Hi all, I know this is going to be an extremely broad question, but anyone experienced this? Was driving when the engine light started flashing. Light goes out when at stand still. Anyway, got home, popped the bonnet and there is oil all over the drivers side of the engine bay. Took the front wheel off and noticed the turbo is just underneath the general area, but that was only replaced a couple of years ago, so hopefully just a split pipe or something. No sign of a leak when the engine is running at idle. No smoke from the exhaust, so I assume there is no oil getting into the turbo.

19 minutes ago, Dnbaa3 said:

Took the front wheel off and noticed the turbo is just underneath the general area, but that was only replaced a couple of years ago, so hopefully just a split pipe or something. No sign of a leak when the engine is running at idle. No smoke from the exhaust, so I assume there is no oil getting into the turbo.

If there's no oil getting to the turbo now, that'll be wrecked again.

Very difficult to see where that oil has come from, but turbo oil feed & return pipes are definitely a good starting point.  Those VCT actuators look a bit suspect as well.

Thanks Tom, I'll go and have another look. The more I look at it, it's like it has sprayed out from the top somewhere and dripped down. I'll let you know if I find anything.

Put some tape across any holes that your car has, this will prevent things from coming out of it. It may even provide extra aerodynamics. Do make sure not to tape over your doors though or you will not be able to enter the car. 

Cleaned up the oil, no further sign of an oil leak from running at idle, but it is misfiring on cylinders 1, 3 and 4, so pretty bad really! Took it (very slowly) to a garage and although they couldn't identify where the oil came from, they would not do any more work on it until the misfiring was sorted, and advised I called an Auto Electrician, because the faults that came up are attached. I assume the oil has got into some connectors?

What a mess! Any thoughts would be much appreciated 🙂

 

If you're willing to do some investigation work yourself, then there is a good chance of getting to the route cause of those fault codes.

All DTC's that begin with "U" indicate a communication problem on one of the canbus systems. U codes are in themself not a fault, unless otherwise proven. On a 2011 model S-Max one of the most common causes of communication errors is dry solder joints on the back of the instrument cluster.

You need to use FORScan and read the DTC's. Then if you give the top of the instrument cluster a 'good thump' with your hand you will normally see the fault codes change when you run the test again.

FORScan:

On 4/7/2024 at 8:59 PM, unofix said:

FORScan (for use with Windows Laptop) : https://forscan.org/download.html

It's what many Ford owners use including some Ford technicians.

• vLinker FS, cable for laptop: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vgate-vLinker-Adapter-FORScan-MS-CAN/dp/B0952P4MLP

OR

• OBDLINK EX, cable for laptop: https://www.amazon.co.uk/OBDLINK-EX-FORScan-OBD-Adapter/dp/B081VQVD3F/ref=sr_1_5

For diagnostic use only:

• vLinker FD, for android phone: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vgate-Bluetooth-vLinker-Scanner-Diagnostic/dp/B08H82WC8L
• vLinker FD+, for iPhone: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vgate-Bluetooth-vLinker-Scanner-Diagnostic/dp/B08H8JHWP2

 

Search Tag:   FORScan123

 

Interesting to know, thanks for that. I've been looking into the codes and can't find anything that suggests any of them would cause a misfire. Is it likely that one of them could be causing the miss fire over 3 cylinders? It is a bit odd that the misfires only started exactly when the oil exploded everywhere.

3 minutes ago, Dnbaa3 said:

Is it likely that one of them could be causing the miss fire over 3 cylinders?

Any data error on the canbus system can cause faults of any kind. Just like if you have a faulty connector on your computer, it can cause random faults.

Hi all, still not got to the bottom of the problem. Cleaned up the engine bay and the electrical faults have cleared, so I assume the oil was upsetting something. I've replaced both the timing sensors but was still getting a "random misfire error". Took it for a slow drive to the end of the road and back and the engine bay was covered in oil again. Cleaned up and wrapped everything in kitchen towel and did the same trip up the road. Found out where the oil is coming from, see the pictures. It is coming out of the timing sensor seal, but it's the screw hole that gets me, it's where the cable clips in, but it's not screwed in, just a plastic clip placed in the hole, I assume that oil is not supposed to be coming out of here! My new concern is that the rocket cover is becoming pressurised - there's no other reason why oil would still be spraying out of a new oil seal around the sensor and through this "screw" hole - assuming that some seal on the inside has blown or not been seated properly when the rocker cover was removed for to replace the sensors. So I want to tackle the PCV valve, check if it's functioning correctly, but have no idea where it is. Can someone point me in the right direction?

I'm also going to replace the coil packs as oil has got in them, have cleaned out the best I can but I suspect it's causing the random misfire error, but no point if the oil is going to spray out again.

Thanks in advance for any help / pointers. My wife is talking about scrapping the car as we've spent thousands on it in the last year, first the auto gearbox rebuild, then the exhaust system...

 

9 minutes ago, Dnbaa3 said:

My wife is talking about scrapping the car as we've spent thousands on it in the last year,

You need to give that careful thought. How much have you spent on the wife in the last ten years ? 🤣

PCV is on the front of the engine, roughly in the middle.  Plastic box with a single plastic pipe from it.

https://ebay.us/m/HiWjUa

Thanks Tom, that looks like a pain to get to, not like on my old Astra VXR where it was a valve in a pipe hanging around in the top of the engine bay! Anyway, popped the rocker cover off this evening and found that someone has likely screwed a bolt into the wrong hole and pierced the rocker cover, so that explains the oil coming out from the bolt hole in between coils 1 and 2. So I need to repair that!

Regarding pressure, there is a breather hose at the rear right of the engine that goes straight out into the intake. I assume this would alleviate any pressure in the rocker cover? Are there any clever tests I can do to test the PCV and rocker pressure? Thanks again.

The top breather hose will only suck under a small amount of vacuum from the intake.  If the PCV is stuck open you could have boost pressure being forced into the crankcase from the manifold.  I can't think of any clever tests unfortunately.  It probably is worth changing the PCV unless anyone has a better idea.

Thanks, I'll attempt to pop the PCV out tomorrow and check it's functioning. Doesn't look too bad to get it off. Looks like the hose clips around the back might be a pain. I seen a post of someone mentioning they took the whole front of the car off to change it. Hopefully not!

Popped the crankcase breather off and the valve is indeed fubar. Can blow through it both ways. Hopefully this is the cause of all my problems! Have ordered a new one. Bit messy in the throttle body and manifold, but hopefully it's just because of this.

Part number if anyone ever comes here looking for the same problem: Ford SMAX, 2011, 2.0L EcoBoost 240BHP Crankcase Breather / PCV Valve: AG9G6K260BC

 

It's one thing after another! All back together, still a misfire on cylinder 4 but otherwise sounded like it was running ok. However after idling for about 2-3 minutes, the car cuts out. Can't get it started. Leave it for an hour and it starts again then cuts out again after a few minutes. The "high pressure fuel pump" (the thing in the picture attached, rear right of engine bay) is making a very quiet noise like a grasshopper chirping constantly, when the power is on. I removed the connector and the noise stops, so it's certainly this. However not sure if it's a normal noise. Am I looking at a faulty fuel pump?

 

AFAIK, the pumps are controlled by that solenoid which gets a PWM (variable frequency ON/OFF signal) to control the rail pressure.
If demanded and actual rail pressure are always close in Forscan then pump may ell be OK.
I'm diesel but assume petrol pumps work on the rail pressure in the same way?

ok, thanks, makes sense that's a solenoid rather than a pump. Thought it looked a bit small! I'm now getting an error P008A - Powertrain - Low pressure fuel system pressure too low.

Any idea where the fuel filter is situated? I guess that will be the easiest thing to check first.

It is a pump.  An extra cam lobe on the camshaft pushes that plunger in once every time the camshaft rotates.  That squeezes the fuel inside.  The spring pushes it open again.

The small part with the plug is the solenoid that regulates the pressure.

Not sure if it's ticking in use or only with ignition on?  If it's ticking with engine running then the pump should be removed to check the tappet.  That's the part that goes between the cam lobe and pump so takes a lot of stick!

Low pressure fuel warning could mean the tank pump isn't running.  You should hear that one whining from the rear seat area.

There isn't a replaceable filter on the petrol engines.  Petrol eats through any dirt.  There is a small mesh on the tank pump to stop and sand or leaves getting sucked through, but it's not easy to access.

Thanks Tom. It's ticking when the ignition is on but engine not running (it's like 3-4 very fast ticks then a pause, then 3-4 more very fast ticks, constantly in that pattern). Currently cannot get the car started. Drained the battery trying. Got it on charge with a battery charger.

My father in law (in his 70s) popped over because he used to be a mechanic but stopped about 30 years ago, kept going on about how it was easy to fix the old engines because they didn't have all the electronics 😉 was funny to listen to. But he did say it sounds like there is no fuel getting to the engine, and he said the amount we've been cranking, the spark plugs should be covered in fuel - but they were bone dry. Not sure if this is accurate for newer engines though.

My OBD2 reader (Torque App with bluetooth reader) says the fuel rail pressure is at 32psi, but not sure how accurate this is as the engine isn't running. I'll check again tomorrow morning, and if it starts, I'll monitor the pressure and see what happens. Will also listen out for the fuel pump whining.

Thanks again for all the help. It's been a massive learning curve! I'm an IT technician so I'm not used to getting my hands this dirty! 😄 

Solenoids don't like low voltage so you might find it works fine after a battery charge.

Electronic injectors won't open until the ECU sees a certain amount of rail pressure.  (This prevents flooding the engine and damaging the cat).  I don't know how much rail pressure is needed on the petrols but it'll be a lot more than 32psi.

Darn it, battery is completely dead this morning even after charging it yesterday. Off I go to get a new battery!

I suppose the up side is that if it does go to the scrapper, I have a load of brand new parts to strip and sell 😄 

New battery but no joy. Back to the symptom of no fuel. If I turn the ignition on and off a few times, sometimes it starts for about 2 seconds then dies. The fuel pump hums for about a second when turning on the ignition then stops. I have removed the fuse (F13 - 20amp) for the pump and confirmed that there is no hum without the fuse. I have disconnected the fuel pipe in the engine bay and put in a bottle, and there is no fuel expelled when turning the ignition on. Again, don't know if this is feature or fault, as you've said before, modern electronic injection is quite different to the older cars.

Fuel should squirt from the pipe 'before' the HP pump while the tank pump runs.  It might not reach the rail without cranking.  I'm not sure whether that particular pipe is before or after the HP pump though.

Can you access the tank pump under the rear seats in the S-Max?  The pump should run for about 20 seconds at a time, so it does like something is stopping it.

The pipe joint in the bottle is before the HP pump. That pipes runs back behind the engine then off to the rear of the car. OK, good, so that tells me there is no fuel getting down the pipe. It's on the back of my mind that it was working fine before I had the rocket cover and inlet off, but I've double checked connections and can't see how anything that came off would have affected the tank pump.

The only thing I can't find on this car is a fuel cut off switch, so if anyone knows where that might be, I'd love to confirm that it's ok. But I wonder if the pump would hum at all if it had tripped.

It looks like the tank pump is underneath the rear seat behind the driver seat, so will have to pop the seat off to take a look. If I'm feeling brave I might pop it out!