I've had a hunt through various threads that are sort of related to what I'm asking but nothing specifically answers these questions, hoping for some advice before I delve under the bonnet. 

My 2012 1.6 TDCI doesn't really run that well. It's particularly unhappy at lowish revs (1500rpm seems to be particularly bad), at it's worst it will judder and almost kangaroo for a few seconds, like a driver who can't use a clutch! It also seems to me that I can almost feel a sort of slight missfire - just slightly lumpy running at all revs. It feels like it's clogged up.

The car has done a pretty high mileage but has been well serviced throughout its life. From what I've read I suspect that the DPF needs a good clear out - I've ordered some Forte and will add that to the tank for a 3000rpm thrash and then a fill up with premium fuel. I also plan to give the car a service (new filters and oil).

Having read about others dealing with my symptoms, it seems to me that given the mileage of the car (143k) the ERG valve is quite possibly clogged with carbon and stuck open. It would seem that taking it off, giving it a good clean out and then resetting the ECU would be helpful, previous cars I've done this on have been much happier afterwards. However, I've read on this forum that the MK3 ERG shouldn't be removed - would you all advise against the ERG clean and just do the rest of the above? Or should I go ahead and clean it out anyway? Is there anything else you'd recommend to get things running a bit better?

Injectors are probably knackered, very common on the 8v 1.6TDCi.  Fuel filter replacement should be the first thing to try though.

The EGRs don't usually fail on these like they did on the older ones, but at that mileage it's possible.

The cDPF on these is pretty good, there's no need for long 3k runs to clear them (10 year old advice!), if it was blocked the cooling fan would be running constantly after switch off.  You can usually trigger a regen by hammering down the slip road in 3rd, once on the motorway, 70 in 5th or even 6th will be fine as long as its maintained for at least 10 minutes.

 

Mone is doing exactly this..

1250 RPM, any speed, any gear.

I've toyed with the airflow and the more air I get in it the more emphasized the issue becomes which is telling me EGR as well really.

I've explored all options in terms of computer issues, but was stuck with fuel filter, pump, and egr. The filter was done following the dealer misfuelling the car, which did make a difference, but that specific rpm range still persists to be a problem.

Outside thoughts are injectors, but they seem good otherwise (and apparently have been checked at the dealer, as much as I'm not certain about it..), or plugs but I have no other symptoms of those going bad.

I'm going to be doing the EGR myself on mine soon, which is going to be a pig of a job but must be done. If you get there before me feel free to post results, but if I get anything from mine I'll let you know!

Mine's the 2.0/185 engine, dpf is definitely clear too.

6 minutes ago, WireyWhenWet said:

Mine's the 2.0/185 engine, dpf is definitely clear too.

Is it Euro 6?  As yours is at such a precise RPM I'd suspect it's just part of the standard mapping tbh.  You should be able to watch the EGR and air doser opening around that point on live data.

I'm interested as to how the dealer misfuelled a modern Ford though?  Must take some effort to ram that petrol pump into the diesel EasyFuel flaps!  

Thanks for the replies. Tom, I just read your other thread about the injectors, I'm really hoping this isn't the problem with mine, sounds like an expensive nightmare - I'm keeping my fingers crossed though, I have no white smoke and the car runs very smooth when idling, it's really just at that low speed, low, 1500ish rev range that the problems kick in. I did read on another site that someone took their car to Ford for an engine management update that raised the idling revs slightly and seemed to fix this issue (bit sceptical about that but I'll leave it as a last resort). 

Going to change the filters and I'll give the EGR clean a go. It really wasn't a terrible job on the MK1.5 I had a few years ago but no doubt it's been made much more complicated since then! Sam, I'll let you know how I get on!

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Is it Euro 6?  As yours is at such a precise RPM I'd suspect it's just part of the standard mapping tbh.  You should be able to watch the EGR and air doser opening around that point on live data.

I'm interested as to how the dealer misfuelled a modern Ford though?  Must take some effort to ram that petrol pump into the diesel EasyFuel flaps!  

I thought exactly that and went nuts with them.. I'd understand if it was a backstreet garage but it wasn't. Went to collect the car on handover and it wouldn't start initially, their tech put it down to being stood and the rough running to just dpf needing a clear out..  Yeah not impressed at all! And aye, its E6. I've had the live logging on it but it's not really throwing much up overall, it looked at one point to be a sticky throttle position sensor but the live stuff ruled that out. Just waiting for a day where I can have a few hours to myself again to have a pootle about and do more checks with the logger hooked up.

 

And Toby, hope it is a simple one buddy! I think you have it a bit easier for access at least which should save a lot of scrapes and swearing 👍

 

I had an issue on my petrol 2011 1.6 ti-vct with rough idling and misfires that got to the point of stalling when I pulled up at lights sometimes. This was fixed by the pcm update that raises tickover slightly although I don't know whether the same applies to diesels. If it has never had any updates done it might be worth a go. 

There is a thread on here about it. 

I own a 2.0tdci 150 euro 6 and does exactly the same. A pain in the ***** to drive in high traffic. Very unhappy below 2000 rpm and lots of jerky motion.

At the recommendation of my mechanic the EGR valve was replaced and cleaned the MAP sensor. After 3000 miles the symptoms were back, with new EGR! I suspect the problem is elsewhere, maybe the turbo VNT is gunked up ? or the DMF is failing ?

No error codes. Runs like crap, most often when the engine is cold.

I had read about the PCM update somewhere - there was also talk about it improving fuel consumption. I think it may well be worth a shot if things don't improve.

Interestingly, if I put the car in neutral and rev it at around the 1500rpm range, it runs perfectly, no judder, no fluctuating revs, no rough running at all. Correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like if it was an issue with injectors, whether the engine was doing 1500rpm in gear or out of gear shouldn't make any difference.

Since having the car, I have tried to take it for a few longer "enthusiastic" runs and it does seem to be a bit better. Also noticed that one of the rear brakes is sticking on a bit, so I'm going to free that off and see how it goes. Averaging 46mpg at the moment and I feel like the the fuel consumption should be better, hopefully freeing off the brake should help in that department.

I also tried software updates. PCM has the latest verions installed and also the recalls done. Runs better for few miles. Otherwise still runs like crap. 

I also noticed a lot of gunk in the intake manifold at the time when the mechanic removed the EGR. Lots of dirt and fuel related residues. I wonder if a intake clean up will help. only 40.000 miles!

However, as far as i remember, this behavior was intermittent as i got the car out of the dealer, brand new. I also did drive other fords with same engine and this behavior was not present (Mondeo, Kugas). So this is really frustrating as 5 years later, the culprit is not to be found.

It seems that what cures it is blanking the EGR pipe. However in EURO 5 and 6 engines this will throw in a MIL code which can further alter the DPF regeneration process. Therefore, still think this is due to faulty EGR functioning......a sensor, wire or simply dirt.....

3 hours ago, djkoss86 said:

I also did drive other fords with same engine and this behavior was not present (Mondeo, Kugas). So this is really frustrating as 5 years later, the culprit is not to be found.

It seems that what cures it is blanking the EGR pipe. However in EURO 5 and 6 engines this will throw in a MIL code which can further alter the DPF regeneration process. Therefore, still think this is due to faulty EGR functioning......a sensor, wire or simply dirt.....

Snap, and snap! I'm in the same boat for mine 😐

I wonder if Ford/PSA engineers know about this issue. I mean, really, 2019, they still manufacture the engine, problem yet not solved. I do not recommend this engine at all.

EGR valve is not cheap to replace by the way. Aproxx. EUR 700. Also, its not easy to remove it from the engine.Lots of work to be done.

I know.. Its not a difficult part to recondition yourself it really is just an absolute pig to get to that's the issue.

I'm aiming to at least try and do mine before Christmas, if I do I'll document everything and try do guide or something on it.  I just don't like getting cold and wet and then having to sort everything in the dark!

(Plus, the front end has to come off  to repair some more damage which has just been added to the list but that's another story...)

Good luck! Maybe this can help you: 

 

Christ..

Well the first minute of that really set the tone for what I'm undertaking here, huh?

In all seriousness, that's actually a very useful and informative video; great find thank you!

It may be wishful thinking but I feel like the car has been improving over the last week or so. I've been on a few longer runs with it, filled it with premium fuel and it seems to be a bit happier; a bit lumpy when cold but I'm sure it's smoother than it was. While I'm off over Christmas I'll change filters and oil and it'll be getting a run up to the northern highlands which will hopefully help (although average speed cameras from Perth to Inverness means I'll have to behave on the journey!). If it's still giving problems I'll look at the horror of the EGR job!

Just a quick update with this. I gave the Focus a service over the Christmas break - new air, fuel, oil and pollen filters and an oil change with decent oil. I also ran a bottle of Forte through the system.

On the 200 mile drive home the car seemed to get worse and sound rougher as I went along. I started to suspect the air filter and on inspecting it the next day, found that I hadn't quite seated it properly, I pushed it properly into place and everything sounded a lot better. It's a stupid design for an air filter and seems to be unnecessarily fiddly, the filter on my old MK1 was much better. Anyway...

The car gradually improved from that point, initially the lumpy running was much as it had been, but over the last 10 days I have had virtually no problems at all and it appears to be running a little better each day. 

So it seems like the combination of the service and a bit of time for the computer to adjust has basically solved the problem. There seem to have been a few DPF cycles which have probably been beneficial. So I don't want to tempt fate but I feel like the valves are probably ok (he says very tentatively).

Sam, I'm guessing you've tried replacing filters etc, hopefully your problem isn't anything too serious, or if you attempt the dreaded EGR removal, I hope it all goes well. For anyone else, I'd suggest trying this cheap first step.

Yeah. The service for sure helped. Also the DPF regens.

Been there done that. Give it some time/miles, say 3000 miles with combined driving (highway+city) and the symptoms will come back. Mine has these "cycles" since new. Runs better for some miles...than comes back to that "crappy feeling".