I have a 04 (2005 reg) 2.0 TDCI 130.

Whilst driving happily along the temerature gage will drop and become idle, at this point I lose all turbo/accerleration in the car and I have to turn the ignition off and back on again to gain back power, doing this seems to 'reset' the car until it happens again.

I don't get any black smoke from the exhaust but the engine light is constantly on.

I'm thinking about taking it to Ford to get hooked up to their computers but that's going to cost an arm & a leg!!

I'm not very technical when it comes to cars either, but any advice/guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Lee

Scout around either for a cheap hand held diagnostic machine range from £40-£120 on ebay for a half decent one or find some local who offers diagnostics,they will read all engine, abs, airbags for most/all petrol cars from 2001 and diesels from 2004, ford (!Removed! turpin) will charge £85 plus vat to put it on there machine, i ended up paying for a sealey handheld cost me about £180 but times ive used it on my mondy, in laws focus, and my familys vauxhalls its paid for itself.... plus friend of friends you could charge £10-£20 extra beer money...lol

At a guess I would say your thermostat I had this problem (although mines petrol) the temp gauge would reach normal then drop down,it ran crap untill I changed the thermostat and is now running lovely. The engine relies on the temp to run correctly and if the temp gauge is telling it differnt reading it will act accordingly.

you car is going into limp home mode because of a fault, get the codes read

ok. so now I have had the code read...

P1288 CYLINDER HEAD TEMP. SENSOR OUT OF SELFTEST RANGE

Any ideas anybody?

Thanks,

Lee

hi lee, ive got exactly the same problem. did you get it fixed and if you did what was the fault ?

thanks baz.

The cylinder temp sender is behind the waterpump/ power steering pulley, check the cable connectors are not loose, before you replace the sensor, also, is the engine running too hot? (gauge normally sits midway) - maybee the sensor is ok and its a different problem

hows it gonna cost an arm& a leg? by the time you f*** about guessing,just get it done mate. its no that dear. I bet its just unplugged/broken wire etc hope so anyway)

I had the same problem with Mondeo Mk3 TDCI 2006 model and it now appears to be fixed. Loss of power with the temperature gauge not sitting at its usual halfway mark. It would read 60 - 70 degrees Celsius and the loss of power would occur when the gauge went back to far left 0 degree Celsius (cold position). Restating would reset it but eventually it would reoccur and restarting would be the temporary solution. No EML would appear.

I replaced the cylinder head temperature sensor also called temperature coolant sensor.

Ford genuine part number 1742823 / 9C116G004DC

The problem has gone away now, gets up to temperature and sits at the halfway mark and does not fluctuate when at low speed or cruise speed as it did. Hope this helps.