the codes (and you would have to ask the scanner to do this) if you are going to take the car to a garage.

Thanks Peter. I have just ordered it.

[Giorgos-A4074]

Thanks Peter. I have just ordered it.

[Giorgos-A4074]

Coming back to my post more than one week ago the diagnose actually was a split hose between the turbo and the manifold inlet. The mechanic said that he needs to order a genuine part from Ford which comes as a pack of two pipes and costs £137 +VAT. Another mechanic I asked about said that it's difficult to find a non-genuine one from Euro Car parts or other website as they don't break often so they wouldn't sell too much. Does anyone know if I can search for a pipe online and where? On the other hand if I buy the two pipes pack from Ford I will keep the second one in case another pipe splits in future. Thanks.     

[Tdci-Peter]

On 19/05/2017 at 11:32 PM, Tdci-Peter said:

That noise is probably a split hose between the turbo & the inlet manifold. As the turbo pressure builds up, it will leak air. It will not affect the performance too much if it is a small split.

 

4 hours ago, Giorgos-A4074 said:

Coming back to my post more than one week ago the diagnose actually was a split hose between the turbo and the manifold inlet.

Have a look through this thread, it shows various pipes. I suspect most are available on eBay somewhere, it is just knowing what to type in to search.

With something like this on a 10 year old car, I would not worry about it being "genuine Ford" whatever that means, it is not some hyper critical part that is going to crash the car or wreck the engine if it goes wrong.

[Giorgos-A4074]

Thanks Peter. I will try that.

[alexwxa]

hi lads

have a 07 1.6 tdci

noticed a couple of days ago it doesn't pull in 4th or even 3rd

goes hard 1st,2nd,3rd and when i change 4th it stalls a lil bit around 2200 rpm and then goes up again

this doesn't happen everytime i drive

any ideas?

thanks

[Giorgos-A4074]

On 5/29/2017 at 0:13 PM, Giorgos-A4074 said:

Coming back to my post more than one week ago the diagnose actually was a split hose between the turbo and the manifold inlet. The mechanic said that he needs to order a genuine part from Ford which comes as a pack of two pipes and costs £137 +VAT. Another mechanic I asked about said that it's difficult to find a non-genuine one from Euro Car parts or other website as they don't break often so they wouldn't sell too much. Does anyone know if I can search for a pipe online and where? On the other hand if I buy the two pipes pack from Ford I will keep the second one in case another pipe splits in future. Thanks.     

Hi all, 

This fault is now repaired and let me clarify that it was actually one part consisting of two pipes, not a pack of two individual pipes as I had thought originally. The car drives better now however, I am concerned it's not the end yet as yesterday I had another warning light-red cog with the exclamation mark inside. It went on around midway to work (34 miles route) and then off about 5 minutes later without any obvious change in the behaviour of the car. Exactly the same on my way back in the evening. I didn't use my car today. I used my Forscan in the evening and I had no less than 10 PCM error codes (P2458 - Diesel Particulate Filter Regeneration Duration, P242F - Diesel Particulate Filter Restriction - Ash Accumulation,P2455 - Particulate Matter Trap Differential Pressure Sensor Circuit High,P0341 - Camshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Range/Performance (Bank 1 or single sensor are among them), however all of them had the same status 

Status:

 - Previously Set DTC - Not Present at Time of Request

 - Malfunction Indicator Lamp is Off for this DTC.

No warning lights were on at the time of the scanning by the way. 

Any idea what the issue with the red cog light could be? And most importantly, should I worry about these 10 PCM error codes I got?

Thanks

[Tdci-Peter]

1 hour ago, Giorgos-A4074 said:

P2458 - Diesel Particulate Filter Regeneration Duration, P242F - Diesel Particulate Filter Restriction - Ash Accumulation,P2455 - Particulate Matter Trap Differential Pressure Sensor Circuit High,P0341 - Camshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Range/Performance

The one I would look at first is the DP sensor circuit high, P2455. A bad signal there could be a bad connection to the sensor, or a faulty sensor, or a leaking hose between the sensor and the DPF. That error could cause the other DPF related error codes if it read too high for a while. The hoses are quite a common problem.

I guess if it was a one off, and does not repeat, it may not be important. But if it keeps happening, it may prevent DPF regens, and lead to clogging of the DPF that can not be burnt off.

[Giorgos-A4074]

Thanks Peter. I am going to arrange a diagnose ASAP and I will keep people posted in the forum.

[Giorgos-A4074]

Hi all. The diagnose was that the DPF needs regenerating and the mechanic is going to send me to someone else as they are not doing that (they didn't charge me for the dagnostics by the way). I will speak with the mechanic for more details tomorrow morning when I am going to collect the car.

[Damien]

Common faults on tdci engines is egr's nothing bad I haven't had any issues with mine touch wood.

most expensive part on mine was an alternator.

egr I just blanked it off with blanking plate, cuts the flat spot out n runs like a dream love it.

its due timing belt n water pump in November though 😱😰

[Tdci-Peter]

On 23/06/2017 at 7:35 PM, Giorgos-A4074 said:

The diagnose was that the DPF needs regenerating and the mechanic is going to send me to someone else as they are not doing that

Forscan can initiate a Forced Regen of the DPF. It is very noisy, it makes the engine run at high rpm for quite some time.

See:

I have not heard of many cases where a forced regen provides a solution. If the active regens (which should happen automatically while driving) did not happen, or did not work, then the forced regen usually will not work, or will not do the job. That will be because there is some underlying problem, from sensor faults to an ash filled DPF, that can not be cured so easily.

But a diy forced regen costs little (just some fuel & a lot of noise), so may be worth a try.

[Giorgos-A4074]

Hi again. After two weeks of waiting for my appointment the mechanic said that the DPF has probably reached the end of its life as it doesn't seem to have been changed at 75K miles as normal while the car now has 95K (last 5K done by me). They suggested a genuine part which will cost no less than £1300 for a car whose current value is barely higher than that. They also said that an aftermarket one would cost around £900 but they said it doesn't have a pressure meter so it is a waste of money putting that. Any thoughts on that? Is there any cheaper solution for an 11-year-old car (but still I plan to do about 17K miles per year unless I find a job somewhere closer) ?

[Tdci-Peter]

12 hours ago, Giorgos-A4074 said:

They suggested a genuine part which will cost no less than £1300

That really does sound very high!

See: https://www.bestpartstore.co.uk/7447202

Walker are not a cheap imitation supplier, they supply car manufacturers. I would expect their stuff to be OEM quality. (That unit is not guaranteed to be the right one, there are a few variants of the 1.6TDCI, in power & Euro 4 or 5 rating. Check with a supplier first.)

There are much cheaper ones, eg on eBay, but the general opinion is they rarely last more than a year. Great if you just want to sell the car to some poor mug, but not good if you plan to keep it! (These start from £172 (!), see: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITS-FORD-FOCUS-1-6-TDCi-07-04-07-11-DIESEL-PARTICULATE-FILTER-DPF-CAT-/141609400286)

The stuff about a pressure meter sounds muddled, or just wrong. All DPFs (cheap or expensive) have pipe connections for hoses leading to the DPF DP sensor, mounted in the engine compartment away from the exhaust. No DPFs have a "pressure meter".

On the subject of pressure hoses, I would never condemn a DPF on the basis of mileage alone. It can vary a lot. And I would carefully inspect those hoses first, they fail quite often, and can easily make it look like the DPF is blocked.

[Giorgos-A4074]

Latest update: I also spoke to a Ford specialist garage and they say that Ford also provide Motorcraft parts (as well as the Original list parts) that are used for repairing older cars. It seems that the quote of £1300 I got from the other garage (all inclusive-final price) is for an original list part. They say that they can fit a Motorcraft DPF for £895. This part comes with only one year's warranty but as they said they haven't seen any Motorcraft part having a life duration less than the original ones. It sounds perfect as I don't think I will own the car for as long as the original part would last so I don't mind if it runs for less than 75K miles. I also spoke to a Ford dealer today (with a few branches near me) but they say they mainly use Motorcraft parts for servicing (£149 by the way plus £30 for MOT if you do it at the same time or £35 separately), so they don't do Motorcraft DPF's and quoted me £1300. Have you ever heard of anyone fitting Motorcraft DPFs? Any thoughts?

Thanks  

[Elidka55]

Hi, recently I bought SonyCD stereo for my 2006 focus. I know it can play mp3s from cd disc (not audio cd). Tried to copy my songs in a new cd-rw, but when i put disc in the stereo it says "Check cd" what am I doing wrong? Is there any special way to burn songs to cd? Thanks :)

[Russ]

Edited August 18, 2017 by Russ
Added screencap & edited post

[Stoney871]

Are yoou closing the burn session to finalise the disc?

[Phil21185]

Hmm. The instructions say that mulitsession discs are supported so he shouldn't have to finalise the disc.

Not a CD+RW instead of CD-RW? There is a difference...

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[Russ]

Non finalised disks just take a little longer to be recognised. I'd be checking the MP3 settings (bit rate etc) on the files he's trying to burn as I've found I've had to redo a few of mine that wouldn't play.

[Phil21185]

Ah yeah and check the burn speed too. I find CD players don't like discs burnt at 40x. Slower the better

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[focus-dave]

Got a small problem with my focus it drives fine but occasionally has a slight drop in power which only lasts a split second, literally the time it takes to flick a light switch on, and then its off again (the car, not the light switch) It's only really noticeable when accelerating hard in 3rd. Any ideas what it could be?

[Tdci-Peter]

3 hours ago, focus-dave said:

Got a small problem with my focus it drives fine but occasionally has a slight drop in power which only lasts a split second,

EGR valve would be 1st suspect, unless it is already blanked off.

Try a blanking plate, only a few quid off eBay, the 1.8TDCI does not object to having one fitted (no hole needed). If it cures the problem, then you can decide whether to keep the plate in, or repair the EGR actuator. If the actuator goes badly wrong, it will put the MIL (warning lamp) on, this is regardless of whether it is blanked off or not.

I can give or find a guide to fitting a plate if needed.

[dannyhoy1981]

hi guys any advice on this I have a 55 plate focus mk2 and its started buzzing when I drive it rises the faster I go and when I stop it still is there but a lot quieter than when im driving. ive noticed its worse first start of the morning when cold or wet...... if I then go back say on my lunch hour to use the car it doesn't happen. any ideas guys?