Stranded 2002 Tddi Please Help New Owner

[fairlo]

Hi all

i have just bought a 2002 tddi (115bhp) mondeo it has 110,000 on the clock.

Picked it up and all was well started no problems after a battery bump all warning light went out and all was well, was driving along and the car was smooth and pulled well, then there was a blip/pause in acceleration. over the next 10 mins these pauses became worse until the car would no longer accelerate or rev and lots of blue smoke was coming out from the rear then the car stopped running and would not restart, after leaving it for around 10 mins it eventually started again but was not reving cleanily and could only get it to creep forward on idle revs before it stopped running and again would not restart. there are no warning lights on the dashboard at all.

Any help would be much appriciated as the car is stranded 40 miles from my home and i am unsure as where to start looking for the cause of the issue.

thanks in advance guys

[BigD]

Is the glowplug light flashing when you turn the key? Does the immobiliser light (on the dash clock) flash in a specific pattern after you turn the key? It often does if something is wrong (and something is).

I'd have it on the back of a recovery truck, straight back to where you bought it from at the seller's expense. You do not want a car that's giving you trouble this quickly.

[edit] By the way, it's probably injector-related. Seller has probably recoded dying injectors in the hope that they'll last you a few months before failing completely.

[FOCA]

Hi all

i have just bought a 2002 tddi (115bhp) mondeo it has 110,000 on the clock.

Picked it up and all was well started no problems after a battery bump all warning light went out and all was well, was driving along and the car was smooth and pulled well, then there was a blip/pause in acceleration. over the next 10 mins these pauses became worse until the car would no longer accelerate or rev and lots of blue smoke was coming out from the rear then the car stopped running and would not restart, after leaving it for around 10 mins it eventually started again but was not reving cleanily and could only get it to creep forward on idle revs before it stopped running and again would not restart. there are no warning lights on the dashboard at all.

Any help would be much appriciated as the car is stranded 40 miles from my home and i am unsure as where to start looking for the cause of the issue.

thanks in advance guys

!st of all get the codes read - this will give you a good idea what is happening - you can pick up a code reader for about £20 online (eg F-Super)

The EGR system can cause these problems - simply fit a solid, stainless steel blanking plate, (about a fiver online) this may cure all your problems and the engine will also run better, still pass an MOT with the plate fitted etc

110,000 miles is not a high milage for a Mondeo TDDI, they can do triple that, they are good cars, the injectors are relatively simple and tough, they do not need to be coded (so cannot be re-coded) to the ECU, they are mechanical, not electronic

If returning the car to the seller is an option, best not to do anything to the car, if not let me know how you get on with the blanking plate/ fault codes

[mintalkin]

sounds like the feed pump at the tank playing up.

[fairlo]

unfortunately returning the car is not an option so going to have to try and get a fix sorted am going to hopefully have it recovered to my house on Monday, ill repost then with a bit more info about its symptoms but a big thanks for the suggestions so far guys.

[FOCA]

sounds like the feed pump at the tank playing up.

Yes, lift pump crossed my mind too but the 90PS version of the TDDI (not officially imported to the UK) does not use a lift pump and the lift pump on the 115PS is not "always on" but only operates in periods of high demand (such as heavy acceleration or uphill etc) so the vp44 pump is usually enough to allow the car to run, also the amount of smoke described makes the EGR valve sticking open more likely, although the (faulty) lift pump cannot be ruled out - just wait to see what the fault codes bring up

cost is another factor -

EGR blanking plate - about £5 delivered

F- Super OBD diagnostic code reader about £20

Pattern/ oem lift pump - about £100 + fitting

set of 4 recon injectors - £500 (exchange) + fitting

vp44 pump - £750 (exchange)

it makes sense to do the cheap and/or "service" things first (things that are part of a service anyway/ or should be) such as fuel filter/ air filter/ oil&filter change / +

clean out the inlet manifold and EGR valve and fit a blanking plate (standard practice for TDDI/TDCI owners "in the know") .

Then only after that consider spending "silly money" on injectors etc

[BigD]

unfortunately returning the car is not an option

Why not?

[fairlo]

Update

Got back to the car this morning, turned the key and it fired up first time with no issues or sign of the blue smoke. Dint fancy driving it back in case it threw another fit, so called out a brakedown van to have it recovered, they guy checked the car over and said he couldn;t see anything obvious and that obviously it was running fine now, he like a number of members on here suggested it sounded like an egr valve playing up, so i have ordered the backing plate to block the valve off and fingers crossed this will solve the issue, but ill keep you upto date, thanks for all the help and sugestions so far its much appriciated.

thanks

[fairlo]

Hi again

I fitted the egr blanking plate and took the car for a drive around my block. It complete the block 4 times (7minutes) then the miss started again, again stopping the car reving cleanly and producing blue smoke and when I turned it off it refused to start, cranked over but would not fire. Again no warning lights at all and feels mechanical foot on the floor and it fights to rev struggling most between 2-3000 rpm.

Any ideas what I should try next please the brake down man tried 2 diff codes readers but they wouldn't communicate with the car.

Thanks again guys

[BigD]

You can check for fault codes through the instrument display, though, not all of them show up. With the car off, hold down the trip counter reset button, and turn the key to position 2. When "TEST" is displayed, release the button.

You can then repeatedly press the trip reset button to cycle through loads of different screens, and one of them will show you any stored DTC codes (or "NONE", if there aren't any).

A full list of codes and their meanings can be found on FordWiki.co.uk (I tried to post a link but it won't let me?!)

[FOCA]

TDDI and code readers -

there are 5 different OBD11 Protocols - Ford uses the J1850 PWM protocol

The 2002 TDDI is not fully OBD11 compliant (it pre- dates this being compulsory on all diesel engined cars )

what this means is that only certain code readers will work on the Mondeo mk3 TDDI, (and some early TDCIs) the plug/ socket fits, but it may be electronically incompatible

the F-Super apparently works, and i have a Superchips Bluefin handset that reads the fault codes on TDDIs, (it is a Ford specific superchips device -"FORD-BF05" it remaps TDDI/ TDCI Mondeos, and some other turbo Ford models)

The F-Super requires a laptop to work, the Bluefin handset is "stand alone" and can read/ reset the fault codes on its own

[BigD]

Yeah I used my F-Super on a 2001 Focus Mk1, and it worked fine for reading DTC codes.

[Ziggy]

Hello! I have the same Ford Model with exact same problem. 130 000 on the clock. I don't know which one I've got 90 bhp or 115 bhp. Anyone knows how I can tell that?

[FOCA]

Hello! I have the same Ford Model with exact same problem. 130 000 on the clock. I don't know which one I've got 90 bhp or 115 bhp. Anyone knows how I can tell that?

Hello and welcome to the forum!

The TDDI was only officially imported to the UK and northern Ireland in 115PS form, (officially it is 115PS = 113bhp)

So its probably a 115PS - you can tell by looking at the cam cover (left hand side of engine looking back from open bonnet) - there should be a sticker on it with the engine details

Dont assume the same symptoms mean the same problems, EGR failure can have similar symptoms to injector failure, etc etc

There are various different TDDI115s though, front EGR, rear EGR, fixed vane turbo, variable vane turbo, (VNT) etc, etc

Stick a solid EGR blanking plate on your car - you may be lucky - blanking plates cost £5(ish) a vp44 is ££££s a lift pump is £100+, injectors are not cheap

[TonyTDDi]

Sounds like a turbo fault to me. had the same issue on a focus last week.
once left for a day or so started and ran then cut out, wouldnt start.

After days of checkin the car over i decided to suggest to the customer that we sourced a turbo for it. they agreed and 2 days later the turbo arrived and we fitted it. they have since driven the car from kent to germany with no further issues :)

[JonFinn]

Hello.

I guess you probably has solved it by now, but i had the exact same issues with my own 115bhp TDDI.

After replacing the lift pump, the problems were gone.

Cheers

Jon

[furry vandal]

Hi blue smoke is the engine burning oil so either the turbo is faulty or possibly oil is getting past the valves alas when this happens the car usually runs ok for a while but blows blue smoke out.

Before spending a fortune clean out the inlet manifold.

Remove the large pipe from the turbo and see if the fan inside the turbo is dripping in oil. If it is check your oil level if it is low maybe the turbo is shot and is sucking oil from the thin pipe which goes down into the sump area hence blue smoke.

I doubt it is the injectors as it runs fine for a while then plays up after a short while, if injectors are faulty they play up all the time. Another cheap try is to chuck a bottle of diesel injector cleaner in the fuel tank with about £30 of fuel and run it see if it helps.

Turbo or Valve Seals is the first things I would do.

All the best.