Hey y'all, opening a post in General Ford instead of the Galaxy forum for my Ford, given that engine can be found in a bunch of places

I've got a 2007 Galaxy II with the Duratec HE 2.0 engine, an E85 remap, 280 000km. Purchased it Dec 2025 at 270 000 km

Main fault is that sometimes, it will struggle under load, fail to idle, and generally have very little throttle response, unless I put the pedal to the floor, at which point it starts making power again. Obviously this isn't great, and treating my throttle like an on/off switch has been causing me to go through the current set of tires quickly. Some more context
- Happens in cold/hot weather, dry/wet, early/late in the drive, sometimes at startup, sometimes after having driven over an hour. Entirely random as far as I can tell
- There's one fault in the ECU, P0132, but the car already had it when I bought it, and went 10 months without having those symptoms with the code
- I've unplugged the EGR valve, to no effect
- I've disconnected the swirl flaps control vacuum line, to no effect
- I've followed sensors in forscan while the issue was happening, and found that MAP doesn't change drastically when symptoms occur
- I also unplugged the air filter and had it run directly from the electronic throttle body for a while, and the symptoms still occurred

I'm at a loss. I've considered the following
- Weak spark/coil --> why would it fix itself randomly ?
- Clogged/restricted fuel supply line/rail --> why would it fix itself randomly ?
- Clogged/restricted catalytic converter --> This is my main focus right now, and I'm assuming the extra load under full throttle is enough to make it pass the restriction, but no idea how to test
- I've also read that both oxygen sensors for those engines are good for 200 000 km, and as far as I know, the ones I have could be factory. They still give readings that seem to change with the current engine load in forscan though, but maybe they deteriorate somewhat ?
- Some kind of intake restriction. I've cleaned up the intake throttle body, which wasn't that bad (had been replaced at 200 000km), but maybe the swirl flaps are stuck in the way, or there's some shenanigans with vacuum that gets closed electronically under full throttle (like the EGR ?)
- Weak fuel pump --> Had been replaced somewhat recently
- Weak coils --> Have been replaced recently *but* seems like the previous owner had to change coils twice over 100 000km, which maybe indicates it's a weak point ?

My research online showed a couple of similar cases, one with an EGR fault that went away with the EGR unplugged, another with a clogged MAP sensor.

My next steps are, in this order, until the issue disappears
- swap the intake manifold with a modded one with deleted swirl flaps + in-depth MAP sensor cleanup
- PCV valve replacement
- use a blank plate for the EGR in case it gets stuck in a position even when unplugged
- New spark plugs
- New coils
- Replace exhaust manifold

I'm looking for advice, what have I missed ? Any additional tests I could run ? I've got a full DIY service history over the past 100 000km, so I can easily check if X or Y has been done, and when

All the best, and thanks for taking the time to read through my prose, apologies for any mistakes I may have made, I'm not a native english speaker

 

Hi, 

 

To rule out a blocked cat remove the pre cat sensor. the exhaust gasses will escape through the hole.  if still the same, then its intake related. 

Have you checked the oil level? these engines are notorious for burning the oil, and can bind and eventually sieze when the oil is gone. 

 

Is been a few years since i had a mondeo with that engine, but the only other issue i had repeatedly was failing in tank fuel pumps. 

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remove the pre cat sensor

That's a great idea ! I'll remove and disconnect it, then go for a drive. I guess it will also tell me if that pre-cat sensor (which had been throwing up that P0132 code) is reporting junk values

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oil level

I need to do a full oil change anyway, but I did check recently and it was bottom of the acceptable range on the dipstick, so I put in a tad more just to be on the safe side

Thanks for your advice 🙏

Im in the process of buying another mk3 mondeo with this engine, but will be a couple of weeks before i get it, 

 

If you are still having issues then il have a look at mine for suggestions. 

Its not uncommon but the throttle pedal can play up also, worn tracks on the board.  first signs are obvious flat spots in the rev range when pressing the pedal. 

Well, I just replaced the lambda sensor causing that P0132 code, and the car started behaving normally again. Have only driven it 50/100km so far, but no more engine light, and it's driving as it should. I'm baffled as to why a code I've had for 10 months and thousands of kilometers started behaving like this out of the blue, maybe the sensor was partially failing and returning wrong information instead of no info ?

Anyway, all is good for now 😉