DPF P244a code

[Xadacu]

Hi, just had this ford focus 1.6tdi and a bit stuck with it I, travel to and from work 50mins each way and the engine light doesn't come on and I go and get my boy from school so park up get him come back and when I'm just about to go the engine light comes on. Any suggestions what might be causing it? If it's a sensor or such. Thanks

[tomo2001]

Change schools?

[Xadacu]

36 minutes ago, tomo2001 said:

Change schools?

🤣 Might be the way 😁

[unofix]

Hi Ross, there is much talent and a wealth of knowledge here on the forum, but as yet we have not been able to secure the use of a crystal ball. 🤣

Without all of the DTC's we could give you at least a few hundred guesses as to what might be wrong but most if not all would wide of the mark.

Get yourself FORScan on a windows laptop and connect up with a decent cable and read the diagnostic trouble codes and then there will be a good chance someone will have the answer.

FORScan:   https://forscan.org/download.html

vLinker FS: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vgate-vLinker-Adapter-FORScan-MS-CAN/dp/B0952P4MLP

[TomsFocus]

Is it a late Mk2.5 or early Mk3?

My first crystal ball suggestion would be a minor split in a pressure pipe - they're the rubber ones from the DPF up to the pressure sensor on the battery box.

That code is suggesting too low differential pressure between the top and bottom of the DPF.  Sometimes means that the DPF core has been smashed out.  But as it seems to work ok with a higher airflow (higher speed), I don't think that's the case here.

If you just want to throw parts at it, you can try another pressure sensor, fairly cheap and very easy to swap.

[Xadacu]

This is what I got. Dunno if it makes any sense to anyone.

[TomsFocus]

Nothing new there tbh, the only useful code is the one you already knew.

Though now you have Forscan, you can run a liv data graph with differential pressure to see what the readings are during normal driving, and more importantly, when the code gets triggered.

[unofix]

Wow !!!!

That's quite a list of DTC's you have there. First begin by checking the battery voltage with a digital multimeter about 1 hour after it's been parked. Is the SOC less than 60% ?

[RL123]

Do you park on rough ground or bump down a kerb at the school? My son’s st first showed up the dry cluster joints going down an unsurfaced road hence slapping the dash brought it out of ‘limp home mode’

other common issue is water in the fuse box /bcm

 

[Xadacu]

14 minutes ago, RL123 said:

Do you park on rough ground or bump down a kerb at the school? My son’s st first showed up the dry cluster joints going down an unsurfaced road hence slapping the dash brought it out of ‘limp home mode’

other common issue is water in the fuse box /bcm

 

I do park on a slope at home. 

[Xadacu]

When I put it in reverse it starts beeping and sometimes it doesn't 🤣, so it's a collection of all this that putting the engine light on? 

Kind regards 

[Xadacu]

Hi all trying to find the ext code P244a-a0 to try and pin point what the main fault is but can't find it anywhere on the net, does anyone know what it could be? Or is it just the same as p244a? 

Kind regards 

[TomsFocus]

13 hours ago, Xadacu said:

Hi all trying to find the ext code P244a-a0 to try and pin point what the main fault is but can't find it anywhere on the net, does anyone know what it could be? Or is it just the same as p244a? 

Kind regards 

It's the same, the additional numbers aren't important.  For future reference, if you click on the code in Forscan, it will bring up some general info about it and suggested causes.  My advice is still the same as posted above.

Probably also worth checking for a water leak in the boot, as that many codes on the PAM suggest a water damaged module.  That shouldn't be triggering the engine light though.

[Xadacu]

On 5/18/2023 at 9:42 AM, TomsFocus said:

Is it a late Mk2.5 or early Mk3?

My first crystal ball suggestion would be a minor split in a pressure pipe - they're the rubber ones from the DPF up to the pressure sensor on the battery box.

That code is suggesting too low differential pressure between the top and bottom of the DPF.  Sometimes means that the DPF core has been smashed out.  But as it seems to work ok with a higher airflow (higher speed), I don't think that's the case here.

If you just want to throw parts at it, you can try another pressure sensor, fairly cheap and very easy to swap.

 

Will this be the best place to start? As I haven't got a clue otherwise wanna try and sort the engine light out first before anything else 😄 my mechanic cant access the in depth code he says from dephi diagnostics maybe a different diagnostics from a different mechanic might work but he said the same that your going through loads of things it could be if I can't get that in depth diagnostics.

 

 

[TomsFocus]

1 minute ago, Xadacu said:

Will this be the best place to start? As I haven't got a clue otherwise wanna try and sort the engine light out first before anything else 😄 my mechanic cant access the in depth code he says from dephi diagnostics maybe a different diagnostics from a different mechanic might work but he said the same that your going through loads of things it could be if I can't get that in depth diagnostics.

You won't get a code any further in depth than that one, it's already given you the closest it can.

It's showing that the DPF differential sensor reading is too low.  You now have to do some testing to find the cause of that low reading.

The first and easiest test is to visually look at the pressure pipes coming from the DPF up to the sensor on the battery box.  If they're split or damaged in any way, the sensor readings will be wrong.

If they look ok, you can then run a live data graph in Forscan, showing the DPF sensor readings alongside the RPM and road speed.  That will give us an indication of how low the reading is, whether it rises during higher RPM driving, and how low it is when the code is triggered.

That will then give us an idea of whether the sensor may be faulty, or whether the cause of the fault lies elsewhere.

It's not as simple as a code telling us exactly which part needs replacing I'm afraid!  This is what you pay garage diagnostic fees for, the code reading is just the start.  

[Xadacu]

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

You won't get a code any further in depth than that one, it's already given you the closest it can.

It's showing that the DPF differential sensor reading is too low.  You now have to do some testing to find the cause of that low reading.

The first and easiest test is to visually look at the pressure pipes coming from the DPF up to the sensor on the battery box.  If they're split or damaged in any way, the sensor readings will be wrong.

If they look ok, you can then run a live data graph in Forscan, showing the DPF sensor readings alongside the RPM and road speed.  That will give us an indication of how low the reading is, whether it rises during higher RPM driving, and how low it is when the code is triggered.

That will then give us an idea of whether the sensor may be faulty, or whether the cause of the fault lies elsewhere.

It's not as simple as a code telling us exactly which part needs replacing I'm afraid!  This is what you pay garage diagnostic fees for, the code reading is just the start.  

Ok will start there thanks for you help would of been lost if I didn't have the forum 😄

[RL123]

It looks from you screenshot you have dtcs in 5 or 6 different modules. If these are all current, not old ones not cleared, in theory you have 5 or 6 issues that may need sorting. Erroneous errors do get generated when either one of the two can busses fail.

you could be chasing faults that don’t exist.

worth bearing in mind.

[Xadacu]

Hi all,

Taken it to two garages, both did diagnostics on the car and they both can't do regen on it for some reason. The one garage check the pipes and sensor apparently there brand new the mechanic said but checked them all the same and reset the sensor also. It cleared for 2 trips like it did before and the engine light came on again. The mechanic suggested to run the car afew times on high RPMS and go from there. But like a few of you said might be worth doing the other bits and pieces to see if it's a chain reaction. What do you guys think? 

Regards

Ross

 

 

[TomsFocus]

3 hours ago, Xadacu said:

Hi all,

Taken it to two garages, both did diagnostics on the car and they both can't do regen on it for some reason. The one garage check the pipes and sensor apparently there brand new the mechanic said but checked them all the same and reset the sensor also. It cleared for 2 trips like it did before and the engine light came on again. The mechanic suggested to run the car afew times on high RPMS and go from there. But like a few of you said might be worth doing the other bits and pieces to see if it's a chain reaction. What do you guys think? 

Regards

Ross

The pressure difference is too low, meaning the DPF is empty, there isn't anything to burn off in a regen.  It would be potentially dangerous to try and regen an empty DPF so the PCM won't allow it.

You still need to do the same as before, take a live data graph of the differential pressure reading so we can how low it is and if it changes under load etc.

If the sensor really is new, it may be a low quality part, or may not be correct for this car.  

[RL123]

Do you still have the U codes, loss of communication with the BCM and PAS ?

multiple module Dtcs would make me think there may be a common issue with the can-bus networks instead of hardware failing

[Xadacu]

On 6/2/2023 at 9:30 AM, TomsFocus said:

The pressure difference is too low, meaning the DPF is empty, there isn't anything to burn off in a regen.  It would be potentially dangerous to try and regen an empty DPF so the PCM won't allow it.

You still need to do the same as before, take a live data graph of the differential pressure reading so we can how low it is and if it changes under load etc.

If the sensor really is new, it may be a low quality part, or may not be correct for this car.  

Should I use the forscan on a trip to and from work with and without the engine light? I did say to them if the sensor is faulty? But all they did was reset it. Might also say to them next to try and sort out some of the the other issues dtcs, that's wrong with the car also.

[TomsFocus]

34 minutes ago, Xadacu said:

Should I use the forscan on a trip to and from work with and without the engine light? I did say to them if the sensor is faulty? But all they did was reset it. Might also say to them next to try and sort out some of the the other issues dtcs, that's wrong with the car also.

Yes, any trip will be useful, but if you can get one with the engine light triggered that'll be ideal.  PIDs of differential pressure (kpa), DPF temp, road speed and RPM would probably be most helpful for this.  On graph setting, instead of spreadsheet setting.

These sensors can't actually be reset, so they probably just reset the DPF learned values.

You'll often get multiple opinions on a forum and I don't want to tread on any toes.  Personally I don't think the other faults are worth chasing, and don't believe this is a wiring issue.  The only ones I would follow up are the parking sensor faults (suspect damp/corroded module) but that won't affect the DPF.

[Xadacu]

28 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Yes, any trip will be useful, but if you can get one with the engine light triggered that'll be ideal.  PIDs of differential pressure (kpa), DPF temp, road speed and RPM would probably be most helpful for this.  On graph setting, instead of spreadsheet setting.

These sensors can't actually be reset, so they probably just reset the DPF learned values.

You'll often get multiple opinions on a forum and I don't want to tread on any toes.  Personally I don't think the other faults are worth chasing, and don't believe this is a wiring issue.  The only ones I would follow up are the parking sensor faults (suspect damp/corroded module) but that won't affect the DPF.

I'll do that as soon as I can. What do you think it might be? What would you be looking for in the graph ? 

[TomsFocus]

1 minute ago, Xadacu said:

I'll do that as soon as I can. What do you think it might be? What would you be looking for in the graph ? 

First thing we're looking for is a small amount of pressure at idle.  If it's 0.0, that'll raise suspicions.  Could mean the DPF core has been smashed out, the pipes are damaged, or the sensor is faulty.

Second thing we're looking for is the pressure to rise and fall smoothly but noticeably with load on the engine.  That's why the speed & RPM inputs are useful.  Then we're looking at how high the pressure gets overall, if it's very low even with high engine load, that could also be caused by any of the faults mentioned above.

The DPF temperature reading will help us determine if the PCM is attempting to regen at any point during the drive.  The exhaust temps get much hotter when it starts to regen.  If that temp only lasts for a very short time, we'll know the regen has failed.  I'm not expecting to see a regen during the test.

There is a lot that can be learned from a bit of live data.  

[Tizer]

To add to Tom's excellent advice, I would also have the Accelerator Position up on FORScan too. When reviewing the Info later it might show that you were doing 2000 rpm and 50 mph at a certain point, but that may have been coasting downhill or accelerating up one, so it makes more sense if you know the Engine Load at that point also.

Take some Screenshots of the readings at Idle, cruising and under hard acceleration and post them.

I don't know if you have erased the Codes and if any apart from the DPF one have come back, but if you go into the Codes in FORScan it will tell you if the problem is still present or an old code and whether that particular code is making the Check Engine Light come on.

The other thing to note is that if you have an aftermarket Pressure Sensor then that may be your problem, they are not the same quality and some of them are not compatible. I would not normally swap parts on a guess but in this case if the readings in FORScan point to a fault, a cheap used Pressure Sensor with the same part number from a Breakers may be a good Idea to try.

FORScan will also give you a brief description of the Code, which is the same one that we could all access in ETIS before they stopped public access to it.

Personally I would disagree with Tom and do the Data Logging with the Check Engine Light off in case the readings are skewed because the car is in Limp Mode. It is not that important though and may not make any difference to the readings.