Turbo boost solenoid vacuum pipe

[VNTerbo]

Hello its my first post here hoping someone can help with my Focus 1.6 Tdci Duratorq 05

While having a nose around the engine bay i noticed a loose pipe behind the engine just hanging down, I am fairly certain its a vacuum hose and should be connected to the boost solenoid however where it should connect i seem to have some sort of black blanking plug/cap on the solenoid itself.

The pipe traces back up to the top of the engine and has what appears to be a round filter on the end, so i guess my question is should this pipe be connected or is it surplus to this model of engine and if it should be connected will this blanking plug just flick off without rendering the solenoid in op and costing around £100.00 to replace.

I look forward to any thoughts guys because i am scratching my head on this one.

Kind regards

 

 

[Yungog]

16 hours ago, VNTerbo said:

Hello its my first post here hoping someone can help with my Focus 1.6 Tdci Duratorq 05

While having a nose around the engine bay i noticed a loose pipe behind the engine just hanging down, I am fairly certain its a vacuum hose and should be connected to the boost solenoid however where it should connect i seem to have some sort of black blanking plug/cap on the solenoid itself.

The pipe traces back up to the top of the engine and has what appears to be a round filter on the end, so i guess my question is should this pipe be connected or is it surplus to this model of engine and if it should be connected will this blanking plug just flick off without rendering the solenoid in op and costing around £100.00 to replace.

I look forward to any thoughts guys because i am scratching my head on this one.

Kind regards

 

 

I'm not 100% sure if I'm thinking of the same pipe as you but mine has a pipe like that and I'm pretty sure it's a breather pipe( unsure of exact name) and that it's meant to hang there.

Someone else will be along to clarify or tell me I'm a gobs*ite . :P

[FatHead1979]

@VNTerbo If you could upload a picture you'll likely have a definitive answer by this evening at the latest.

[VNTerbo]

Sorry for the late reply and many thanks for responding to my post guys, i have uploaded images that i managed to take whilst crammed under the car. they are far from perfect but hopefully explain visually what i am talking about, you can see the vacuum/breather pipe with the rubber u bend just hanging down and the solenoid with the black cap covering what i think is another connection on the unit.

If anyone is still unclear i can link you to an article on another forum if someone tells me how to and its within the rules, showing the same solenoid with three pipes connected where mine has only two connected. I think i stumbled on the article by searching for the P0299 code (turbo underboost) and someone posted a very informative tutorial with regards to this vacuum solenoid.

In case it helps i have always noticed a very slight high pitched whining noise whilst driving this car, its not very prominent but when you know what it sounds like it gets on your nerves after a while, its seems to go up in pitch then disappear when you come to a junction. i initially checked for leaks and the vacuum hoses but couldnt find anything until getting under the car and spotting this hose hanging down.

I can always have my hearing checked as well if all else fails lol

Thanks in advance guys 

[Tdci-Peter]

56 minutes ago, VNTerbo said:

you can see the vacuum/breather pipe with the rubber u bend just hanging down and the solenoid with the black cap covering what i think is another connection on the unit.

Have a look at:

The three pipes are Vent, Turbo Actuator, Vacuum pump. (Your loose pipe is the vent, as you say.)

The Actuator can be connected to either Vent or Pump, depending whether the valve is energised or not. I think vacuum puts the turbo into low / no boost condition, and then allowing air in via the vent puts it into boost condition.

So a vent is essential, but it looks to me a bit like the black cap may be a vented cap. However, if it is, this is not ideal as dirt or water could get sucked in. That is why the vent pipe is filtered.

[VNTerbo]

Thank you Peter that makes a lot more sense to me now, it never occured to me the black cap might be vented. this would also explain the high pitched whistle i hear whilst driving although it could be something completely different causing this.

With regards to the valve being energised or not, all i know is when the engine is started the actuator contracts under a vacuum and pulls the small lever all the way back to the adjuster bolt, would this not put the turbo into full boost by restricting the gap between the vanes for low engine revs? it would then release the vacuum slowly out via the solenoid valve vent and open the vanes up to full for a lower boost at high engine speed. I am just guessing really because i have no idea if the vanes are fully open or almost closed when the actuator lever is against its stop position.

So would anyone suggest me removing this black cap and connecting the pipe back up or just leave it alone? i can't be certain if by removing the cap i might render the solenoid valve useless, but if it's feasible and cures the problem of the whistle then that would be worth it. I have the cleaning of the egr valve on my "to do" list so for what its worth i might remove the valve at the same time for a closer inspection. I am wondering if this valve was replaced by the previous owner and it's not the correct part for this engine, does anyone have any thoughts on this or is anyone aware of two different types of solenoid that work with this engine?

Thanks in advance

 

[Tdci-Peter]

4 hours ago, VNTerbo said:

all i know is when the engine is started the actuator contracts under a vacuum and pulls the small lever all the way back to the adjuster bolt, would this not put the turbo into full boost by restricting the gap between the vanes for low engine revs?

Another 1.6 owner said it moves on start-up. This means the sprung position (no vacuum) is full turbo, and vacuum is needed to put it into vanes open (no turbo). Then as power is needed, the solenoid de-energises in stages to reduce the vacuum and increase turbo boost.

Before connecting the pipe, I would push another (clean!) bit of pipe on to it, and blow through to check it is clear of obstructions. Maybe a previous owner disconnected the filter pipe because the pipe or filter was blocked. More likely, it was in the erroneous idea that the filter & pipe was somehow restricting the turbo, and disconnecting it would increase performance. Probably the other way round in practice!

I have heard of cases where the vent pipe went into the inlet hose just after the main air filter. But all cases I have heard of, the solenoid itself looks the same.

Simcor said it moves on start-up, he had a 1.6TDCI at the time:

 

[VNTerbo]

Thank you Peter for your expertise and time in responding i think in hindsight i will leave it be as the turbo actuator is working ok, the black plug fitted to the solenoid valve will have to remain a mystery to me because i just cant see why one would be fitted if a pipe is available to connect right onto the same place.

I have started to bring myself up to speed with OBD from working on cars for a living in the 1980s so would be more than grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction for some good reading to digest for forscan, i am really interested in the live data and what they should look like with all sensors working well for my engine, can this be recorded and how would you know something is not working correctly? i am ok reading the codes and correctly diagnosing them but the live data is something i need help with.

Thanks in advance 

 

[Tdci-Peter]

1 hour ago, VNTerbo said:

i am really interested in the live data and what they should look like with all sensors working well for my engine, can this be recorded and how would you know something is not working correctly? i am ok reading the codes and correctly diagnosing them but the live data is something i need help with.

The best time to record some live data is when your car is working properly! That way you have a benchmark to go to if something goes wrong. It is quite hard to bother with all the hassle when there is no immediate need, so usually we only start looking at it when it all goes pear shaped. But the big problem with live data is that there is loads of it, and looking for a problem can be like looking for a needle in a haystack unless you have some comparative datum.

I have done a few data runs on my car over the last two years, and am now getting an annoying P0299 error (Turbo Underboost) on an increasing basis. Comparison shows the turbo is usually getting up to about the same pressure as before, but can take a bit longer to do it (Is that just a symptom of old age ?). So far it is not conclusive, but at least I can monitor the situation, including oil loss, if any, and look for further changes. So neither error codes, nor live data are a simple case of "the fault is the widgetty watsit", but combined with traditional diagnosis, it can give an insight into what on earth is going on inside these electronic cars.

One helpful guide to Forscan is by James (jeebowhite):
https://www.fordownersclub.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=58645

I assume you have an ELM327 and have downloaded Forscan, if not I can give links.

Forscan seems a quite safe program to play about with, as long as your ELM is a decent one. Any odd problems that look like ELM problems (losing contact with the CAN bus, or getting wrong data), chuck it away quick. The quality does vary a bit. Forscan can do things like erase all your keys, or blank out the PCM, but it will always warn you, and these functions are not easy to stumble over by accident. Just read the screen before clicking OK, not after!

When entering live data mode, Forscan can display a list of all available PIDs (data sources), and you select some of these by moving them into another column. You can save this setup for future use. Then click Start, stash the computer safely & ensure the wire (if any) is safely run, and drive. No need to even glance at the computer. Stop & park, click Stop, & click on Save the data. (It is not saved automatically!). Then you can review the run at leisure.

It can also log starts, it will work before the engine is running (ign must be on), and all through the start.

A couple of hints: If using the graph mode, do not select too many PIDs, it all gets a bit crowded, about 8 is reasonable. Also runs over about 45 minutes get rather hard to navigate around in after.

A couple of screenshots from data runs I have done are below.

The names of all these PIDs are explained by Forscan, by hovering over the PID when in table or dashboard mode if I recall. One quirk of the Forscan graphs is that they say Time ms, but mean Time s! Eg 3.38 seconds from log start to engine firing in the graph above.

[Drs1177]

Just had my Transit courier 2016 BOOST SENSOR renewed but still getting p2599 fault code…. Boost position stuck high. Any ideas….?..