Mk3 2Ltr - No Top End Power - Cant Go Over 80Mph Up Incline?

[ydrol]

I've bought a 2.0 mk3 Ghia X TDCI 130 6 speed , new Clutch/DMF in January (sigh!).

Just had a full service a few weeks ago too.

The clutch seems OK, the car (and diesel in general) is new to me so I'm not 100% sure about the power profile. Anyway...

Was returning from M25 J5 to M25 J4. This is slightly uphill.

Performance was dire on the incline.

At 70mph - car did not want to accelerate with full gas in 5th gear.

Dropped to 4th gear - it nudged up to 75 - full throttle - revs seemed stable - lots of smoke out exhaust. But no real pick up - getting passed by lots of other cars of all sizes and shapes.

The outward journey seemed fine on flats and declines - a comfortable 90 - not a usual habit but just getting a feel for new car.

Also back on a dual carriageway - at one point was doing 40mph - dropped to 3rd to accelerate - lots of smoke.

No burning smells - but my sense of smell is not brilliant - just normal!

So is this a clutch issue still?

I just took it back to the garage that did the clutch? They are looking at it and said it might be clutch or catalytic converter?

Town driving seems OK.

Thoughts appreciated?

[mintalkin]

check any rubber hoses for signs of splits especially the intercooler pipe below the egr valve,

[ydrol]

Will do.

Quick update: The garage has road tested it and said it seems like turbo has gone. They can usually hear it but they cant on this one.

I'll trying another guy this week who has not seen the car yet but advised to check air flow meter....

[Reecy]

I've bought a 2.0 mk3 Ghia X TDCI 130 6 speed , new Clutch/DMF in January (sigh!).

Just had a full service a few weeks ago too.

The clutch seems OK, the car (and diesel in general) is new to me so I'm not 100% sure about the power profile. Anyway...

Was returning from M25 J5 to M25 J4. This is slightly uphill.

Performance was dire on the incline.

At 70mph - car did not want to accelerate with full gas in 5th gear.

Dropped to 4th gear - it nudged up to 75 - full throttle - revs seemed stable - lots of smoke out exhaust. But no real pick up - getting passed by lots of other cars of all sizes and shapes.

The outward journey seemed fine on flats and declines - a comfortable 90 - not a usual habit but just getting a feel for new car.

Also back on a dual carriageway - at one point was doing 40mph - dropped to 3rd to accelerate - lots of smoke.

No burning smells - but my sense of smell is not brilliant - just normal!

So is this a clutch issue still?

I just took it back to the garage that did the clutch? They are looking at it and said it might be clutch or catalytic converter?

Town driving seems OK.

Thoughts appreciated?

Had the same myself it ended up being the diesel pump in the end after changing allsorts of things car runs perfect now although with all the smoke i would defo check the boost pipe first

[BigD]

I would check a couple of things.

First, EGR valve. Remove it and clean it - very easy job (also very, very messy). Scrape the worst of the crap off carefully with a flat screwdriver, then spray the inside with carb cleaner. Do NOT do that until you've got most of the filth out, as it just makes a messy job even messier. Have LOTS of newspaper and a bumper box of nitrile gloves to hand. You will need them.

Next, take off the inlet manifold. Again, very easy. Remove the crap out of there as above.

Finally, the inlet ports now visible at the front of the engine. Get a vacuum cleaner (preferably not your wife's best Dyson, but if needs must...), and put the nozzle close to the port (wise to remove the rubber gaskets before doing this), and scrape the filth towards the vacuum nozzle. You don't want any of that stuff going down into the engine if you can help it.

Then put it all back together.

You can also clean the MAF sensor - a little box of tricks on the hose by the airbox. Remove the multiplug, one retaining screw then ease it upwards gently. There's a rubber gasket on it so it might be quite tight. Clean the two wires inside with a bit of carb cleaner sprayed on a cotton bud. Don't break the wires as replacing it is more expensive than it looks. Clean out the round tube part in a similar fashion.

Other than that - turbo. The vanes on the turbo are prone to sticking. They *can* be freed up, rather than replacing the whole turbo on a whim but I've never done it and don't know where to start with that.

[bladeage]

I have just done the turbo on my missis's Signum 1.9 cdti, we had same ish problems as you are having and to cut a long story short...I cleaned the boost valve, cleaned the inlet manifold, cleaned the throttle body, cleaned and blanked the EGR valve off and got an instant improvement in performance although not the 150bhp it is supposed to be so next I ...........got a can of turbo cleaner that you spray into the Turbo inlet pipe, this made another big difference and the car boosted much better but still again not the 150bhp it is supposed to be! so next even though the car no longer has a DPF I added 10k BOOST DPF CLEANER to three quarters of a tank of fuel, this stuff has restored the car back to nearly 100% power, I could not believe the difference it made and that was 10 miles after I added it, the car now boosts cleanly and quickly thru all 6 gears.

Worth a try for the £10 it costs and even though your car does not have a DPF like our Signum it may make a difference? let us know!

[ydrol]

Thanks all, I bought my Nitrile gloves, brass brushes etc but went the lazy/warm route and took it to a local garage and asked then to clean the EGR valve and manifold as suggested above, for which they charged £20. It ran a little better but still blowing black smoke.

Called a few local mechanics, who all seem a bit wary of diesels for some reason, and one advised me to take it to First Diesel in Croydon. Good reputation, but charge £70+VAT for initial inspection.

Dropped it in at First Diesel, they called back later in the day, saying there were no fault codes but they noticed EGR valve is sticking, and they can put that right within the same hour (so no additional charge).

So maybe first garage didn't clean properly not sure. I'll find out when I get back to first diesel to pick up my spare key and pay them.

I'm currently using the master? (no remote , blue chip).

Thanks for all your help. And Nitrile gloves still handy when I'm working on my bicycle indoors :)

[stooge75]

i still think youve got a burst/split hose. My MAP(NOT maf sensor) sensor was just a half mm loose at one end cos some idiot never screwed it back properly lol,& I had huge HP loss. screwed it down tightly & voila,back to pulling like a train(thats also where my smoke came about and the low circ egr fault/0405 came from.

[ydrol]

@stooge - noted, although running fine now.

BTW I went back to First Diesel to pay bill and collect my key, and I asked how much to blank off the EGR. They replied they did that already otherwise I'd only be back again with the same problem in the future! On the one hand a bit cheeky blanking it off without asking, but on the other top service, and exactly what I wanted!

[stooge75]

@stooge - noted, although running fine now.

BTW I went back to First Diesel to pay bill and collect my key, and I asked how much to blank off the EGR. They replied they did that already otherwise I'd only be back again with the same problem in the future! On the one hand a bit cheeky blanking it off without asking, but on the other top service, and exactly what I wanted!

what year is your mondeo? pre 2004?

glad you got it fixed,but I wouldnt be too happy if a garage blanked mine off without asking. can you see the blanking plate? Im amazed theyd do that without permission tho

[ydrol]

It's a 53 plate and first registered in Jan 2004. Should I be worried it's blanked off?

[stooge75]

Dont think yours is a euro 4 so no,,dont think u should be worried.

Has your egr valve got electrical connector on top,& vacuum pipe going to airbox? If its not got the electrical connector, youre ok