Hi guys,

I've been scouring the web for any firm diagnosis on this but every thread I can find on it ends before the original poster confirms the fault. It's a 1.8TDCi focus and I've had the power loss/smoking before and in that case it was one of the tubes from the intercooler end having a massive split in it. This time there are no splits or leaks. Symptoms are as follows -

Car always runs at something like 60% power

Smokes heavily under heavy acceleration, usually around 2k revs but only once the engine reaches full operating temperature

There is whining sound that sounds to me like the turbo did when the hose went last time, but my mechanic has recently checked the turbo over and said the bearings seem to be in good condition, the whining sound also drops pitch and increases again while the turbo should still be spinning up (ie when revs are still increasing)

Based off what I have read online I guessed at an EGR fault though a lot of people report lower MPG with this whereas mine seems largely unaffected. I have removed the intercooler-EGR tube and sprayed a small amount of carb cleaner directly into the valve with the engine running which resulted in performance returning to normal for a short while (20 miles or so) but now it has reverted back. Upon spraying the carb cleaner into the valve, the engine struggles a bit for a second then recovers but so far as I can see the EGR inlet doesnt seem to be too coked up, certainly nothing like some pictures I've seen online. As it stands, I've ordered a new inlet manifold/EGR (they are one part on my model) from my local ford garage but this is all based on a hunch so wanted to run it past some people who know more than I do before I go there and pick it up next week as I'm not yet committed to buy. Other than the smoking, powerloss and whining sound the engine sounds fine. Any help would be hugely appreciated!

Cheers,

Sam.

Sounds like the dreaded egr valve to me.

Cheers for responding, the more people that agree the happier ill be shelling out for the manifold on <onday. It does seem pretty likely, but I'm still a bit hesitant. Are there any sensors in the engine which could have the same affect? It would most likely have to be air related, but the MAF has been checked by my mechanic and he says it seems fine, ie its clear of soot and the voltage seems fine. It would also most likely have to be a sensor that would have been affected by the addition of the carb cleaner to the EGR input as this temporarily increased performance, and the MAF sensor wouldn't be affected by this so far as i am aware as i don't think it deals with recycled air at all. Any more input/insight would be appreciated.