Hi all im after some advice on my brothers focus 2009 1.8 Tdci 

he was driving it the other day and he said it started to go into limp mode no turbo and then while driving it completely cut out,

there was no smoke from rear end but when the recovery truck came out they tried to start it with all fail,

the Rac then said it could be the Wetbelt or known as the lower belt, 

if it was the lowerbelt i would have thought it would have just snaped IE no limp mode no turbo on the runup to it breaking 

so i quickly had a look the other day and doing some research in this wetbelt-lowerbelt myself as i have a 2006 focus also and i dont think ive got one fitted myself but 

i tested his battery as when you turned the key it was just a standerd click click click nose very week battery , after a jump from cables it was turning over but would not fire up 

only thing i could think of would be  fuel pump, crack/cam sensor or this wetbelt worse case, he has put the right fuel in and no engine management light was on ,

he had a new timing belt fitted about a year ago at 92000 now its 120000 but even then garage did not say anything about a wetbelt -lower belt when he had it fitted

i plugged in my code reader just in case but no codes was showing ether,  

so ive been thinking what could cause a car to go into limp mode with no turbo and then force it to cut out while driving, any further thoughts? 

 

4 hours ago, ukv1473 said:

it started to go into limp mode no turbo and then while driving it completely cut out,

In some cases the teeth on the lower belt can start to strip before the belt breaks. A small timing error due to a missing tooth or two could have caused a diagnosable error (crank sensor vs cam sensor), and made the car go into reduced power mode, though a warning light should have been on if it really was in reduced power ("limp") mode.

There is a big difference between deliberate reduced power mode caused by the ECU detecting a fault, and reduced actual power caused by a fault that the ECU fails to recognise. There would always be one or more error codes (DTCs) and a warning light in the former case. Though very prompt diagnostic testing is advised, some DTCs can disappear quite quickly, while others linger until reset.

I believe 2007 was the earliest date that the lower chain was replaced by the belt, though the chain could be on later registered cars due to factory conditions and time from assembly to sale.

Sadly quite a few garages do not seem to be aware of the change, and only service the upper belt. The lower belt has, in practice, the same service interval as the upper one.

Quickest real test is to remove the cam cover (not hard) and see if the camshaft turns, and if so, if it aligns with compression. With the car in 5th gear, one front wheel off the ground and the other chocked, you can turn the engine with a long wheel nut wrench to find, approximately, the top of compression. If the belt has gone, it it likely there will be little noticeable compression due to mashed valves. The compression on a diesel should be very noticeable, normally. I would expect visible damage to the camshaft and bearings also from a broken belt.  The piston, valve and camshaft are all in a straight line, and there is absolutely no clearance at all for mis-timing on a high compression engine.