Focus Hesitation And Dirty Egr

[chilwood]

Been having problems with my focus, hesitation, you know the usual...anyway i changed fuel filter blanked off the egr, still doing it, replaced maf, still doing it, found a split in the air intake...replaced still doing it today i have emptied a tin of egr cleaner into the egr so lets see what happens.

egr blank after 3 weeks in place..

egr before tin of cleaner

egr after tin of cleaner

I think i may need to do this again?

i will see how it runs this week.

its a 1.8 tdci it starts ok and idles ok and otherwise runs perfectly apart from the occasional hesitation/loss off power.

[Ianb]

I don't know the answers here, but if you've blanked off the egr is there any reason for cleaning it? Unless of course you think about unblanking it again in the future?

[chilwood]

after i blanked it there was still hesitation and i believe the egr
can be stuck in the open position by the carbon build up, so i took out
the blank and then cleaned the egr. i have refitted the blank. the egr
is the work of satan on a diesel car, just look at the carbon build up
on the blanking plate in just 3 weeks.

can anyone verify...i
couldnt undo the nuts on the egr so i fitted the plate to the other end
of the pipe on the manifold, is it ok to put it here, does it do the
same job?

I don't know the answers here, but if you've blanked off the egr is there any reason for cleaning it? Unless of course you think about unblanking it again in the future?

[FOCA]

after i blanked it there was still hesitation and i believe the egr

can be stuck in the open position by the carbon build up, so i took out

the blank and then cleaned the egr. i have refitted the blank. the egr

is the work of satan on a diesel car, just look at the carbon build up

on the blanking plate in just 3 weeks.

can anyone verify...i

couldnt undo the nuts on the egr so i fitted the plate to the other end

of the pipe on the manifold, is it ok to put it here, does it do the

same job?

Blanking the EGR only fixes / eliminates the hesitation caused by the EGR - not the hesitation from other reasons

Thing about the amount of carbon the EGR has dumped into the engine (including the inlet manifold) in 10 years (the age of the car) if the plate looks like that after 3 weeks!

The inlet manifold must be clogged up by now (chokeing the engine) this must be taken off and cleaned properly (with petrol, then with a high-power steam jetwash - EGR cleaner etc is a waste of time / money

As Ian has said, no point in cleaning the EGR (apart from the gasket faces) as nothing will flow anyway once a solid EGR blanking plate is fitted

The plate can be fitted in various locations along the EGR pipe (depends on the car/ engine/ design) it may make subtle changes to the recponse - sometimes, the EGR gubbins can be completely removed and two solid plates fitted - one on the exhaust side and one n the inlet -

There are advantages in doing this - the energy from the exhaust to the turbo (turbine) has a shorter path,(reduced volume to travel) less heat energy is lost - more goes to spin up the turbo (reducing lag a little)

the inlet (around the EGR valve) stays cooler, making a denser charge - increasing power a little

so the bits that need to stay hot stay hotter and the bits that need to stay cool are cooler and the turbo has a shorter path - i have done this on my car - its not a massive difference, but it is a noticable improvement

Its a bit of an art putting a single EGR blank in the right place - if its too close to the exhaust it has to take a lot of heat, if its the "wrong" side of the EGR cooler the engine can take longer to warm up, but generally, anywhere between the cooler and the vave is usually ok. (if not "optimum")

[chilwood]

Good info, i never even thought of cleaning the inlet manifold, hard to find the time though car is used daily, do you think a terraclean could clean out the inlet and other parts or is it a waste of money also?

[FOCA]

Good info, i never even thought of cleaning the inlet manifold, hard to find the time though car is used daily, do you think a terraclean could clean out the inlet and other parts or is it a waste of money also?

As far as im aware, the terraclean works by being connected to the fuel system, tihis means it can have no effect on parts of the engine prior to the injectors - including the inlet manifold - with an EGR that does not have a solid blanking plate fitted the inet manifold tends to get contaminated with carbon , terraclean, EGR cleaer, fuel additives etc cannot clean it out properly and you really need to take the inlet manifold off and clean it properly (ive found an industrial jetwash works)

Its not on a regular service shedule - but should be (as before a solid EGR blanking plate stops the carbon building up in the inlet manifold)

[chilwood]

Ok. Was still not running ideal. Took off engine cover and i notice there is oil residue in a couple of places. I have cleaned it off and i will run the car for a few days then see if it has come back. I will post pictures for advice on where oil may be coming from. Maybe there is air getting in somewhere else. Strangely enough car seems to be running better after degreasing the engine bay, i know this is probably just coincidence.

[pezza371887]

What reg is your 1.8 Tdci? If it's between 2008 and 2010 check out technical service bulletin 27/2012 dated 14/5/2012. Issue with a batch of injectors causing hesitation.

[chilwood]

Its 2004 but thanks for the info

[chilwood]

ok done about 500 miles since degreasing engine.

clean egr outer

clean engine top

egr oil mist

top of engine mist

as you can see, there is misting on the egr outer casing, there doesnt appear to be any holes in the small diameter pipes near this, where could it be coming from, could this be my problem.

As you can see from top of engine mist picture, there is a tiny tiny hole and i think this is where that mist is coming from in that particular location but nowhere near the egr, should this hole be there? i inspected the intercooler pipe and there appears to be no holes.

I have just cleaned the electrical connections on what i think is the boost solenoid thing. could this solonoid need replacing, could this be nmy problem, if i dont get this sorted soon im gonna ditch this car it is really starting to annoy me. i used to have a tddi and it was fantastic but this tdci is a bag of cack. Probably ny last ford if i cant sort this.

[chilwood]

Anyone any ideas!

[FOCA]

The oil mist is unlikely to be directly from the exhaust manifold, or the exhaust side of the EGR

Most likely it is from the crankcase, the rocker cover gasket, or the crankase breathers (directly or indirectly) - there is often oil/ oli mist around the breathers, The crankase is vented via breathers in front of the turbo compressor (in-between the airbax and turbo) this oil mist then coats the inside ov the boost hoses, all the way into the inlet manifold and on to the combustion chamber

A DPF (if one is fitted) can cause an increase in crankase pressure is 2004 pre DPF?

TDDIs are simpler, they have less to go wrong Modern diesels have DPFs (clog up and cause trouble) EGRs (contaminate the inlet manifold, can leak/ play up) DMFs (can wear/ break up fall apart cause poor running)

These things are un-nessesary and are more to go wrong, the car is more reliable, more efficient without them

A TDDI has basic mechaincal injectors, they are tough, and can run on many fuels, some TDCIs have delphi injectors, that were made for high-sulphor diesel (no longer available from pumps) that are more delicate

I run a Mondeo TDDI - it has a total EGR delete, straight-through exhaust, solid flywheel - and a total-loss breather (like a catchtank - the oil mist from the breather does not go anywhere near the engine inlet) with the junk removed its reliable, its economical and quick and runs on veg oil at 99p per litre

If something does eventually go wrong it will be something nessesary and not useless junk i dont need on the car

[chilwood]

Cant post pictures from my phone but i will post later, but i have noticed camshaft sensor wire has insulation missing...could this be my problem?

[chilwood]

if you look near the connector, some insulation is missing and there is a tie wrap as though someone has been mauling with it. come to think of it, when i drive the car at 2 am in the morning when the weather is damp and cold at that time, i go on the motorway and it runs bad. this morning i did 50 miles from cold on the motorway and car was fine, then the next 50 miles there was occasional hesitation, the weather was warm for 4 am. then riding round towns at no more than 40 mph car seems fine...today.

[chilwood]

Anyone any ideas on this. It may also help those with a similar problem to mine.

[chilwood]

here is an update for anyone who is interested/can advise.

had diagnostic done and its saying egr problem, even though egr is blanked off, he advised me to remove the blank and he would clear the fault, then for me too see how it runs and if the fault returns. he says i may need to get an egr if it returns and this ''MAY'' cure it, also mentioned something to me about dodgy non ford fuel filters have been causing problems. can anyone advise.

[chilwood]

Anyone?

[Ianb]

Gary, unfortunately I am no mechanic (and after a few bottles of vino I'm not much else either...) however..

The way I see it, what you have in your car is a diesel engine... crudely:

1. Fuel and air goes in

2. Fuel burns

3. Rubbish goes out the back...

That is; in a sense, an engine.. What you have with an egr is more like this:

1.Fuel and air and exhaust goes in

2.Fuel burns

3.Some rubbish goes out the back, other bits go back round to number 1...

..So honestly I don't see quite how blanking the egr can have any detrimental effect on the whole thing....

So IF your egr has gone belly up, I don't see quite how it can make a difference when a good majority on this forum have blanked theirs anyway.... Dead EGR is surely the same as a working EGR that has been blanked.... Unless of course the EGR is dead and stuck open... in which case blanking it would only be more beneficial...

So hopefully someone with a more mechanically minded noggin can put my above gibberish into a more technical (or correct) direction, but that's my 2 cents anyway..

[FOCA]

here is an update for anyone who is interested/can advise.

had diagnostic done and its saying egr problem, even though egr is blanked off, he advised me to remove the blank and he would clear the fault, then for me too see how it runs and if the fault returns. he says i may need to get an egr if it returns and this ''MAY'' cure it, also mentioned something to me about dodgy non ford fuel filters have been causing problems. can anyone advise.

If you have fitted a solid EGR blanking plate it is unlikely to be the source of your problems

With a solid plate, it effectively disables the EGR valve

BUT - some valves have a position sensor that can throw up fault codes if faulty - in that case i would fit a new EGR valve but immediately fit a solid blanking plate - personally i would never run without a solid EGR plate or delete

Some cheap fuel filters can cause problems due to lack of flow - Ford or "premium" (eg Bosch) fuel filters are better

[chilwood]

Regarding replacing the egr and manifold, i have just spoken to a mechanic and he says he thinks the turbo needs to be removed to gain acces to replace the manifold, can anyone verify this? Are there any gudies on here for replacing the manifold.It would be my intention to rectify this fault and then re introduce the blanking plate, i assume it would also be neccesary to fit new gaskets to manifold etc?

[chilwood]

Can anyone advise with regard to above?

[chilwood]

update, have now replaced the 2 solenoids on top of the engine, car still running as before, i am at a loss, i still think maybe a vacuum leak somewhere, where to look?

are these leaks or normal.....

[chilwood]

Also, is the small red section of hose normal or could that be a ''repair'' that someone has made?

[chilwood]

Anyone?

[Ianb]

No red piping in my focus, perhaps it's a replacement :/

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