Mondeo 2005 Tdci Ghia 130

When i start my car in the morning, the car is very sluggish and the engine management light, battery light etc remain on until the engine kicks in properly,the throttle is also non responsive at this stage, when the lights go out after about ten seconds and the car billows out a great amount of smoke, the throttle begins to respond and the engine evens out. The car runs great, the mpg is great and I have no other issues. When i try and start it again after a short while leaving it, the car can be very lumpy starting again and i have to hold the ignition on keeping it turning over until it eventually fires up properly. Any ideas??? I had the injectors refurbished last year also!!

Got any fault codes?

The 1st thing that springs to mind is the glow plugs

is it a Euro4 (electronic turbo actuator)?

Yesit has the electronic turbo actuator.

The glow plugs were replaced about two years ago.

have you ANY CODES?

Sorr no codes but it us only a small handheld diagnostic tool.

I have also blamked off the ERG

i think you're going to have to take it to a fordy mechanic mate. It could be a number of things & no good guessing.you'll need someone that can plug car in to read live data etc.when you say engine management light,do you mean glow-plug light on left or the actual eml light on right of display?

do you know for sure the injectors were refurb'd? or did mechanic just stick in a set off ebay or from a scrappy?

Yesit has the electronic turbo actuator.

The glow plugs were replaced about two years ago.

The VNT can get "coked op" over time, this can make the actuator mech "sticky" - if it has an electronic actuator it is a Euro4

(On the mk3 Mondeo diesel) The glow plugs operate from a simple relay,(+ they are all wired together/ in series) if one is blown it will not show up in fault codes - you should check them individually, this can be done easily with a multimeter

Sorr no codes but it us only a small handheld diagnostic tool.

I have also blamked off the ERG

Is it a solid plate? - this is the best kind but a solid plate on a Euro4 Mondeo is liable to put the EML (engine management light) on and throw up a fault code - strange that it has not done so

Have you changed the air filter recently? is it a high milage and when was the last service and what was done?

the inlet manifold may be "choked up" with the carbon from the EGR (EGR = Exhaust Gas Reciruulationn) mixing with the oil from the crankase breather, forming an oily goo in the inlet, the best way to sort this is to take the inlet manifold off and clean it thouroughly? with a jet wash etc - EGR sprays/ "snake oil" etc are a waste of time/ money

Finally, the CAT can get blocked up with carbon, a good "italion tune up" helps here

The air filter was changed about twelve months ago, the plate is a solid plate, the EML didnt come on immediately, however, now it is on and reading a code on gas circulation low. I clear the code and it just comes back on!

My main issue is with this starting thing. What is a VNT?

The air filter was changed about twelve months ago, the plate is a solid plate, the EML didnt come on immediately, however, now it is on and reading a code on gas circulation low. I clear the code and it just comes back on!

My main issue is with this starting thing. What is a VNT?

Twelve months is a long time if you are doing a high milage or if you are in a dusty enviroment (or the salt in the winter) i change mine every 6months /6k whichever comes soonest - Ford recommends very long service intervals - this trouble with a paper filter (stock Ford or pattern) is it filfers well but it becomes clogged quite quickly because the tiny holes get plugged by dust - a pattern one costs about £6, and it takes a screwdriver and 2 minites to change - the engine should run better with a fresh air filter, pull better from low revs (especially before the turbo "kicks in") and you should see a (slightly?) better MPG and (Hopefully) a bit less smoke on startup because a fresh filter tends to lean off the air/ fuel mixture before the turbo boosts up

These cars respond well to regular (frequent!) servicing, if you try and stretch out the service intervals it can cost you more in the long run - a stitch in time..... Ford's recommended intervals can be ridiculously long

Your EML is liable to come on as you described, sooner or later, this is normal for a Euro4 Mondeo, after reset the EML may come on straight away, or it may be days or weeks, 10s or hundreds of miles, - some prefer to run with a solid plate and let the light come on, to running with an unblocked EGR

VNT stands for Variable Nozzle Turbo aka variable vane, on the exhaust side of the turbo, in the exhaust manifold, there are vanes that direct the exhaust gasses onto the turbine, this improves the response/ reduces lag at low revs, and controls maximum boost at high revs (without a wastegate required) these vanes are controlled by the actuator via a rod, they have a tendency to get coked up over time, eventually, the vanes can sieze and damage the actuator