Car keeps stalling

[Sambambeano]

Hi fellow ford owners.

I'm new here so please bear with me.

I have a 2004 diesel ford fiesta and a couple days ago on a drive home it started to kangaroo and then stalled. It restarts but when I go to set of it quickly dies. 2 oil lights and the battery light show up on the dash, once restarted everything is back normal no lights on dash until I go to set of again and it dies straight away.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Sam

[Tiexen]

Have you filled it with petrol?

if no - when was it last serviced?

 

[Sambambeano]

@Tiexen not that I'm aware and I've only just purchased the car in the last month so I'm not sure, silly I know

[Gazcaz]

Did it drive okay on your test drive before buying it ?

[Sambambeano]

@Gazcaz yeah I mean it seemed fine, drove for a good 10 minutes 

[Gazcaz]

12 minutes ago, Sambambeano said:

@Gazcaz yeah I mean it seemed fine, drove for a good 10 minutes 

Did you own a petrol car before ? and have you filled up your new car since buying it ?

[Sambambeano]

@Gazcaz yeah ive owned a couple petrol before and yeah i filled the diesel up twice since owning it

[isetta]

could be blocked fuel filter. I am not saying it is, but it could be. I think the fuel filter is at the top of the engine, slightly towards rear at the passenger side end of engine. Usually they are not cleanable, being a sealed unit about size of baked bean can and cost maybe £15-£20.   I am not an expert on your model so not 100% sure. 1.4tdci I assume.   there will be youtube videos showing it

[Sambambeano]

Cheers @isetta I will be sure to give it a go

[Sambambeano]

@isetta is that black box the fuel filter?

[Tiexen]

If you havn't already done this go here:

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

and report back what it finds

[Sambambeano]

@Tiexen hi mate yeah MOT is fine just has a minor for exhaust leak

[Sambambeano]

You guys don't think it could be the alternator do you?

[TomsFocus]

18 hours ago, Sambambeano said:

@isetta is that black box the fuel filter?

Yes, the fuel filter is under that metal cover with the 2 10mm bolts on top.  I agree with Isetta, that's the first thing I'd change if not changed recently.

Does the car start at all now or does it still just die immediately?  If it's not starting at all, try priming the system with the hand fuel pump on the left hand side of the engine (looks like a grenade!).  Pump it until it gets hard and then start the engine and see how long it runs for.

5 minutes ago, Sambambeano said:

You guys don't think it could be the alternator do you?

No.  The battery light and oil light come on because the engine has stalled...unless the come on before the engine stalls they can be discounted for fault finding.

I would recommend getting Forscan to see what fault codes are present if a new fuel filter doesn't solve the issue.

[Sambambeano]

14 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Yes, the fuel filter is under that metal cover with the 2 10mm bolts on top.  I agree with Isetta, that's the first thing I'd change if not changed recently.

Does the car start at all now or does it still just die immediately?  If it's not starting at all, try priming the system with the hand fuel pump on the left hand side of the engine (looks like a grenade!).  Pump it until it gets hard and then start the engine and see how long it runs for.

No.  The battery light and oil light come on because the engine has stalled...unless the come on before the engine stalls they can be discounted for fault finding.

I would recommend getting Forscan to see what fault codes are present if a new fuel filter doesn't solve the issue.

Hi @TomsFocus thank you for replying.

Sorry if I said the car stalls immediately after starting this is not correct.

The car starts and revs fine until putting it in gear and setting of, the car will move maybe a foot or two and then dies and the oil battery and engine managment light appear on the dash.

Thanks again I appreciate all you help.

Sam

[TomsFocus]

12 minutes ago, Sambambeano said:

Hi @TomsFocus thank you for replying.

Sorry if I said the car stalls immediately after starting this is not correct.

The car starts and revs fine until putting it in gear and setting of, the car will move maybe a foot or two and then dies and the oil battery and engine managment light appear on the dash.

Thanks again I appreciate all you help.

Sam

Oh, that's interesting!  Hmm, I'll have to think about that a bit more...still potentially fuel filter but less likely if you can rev it up at standstill but can't creep away in gear.

Those dash lights aren't significant because they're just being caused by the engine stalling.

[Sambambeano]

@TomsFocus do you think it's worth changing the fuel filter then as I'm no good with cars and don't really want to pay someone if it's not the problem

[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, Sambambeano said:

@TomsFocus do you think it's worth changing the fuel filter then as I'm no good with cars and don't really want to pay someone if it's not the problem

I guess it depends what's available to you.  Personally I wouldn't change anything without first checking for fault codes with Forscan...but I already have it so it's free, quick and easy for me to do.

If that wasn't an option, I'd stick a new fuel filter on first, but again, I could order one for same day delivery and fit that myself as well.

I don't think there's a cheap or easy answer if you're going to pay someone either way.

 

[Sambambeano]

I'm probably going to have to pay for a garage to check for fault codes cause I'm clueless I won't know what I'm doing haha cheers for the help I shall report back when or if I find out more what the problem is.

[nicam49]

It sounds like it's the egr valve needs cleaning. I've had this problem on a diesel where it would rev all you like when stationary but would die as soon as I tried moving off.towed to garage who fixed it by cleaning the egr valve. 

[TomsFocus]

13 minutes ago, Sambambeano said:

I'm probably going to have to pay for a garage to check for fault codes cause I'm clueless I won't know what I'm doing haha cheers for the help I shall report back when or if I find out more what the problem is.

Are you any good with tech?  Forscan is just a phone/laptop app, you don't have to be good with cars at all!  

You just need the cable or dongle which costs about £15 from Tunnelrat.  Most independent garages only have generic scanners which often don't pick up Ford specific faults like Forscan does.

[nicam49]

No eml light on, so likely no code logged either. Clogged egr valve won't log a code, neither will split boost pipes, etc

[TomsFocus]

5 minutes ago, nicam49 said:

No eml light on, so likely no code logged either. Clogged egr valve won't log a code, neither will split boost pipes, etc

Not true at all.  The EML only comes on for OBD codes, there will almost certainly be Ford specific codes logged, even if they're just red herrings from the stalling.

There are loads of codes possible for EGR, as well as testing the voltage through the solenoid to check if that's operating, it also uses the MAF to determine how much air is flowing through it compared to the expected flow rate.  Split boost hose can cause a code via the MAP sensor for underboost or MAF/MAP discrepancy.

[Guy Heaton]

My dad has something similar a few years back and it turned out to be his intake pipe and airbox had got clogged with leaves.  Same symptoms, started fine but would give up straight away.

[nicam49]

Thing is, its a 2004 car. As codes aren't date stamped, it could have loads of irrelevant ones stored. Tom, I don't share your optimism 'Split boost hose can cause a code via the MAP sensor for underboost or MAF/MAP discrepancy.'   that yer average mechanic will extrapolate that info and work out there's a split boost hose. He'll have changed both sensors 1st and telling the customer he suspects the turbo! I also doubt very much that egr isn't just a vacuum operated one without position sensor.. as it is on my own 2002 TDCi  (disclaimer:  I might be wrong..) . let's hope the OP comes back to this thread when they resolve it.