I usually use ID isetta but can't recall password and can't get password reset to work.

However -    I know that on Focus1.6tdci there has been a lot about turbo failure and then when turbo replaced it fails again. As the failure is caused by lack of oil to turbo bearings. And the cause of that is the oil feed pipe to turbo being gunged up.

My question - was this overcome on later year cars due to a redesign or whatever? is there a year of car onwards  that it is reasonably safe to assume that it won't go the same way?

Also, I know typically that it was mk2 Focus that suffered this. IIRC there was a 90bhp version without dpf and a 115(roughly) version with dpf. I had in the back of my mind that it was only this higher power version with dpf that failed?    does that sound right?  I think it had a different turbo and the pipe was very close to dpf ?    does that sound right?

Thinking about getting a 1.6tdci but want to know which ones best avoided to reduce the risk of me coming unstuck on the common turbo problem . (of course buying 2nd hand it's impossible to know past history even service record can be fake)

I think you are right from what I have read here and elsewhere.   Saying that I have a Mk2 1.6tdci that should be sensitive to this issue and never had a problem, just topped 150,000 miles.  Regular oil changes, oh and getting rid of that pesky DPF probably helped.

Turbo failure is a well known problem of all 16 Valve versions of the 1.6 TDCI. Both the 90 HP and 109 HP versions are affected by this problem. The problem is mainly caused by the small oil capacity of this engine. The small oil capacity combined with long service intervals results in severe contamination and disintegration of the engine oil. As a result of this the oil viscosity is affected. This results in a clogged strainer inside the oil feed line to the turbocharger. The lack of lubrication of the turbocharger results in turbo failure.

This problem can easily be prevented by shortening the service intervals or performing an additional oil and filter change between services.

The interesting point is that a defective turbocharger is just one symptom of lack of lubrication. If the turbo fails as a result of lack of lubrication the engine itself may also suffer from excessive wear caused by the lack of lubrication. This is why the turbocharger should never be replaced without further investigation. In case of turbo failure the engine should be flushed, the sump needs to be cleaned and the strainer inside the oil feed line to the turbo should either be replaced or removed (lubricating the turbo with contaminated oil is better than no lubrication at all). Afterwards the oil feed quantity to the turbo should be measured. If the measured amount of oil is insufficient the engine suffered from excessive wear and must be considered scrap.

Isetta99?  I didn't realise you were only 21!  

Sorry, missed this when it first posted for some reason.  As others have said though, the only 'safe' 1.6 TDCi is the 8v in the Mk3.

I owned mine (110ps model) for about 3.5 years and 30k miles without a single turbo or oil issue, but they're too old now to gauge how they've been treated previously.  I wouldn't risk another myself.  I did carry out roughly 6k oil changes, and after the first year the DPF had to be removed after endless issues so that may have helped.

14 hours ago, south_bound said:

I think you are right from what I have read here and elsewhere.   Saying that I have a Mk2 1.6tdci that should be sensitive to this issue and never had a problem, just topped 150,000 miles.  Regular oil changes, oh and getting rid of that pesky DPF probably helped.

+1

I've got 203,000 miles on my 2010 1.6TDCi focus, im going to frame the factory turbo when its done, its a 90bhp model remapped to 110Bhp gutted DPF and blanked EGR fitted aftermarket induction filter in to the standard box all at round 20,000miles. i have the car since new in september 2010 when i got made redundant from my previous job and needed a car to assist me in traveling to a replacement, 

The Oil Strainer in the oil feed pipe to the Turbo was removed from production at some point and I believe that the advice given was to remove it from engines that did have it fitted because it used to get clogged up too easily.

I have read Ford's official fix for Turbo failure on this engine and it does mention disconnecting the oil feed pipe and measuring the volume of oil after a given time period. As JW 1982 said if it was less than a certain amount the the engine needed a complete rebuild and was effectively scrap.

My MK 2.5 did nearly 100,000 miles and the Turbo was like new, but I did change my oil every 6 months and only used original Ford filters.

I've had my 2011 mk2-5 1.6 TDCi since 2012 (37k miles), it is now on 127k miles and I've always changed the oil with castrol magnetec and ford filter every 6k miles.

Never had a problem with the turbo, it's probably the most reliable car I have owned, the only things I've needed to replace apart from the usual serviceable items, are the alternator and egr valve.