Mondeo mk4 engine malfunction p010f

[Thfcraig]

Evening everyone. Firstly, happy new year and apologies if Ive posted in the wrong spot. 

I'll try and keep this as short as possible. Back in april i was driving home up the m11 in torrential rain when suddenly i got the engine malfunction message on my dash (not the eml). Limp mode, so nursed the car home, restarted the car and all was fine...nothing for a couple months so just assumed it was due to the rain reacting with a sensor. A couple months later almost at the exact same spot with the same kind of bad rain it happened again! Turned the car off and back on and again no issues for a long time. Fast forward to September the car began to 'judder/stutter' from time to time and the only way i can explain it is it felt as if i werent getting enough fuel, however it was very sporadic and wasnt really casuing an issue. Then october - i started to get the engine malfunction daily and i managed to get an idea why. It was happening under load at about 2500rpm with my foot right down when i was asking for a bit more oomph, normally at 50mph+ so i started to alter my driving and accelerate carefully, however this obviously wasnt solving the issue. I was adamant it was something to either do with fuel or air due to the way it was happening and the way it felt. I went and plugged a code reader in and got the p010f - air flow issue along with another code relating to fuel - exactly my suspicion! I had recently done a full service including a fuel filter so felt as if it was the MAF sensor. Cleared the codes bought a MAF sensor and all seemed fine. 

Two weeks later and i got a diesel filter overload  message which was weird as i was on the motorway. I was later told that my new maf sensor would have triggered a regen and maybe was a little clogged. I took it for a good drive later that day and again, all appeared fine. The next day i then got another engine malfunction message - read the code and the only thing that appeared was the p010f. I know cheaper maf sensors are never recommended, but 12 days!!?

So i decided to unplug the MAF and buy MAF cleaner for the original and to my surprise with it unplugged the car was driving like brand new all of a sudden. No juddering no engine malfunction and mpg increased to the point i was saving a fiver over 250 miles. The MAF cleaner arrived, used it, plugged the original back in and back to the juddering and limp mode. Unplugged again and again was driving faultlessly. I have since recently purchased a tested ford MAF sensor and whilst the juddering improved the engine malfunction and limp mode would come back with foot down at 2500rpm. I spoke to someone who owns a fleet of 50 odd cars, 39 of which are ford and most of these are mk4 mondeos. He said that i cant afford to drive with no MAF as the DPF wont regen and said if the MAF is not the issue he was 90% sure it would be the EGR. I have just installed a blanking.plate and reconnected the MAF sensor and taken it for a spin. Initially i thought it was solved as the car was driving spot on with absolutely no juddering just as when i had the MAF disconnected, however i managed to get the dreaded engine malfunction (albeit with more difficulty), but there was a definite improvement. Before taking the blanking plate out i could see it actually wasnt an exact fit so i have ordered another in the hope it still may be that, but it did look near enough completely blocked off so may be clutching at straws now. Sorry for the rambling but im obviously after some advice. 

1 - does anyone have any idea what is going on with my car!? As said, with the MAF disconnected it drives like new with improved mpg and a far more responsive engine! If it turns out it is not the egr and with the maf sensor now ruled out any other ideas?? I have checked for any splits etc and car has had a full service recently.

2 - if im lucky enough and it is the egr can i leave the blanking plate in? I was told if i blank it off the dpf will not regen again and obviously cause another failure so i should replace the egr valve, is this true? Ive seen so many mixed messages on this. I have not disconnected any cables on this.

3- if i can never solve this (i refuse to throw money at a car that has little value although i do love it) is it true that the DPF will fail with the MAF disconnected? Ie - it cant regen so will eventually clog up?

 

Really sorry for the long post, but didnt want to miss anything out that may be a clue and again sorry if i have posted in the wrong place!

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

TIA, Craig

[Thfcraig]

Evening. Can anyone shed any light on the above??

Just received my blanking plate, installed, but as expected i have the engine malfunction appear again - i also cleaned the MAF sensor just in case and reconnected all air hoses to be safe. Absolutely no hesitation now and doesnt feel as if i have any power loss, but foot to the floor (or near enough) and the message and limp mode is guaranteed to come on at 2500-3000rpm in gears 3-6; however if i nurse the acceleration slowly it does not come on, but this isnt always feasible especially when you get to hills or overtaking...

 

Any help is much appreciated and as mentioned before, disconnect the MAF sensor and this issue disappears...

[Tdci-Peter]

On 1/6/2021 at 8:30 PM, Thfcraig said:

1 - does anyone have any idea what is going on with my car!? As said, with the MAF disconnected it drives like new with improved mpg and a far more responsive engine! If it turns out it is not the egr and with the maf sensor now ruled out any other ideas?? I have checked for any splits etc and car has had a full service recently.

2 - if im lucky enough and it is the egr can i leave the blanking plate in? I was told if i blank it off the dpf will not regen again and obviously cause another failure so i should replace the egr valve, is this true? Ive seen so many mixed messages on this. I have not disconnected any cables on this.

3- if i can never solve this (i refuse to throw money at a car that has little value although i do love it) is it true that the DPF will fail with the MAF disconnected? Ie - it cant regen so will eventually clog up?

Ford don't spend any money on extra sensors if they can help it! The result is that it is very hard to determine which sensor or valve is at fault if one goes wrong.

In normal running, the MAF measures the intake air into the manifold. But the gas going into the actual engine is the sum of the MAF flow plus the EGR flow. This total.gas through the engine is calculated by the ECU from the MAP (Manifold pressure), the intake air temperature (IAT) and the rpm. Basically a piston engine is a fixed displacement engine, so about half the engine cc in volume goes through every rev, a frig factor for valve timing etc has to be included in the calc. The MAP & IAT can convert this to a mass flow to be compared to the MAF, The difference between MAF flow and this calculated engine flow is used to control the EGR to get the desired gas mix.

The upshot of this is there are many factors that upset measured airflows: all those sensors, blockages in the manifolds, valve timing, and big leaks. MAP & IAT can be tested fairly easily with the right kit, a diagnostic system that can read the sensor values is a start.

All the evidence that I have heard is that the ECU will not attempt a regen if any of those critical engine sensors or valves appear to be wrong. The ECU will certainly know if the EGR is blanked, mine does, although it does not complain about it. I have verified this with data logging using Forscan. Fortunately for me, I do not have the worry of DPF regens. However after years of periodic blanking of the EGR due to obvious faults in it, I removed the blanking plate after I finally replaced the EGR actuator, and the ECU has rewarded this by better fuel economy.

Blanking the EGR should be regarded only as a diagnostic measure or very short term fix.

Forscan will also tell you if the car is trying regens.

Better performance without the MAF is not unusual, in your case it looks like the MAF is ok, so that suggests there is something wrong with either the EGR flow, or with the calculated air flow from MAP & IAT.

The EGR should be fully closed at large throttle openings, when max oxygen is needed.  I have seen this on my car.  When the EGR is intended to be fully closed, the blanking plate will not give rise to an error, the flows will be correct (no EGR flow). So an error that comes on at wide throttle and fairly low rpm suggests a MAP or manifold blockage problem to me..

[Locho]

Hi there did you get this resolved? I'm having similar problems with my 2011 mondeo, would be great to know where you are with your problem, thanks

[Rusten]

Hi. Interesting thread. We have a mk4 2.0 tdci 130hp 2007 with many of the same issues.

A friend of me with a Galaxy had almost the same issue. On his cars it turned out to be a tiny split on the intake air hos from the intercooler. Almost not possible to see and detect.... Worth a try to look for it. Also another check on the two hoses to the dpf.

[Robinandsharon]

Hi, I've had engine malfunction on & off for 6 years, with engine hesitation short loss of power on motorway driving, changed injectors, fuel filter, tried fuel additives, tried the most expensive fuels on the market, new fuel pipe, then it finally gave up on the motorway, RAC man said it's the fuel pressure regulator, towed the car back to my local garage changed the regulator its been fine for the last two weeks.

[nicam49]

What did the RAC report actually give as the fault codes? - you should have been emailed a copy. 

[Robinandsharon]

He said a code number on the day and as you quite rightly stated he should have emailed a copy which he did not however, he did point to the part which I had replaced and after years of problems I was so happy to have a functioning vehicle so I never chased the report.