Limp Mode at 3k Revs - Focus 1.6 TDCI

[Steve8812]

Hi folks, I'm new to this forum and just posted this in the 'general chat' section before realising there was a separate Focus forum...

I have an '07 1.6 TDCI Focus that I've had since 2010 and now has 172k on the clock. It's been well looked after and serviced and maintained regularly, still on its original clutch, DMF, DPF, injectors and Turbo. 

It's started the annoying habit of going into limp mode as it approaches 3k revs, making overtaking manoeuvres somewhat scary... If I let the revs dip back to around 2k it seems to sort itself out without having to turn the engine off. 

I have an intermittent warning light that the code reader picks up as 'DPF not operating at full efficiency' or something similar, but this comes and goes independently of how often it goes into limp mode. I fully expect the DPF to be near the end of its life but there's no signs of diesel being dumped into the sump which has happened in the past when it failed to regen. That was solved by a garage running a clean on it a while back. 

Are there any other potential causes for this apart from the DPF? This is the only code it's showing but I've read it could be fuel filter (not likely as replaced last year), injectors, wastegates, hoses etc? Not really sure it there's any stop gap fixes for DPF as new one seems to be near £1k

Cheers

[Abbadon]

I had this on a car (not a ford) that was due to the manifold boost pressure sensor going duff, it was reading too high, so I was hitting a point where the engine thought it was over boosting and then would cut the power until the boost dropped back...