Hello! I've had this problem a few years. The car is showing other symptoms as well so I need to start paying attention....

Car is on about 146k miles, and periodically I get a sudden drop in power. It won't rev past a certain figure (3.5k ish). I get no malfunction lights. I have changed the fuel filter (it seemed to 'fix' it for a few weeks then it came back, co-incidence maybe?), and serviced it. No fault codes from the menu. But if I restart the car a couple of times it can go away. I am also now getting intermittent engine malfunction warnings, possibly unrelated, and on first startup it has a horribly shaky (you can't focus in the mirror!) idle.

Appreciate she's an old girl now but had it since new, and would rather not have to change it.

The dash menu doesn't show useful fault codes, really need to get Forscan on it for some decent codes.

22 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The dash menu doesn't show useful fault codes, really need to get Forscan on it for some decent codes.

Ahh I didn't know that - thanks. I'll make that a priority then, and come back to the thread.

up to you what you buy of course but many people on this forum have recommended getting fault code reader from tunnelrat electronics. I have one - with the extra switch added for extra functionality on fords. less than twenty quid.

you can get one with usb cable or with wifi.  

Forscan software is free for Windows and about 6 quid for an app for apple/android.

Every Ford owner should be equipped with this stuff. Even if you can't work on cars yourself it is of some use in checking if someone is conning you.

 

Thanks, my tunnel rat came this morning so had to give it a go! Very cool! We also have a Ford S-Max so a doubly useful tool.

I'm getting P115A low fuel level, P0313 misfire detected with low fuel, and P0299-C turbo underboost. I *suspect* they are all related to the fuel pressure...?

I'm wondering if when I changed the filter it was way overdue, so the faults have stayed? I've cleared them now so will see what happens when I take it for a spirited drive. If the faults come back I'll report back.

*Edit* Actually, maybe the fuel pump is on it's way out...? Work out with abuse by not changing the fuel filter...

It's probably the underboost fault causing your issues, I reckon that one will come back.  Likely to be a loose or split boost pipe somewhere if so.

Haven't seen a low fuel fuel level code before, there is a specific one for low pressure...  Do you park on a steep hill that might drop the float to the bottom of the tank?

I used to park on a hill to be fair, facing uphill. Okay, if the others could be red herrings then I'll look at underboost. One of the pipes does slip off slightly, been a problem ever since a prang and the garage didn't fix properly. This was a few years back though. On the stock image, the angled 'T' hose coming off the turbo the first jubilee clip on the pipe never seems to be tight enough no matter how tight you do it. Maybe the pipe is knackered?

So after the car has been out now the codes have been wiped, I'll see if the code has come back.

 

Got codes (and an engine warning light) when I took it for a spirited drive:

 

P0299 - Turbo underboost condition
 

😞 So shall I replace all the turbo hoses and see what happens? There's a fair bit of oil on the hose.

12 hours ago, welshie_miles said:

Got codes (and an engine warning light) when I took it for a spirited drive:

 

P0299 - Turbo underboost condition
 

😞 So shall I replace all the turbo hoses and see what happens? There's a fair bit of oil on the hose.

Oil in boost pipes is perfectly normal...if anything, it'll be helpful here as it should show any boost leaks with a light spattering of oil around the area.

The hose on the right hand side of the turbo is on the intake side, so that one gets 'sucked' rather than blown...a loose clamp isn't a problem there.  There's also no bead around the end of the turbo connection so that pipe will slip off easily. 

No need to replace all the hoses and I'd advise against it tbh, it may not even be a hose, might be the intercooler or air doser valve instead.  Best thing to do is to look for oil splatter as well as pipe splits.  Start at the plastic 'hose' on top of the turbo and follow the pipes round, through the intercooler and then up to the inlet manifold.  If you can't see any splatter you might find it easier to have someone holding the revs at around 1500rpm while you feel around the pipes as you should be able to feel the air leak even if it's hidden under a pipe where you can't see it.

Finally, at that mileage, there is the potential for it to be the turbo at fault.  If you remove the loose pipe on the right hand side of the turbo, you can feel for shaft play.  Some up and down play is perfectly normal with the engine off as it usually runs on a film of pressurised oil, but there really shouldn't be any in & out play, or any scrape marks on the housing, or any bent fins.   There will be some oil there from the crank case breather, that's perfectly normal and not a concern.

Thanks Tom, I'll check the inlet side. Can you recommend a sensible turbo upgrade if I need to change it?

12 hours ago, welshie_miles said:

Thanks Tom, I'll check the inlet side. Can you recommend a sensible turbo upgrade if I need to change it?

There aren't really any sensible upgrades that I'm aware of, people usually upgrade for more power!   I really do think it'll just be a simple pipe split or similar though.

 There's a fair bit of oil on the hose.

There's your clue right there! Shouldn't be ANY on the outside. Check the hose clamps and look for splits in the pipes... they're often v difficult to detect, remember, as the rubber is v. thick and the split only tends to.open up under boost pressure. 

Yeah upgrade for power I meant 🙂 I looked at the turbine and it seems ok, no play that I can detect. Looks in good shape - it still gets oil services around 10k miles / every year (ish) from me. I took a picture from the intake side. The hose connector on the metal side is pretty shot and split, I think where it's been overtightened and possible not put on correctly in the first place. At the bottom of the pipe a split was visible as the rubber collar was forced out from the clip. I re-adjusted that madness, seems a lot more secure.

On the more important manifold side, I found a few jubilee clips had half / a whole turn easily without going postal on them. Maybe they've worked loose over the years? I took it for a quick blast seemed ok, will check for leaks on throttle when my assistant is free from taking damaged kids to the hospital...



 

Whilst trying to fix a rough idle (another thread here

), I think I found the cause of this!

So on the drive it did the get stuck at 3kish rpm again. I wiggled the waste gate actuator, and it revved freely again. The actuator isn't smooth, so I reckon there was my problem.