Newbie Needs Help With Misfiring Mondeo

[The grebo]

Hi newbie here would appreciate some advice please, I have a mondeo 1.8 LX 2006 petrol with (ahem) 269k on the clock, yeah it's high mileage but its been maintained properly all it's short life. The problem I have is when it's cold it runs lovely, sweet as a nut, loads of power no misfires etc but as soon as its warmed up it judders and misfires and occasionally backfires if I try to pul away with the revs fairly low, if I use each gear to the Max it's ok but it's not practical, I have fitted new leads, new plugs, and new coil pack but nothing has really changed, I have taken egr off cleaned it and put it back on but apart from making engine mgmt light go out it hasn't stopped the juddering. Any ideas would be much appreciated thank you,

Also was gonna change fuel filter, could it be that, ive changed them on lots of cars and never seems to make any difference..

[FOCA]

Probably just needs run-in then it will be fine

the fault/s may be connected to the high milage and the engine may be basically "worn out"

the engine may deteriorate further and be prepared for it to be beyond economical repair, with an engine transplant being cheaper/ more cost effective than repairing the old one - or selling the car on while its still running

Check the breathers for signs that the bores are worn or get it compression tested

it is possible the bores(pistons/ rings) are worn out and form a seal when the engine is cold and lose compression when they are warm,

[mick85]

Do a compression test before u do anything

[The grebo]

Firstly cheers FOCA for your reply, when you say check the breathers for signs of worn bores what exactly do you mean by that, I assume you mean breather hoses and which ones would I check and what would I be looking for re signs of worn bores,

And thanks mick for your reply what is the cheapest way of getting my compression tested?

Thanks again, - Andy

[FOCA]

Firstly cheers FOCA for your reply, when you say check the breathers for signs of worn bores what exactly do you mean by that, I assume you mean breather hoses and which ones would I check and what would I be looking for re signs of worn bores,

And thanks mick for your reply what is the cheapest way of getting my compression tested?

Thanks again, - Andy

If you take the crankcase breather hoses off at one end and examine it for exessive oil contamination,

Start the engine and see if there is a lot of pressure in the breather/s and if there is a lot of smoke/ oily spray coming out of the breather - if there is it may be because the bores are worn (can cause lack of compression and piston blow-by) a little oil/ smoke/pressue may be ok, though - best to get someone who knows the difference to check it

you can also check this by taking the oil filler cap on top of the rocker cover off

You can buy compression testers that skrew into the spark plug threads on the head - you take the spark plugs out and turn the engine over, checking each cylinder, one at a time, and writing down the (compression) readings, the readings should be similar (on eack cylinder) and there will be a minimum compression value/ tolerance

i don't know how much a basic compression tester would cost or if you would be better off getting a mechanic to do it, the mechanic (or garage) may be able to diagnose the problem

[mick85]

Do test yourself extreme easy just remove spark plugs disconnect ignition coil an remove fuel pump fuse then screw in tester crank for 10 seconds an see wat readings u get u can also do a wet compression test see wat ur pistons rings like but only do it if cylinder low

[mintalkin]

also look towards the crank sensor as classic symptoms of the sensor starting to break down,is there any chance of getting a live data log done?

[The grebo]

By a live data log do you mean get the fault codes read ?

[mintalkin]

some code readers have the facility of reading and logging live date, this could be done when the car is warm and playing up so that the live parameters of the engine could be observed.

[The grebo]

Been reading a lot about problems with inlet manifold flaps all over the shop, mine do seem to be rattling alot around 3 and 4 pots, car was misfiring and backfiring like a !Removed! today, kept making al the grannies jump out their skin down the town centre and all the hoodies thought someone was trying to pop a cap in their !Removed!! Engine mngmnt light has come on again today aswell, gonna take IM off on Monday as its quite an easy job and take a look, it's all I can do for now as I'm broke and can't afford to have a data log done yet, unless someone in Essex is feeling charitable and has the right equipment then the disgnostics are gonna have to wait, thanks for your comments so far tho people - Andy

[The grebo]

So can't say a.s.s or b.i.t.c.h then!!! It's a donkey and a lady dog isn't it?

[mick85]

U need read faults first ur only wasting ur time takin that off i sure there has be some place u could get free vhc an possibly read fault aswell lots of places doing this trying generate work

[Stoney871]

So can't say a.s.s or b.i.t.c.h then!!! It's a donkey and a lady dog isn't it?

Afraid not, it's open access kid/work friendly site.

[Paul mann]

Why does everyone dive into the expensive options before the cheap option ? Change the plugs but reduce gap to 1 mm ...ford know this is a fault but prefer to not tell anyone ...expensive parts instead of set of plugs....gap 1.3 widens over time and causes misfire and coil failure ...set new plugs to 1 mm disconnect battery for 30 mins then start up ...with luck be like new ...worked for me...good luck

[FOCA]

Why does everyone dive into the expensive options before the cheap option ? Change the plugs but reduce gap to 1 mm ...ford know this is a fault but prefer to not tell anyone ...expensive parts instead of set of plugs....gap 1.3 widens over time and causes misfire and coil failure ...set new plugs to 1 mm disconnect battery for 30 mins then start up ...with luck be like new ...worked for me...good luck

You can bring it down to 0.8mm, works even better -

its not a "fault" the wider gap produces a "fatter" spark that burns better (for emmisions/ performance/ economy ) but the HT electrical system has to be spot-on for this, with older components, (coil packs, HT leads etc) the narrower gap ensures the spark occurs where it should