Hi,

I have a 2009 Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI with 38,000 miles covered.

3,000 miles ago, at motorway speed of 70mph and having covered 60 miles, a misfire started. It became worse and the Engine Malfunction light came on. The car would only now tick over and not respond to the accelerator.

Switch off and on again and the car drove reasonably ok again with occasional misfire.

I change the fuel filter. The old one was spotless and had only done about 8,000 miles. However the problem was solved.

Now, 3000 miles later exactly the same issue has occurred. Has anyone experienced the same and is the filter the problem? I wonder is it that air is being drawn in through the filter housing?

Also, Ford charge nearly 55 euro for a genuine Ford filter but I can buy Wix for 11 euro or MANN filters for 17 euro. Ford say if I use anything other than a Ford Filter then they will not assist if a serious fuel issue should arise (car is out of warranty by 2 years anyway) but is there any issue with the quality of these other filters that I should be aware of?

I have always used Wynn's Eco Diesel additive since the car was new.

Thanks

A leaky filter housing or seal is likely.

If not sealed properly then you will get fuel starvation and reduced performance.

Definitely worth investigating further.

stoney is absolutely right. be aware that many have had issues with non ford fuel filters on this model - so worthwhile investing the bit extra and possibly putting this problem to bed.

my girlfriends car suffers issues in the winter and she doesnt have a ford filter... thats being changed soon....

Thanks Folks. Unfortunately I have always used genuine Ford filters and the problem still persists. I'm hoping it's not the EGR valve as it seems like a difficult one to remove and clean properly. If it was the EGR I'm presuming it would not cause the problem I'm seeing? That said I will try using Wynn's EGR aerosol cleaner over the holidays as a preventative measure.

I sprayed 200mls of Wynns EGR 3 cleaner into the air intake. Half a can directly into the inlet manifold after the turbo and half into the turbo intake, sprayed some over the MAF sensor while I was at it. There was absolutely no black smoke out of the exhaust while doing so. I hope this means it's reasonably clean ;) to begin with!

I did 150 miles of motorway driving today and all was well until 120 miles when there was a distinct misfire from the engine. However, it did not get worse. I wonder could it be the EGR valve opening, staying open for too long and starving the cylinders of combustible air by flooding them with inert exhaust gases?

I am driving with my Autel Code Reader permanently connected to capture codes and also full datasets from the engine if ever the 'Engine Malfunction' light appears again as switching off and on seems to clear the condition. Nothing detected so far.

The latest update. I took the car on a motorway drive today to Dublin. At exactly the same point on the road as on 2 previous events teh Engine Malfunction light came on. However, this time, no loss of power. About 20 miles before this I saw the rev counter and speedo drop to zero and immediately go back to where they should be. I was driving with my OBD code reader connected, hoping to catch the error if it happened. Guess what .. when I tried to read it the screen had more or less gone blank, barely readable but I could see it displayed a loss of connection to the ECU!! Between the previous engine malfunction (mis-fire, light on, no power, engine at idle, no response to throttle, turn off turn on all ok again) and this event (no mis-fire, malfunction light on, no loss of power) I have fitted a blanking plate on the EGR (the one with the 10mm hole). I wonder have I proved my theory that the EGR is sticking open? I did the scan using the Reset button on the column and it came up with D900.

That said I tried 4 Ford dealers today to have a scan done and they are all too busy! I have the car booked in for next wednesday. The service manager there suspects an over pressurisation by teh high pressure diesel pump or maybe an injector fault. He says there should really be an OBD code but I've never found one. He will do deeper diagnostics.