Mondeo Tdci 2004 Flashing Glowplug And Cutting Out When Overtaking. Fixed Now

[spirolia]

I have no other real symptoms. It's seems to tickover fine, it does smoke on heavy acceleration, seems like grey/ white smoke in the rear view mirror. I can literally red line it in 1st, 2nd and 3rd but if I'm being lazy and don't bother to change down going up hills etc and just put my foot right down, the problem will occur then.

The injectors were pressure tested apparently, by a Delphi agent.

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

White smoke is indicative of unburnt diesel passing through combustion & vaporising on the hot exhaust system - causing white smoke

[Steve Jarvis]

Have you blanked off your egr?

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

White smoke can be caused by faulty / damaged injectors or incorrect ignition timing or low cylinder compression - these are the most common causes

[spirolia]

I did have it blanked, but took it off as it made no difference.

[Steve Jarvis]

The low compression could account for why it's struggling in low gears. I would recommend putting the blank back on tho, why poison an engine with dirty air. modern Diesels like clean air and clean fuel

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

Definitely re-blank the EGRV

Is the car losing coolant ?

[spirolia]

No, coolant seems ok. I did have an incident a few months ago which caused me to unplug the egr. The car seemed to go nuts after climbing a steep hill. It was shaking really badly and black smoke was pouring out of the exhaust. I unplugged the egr and it seemed to fix it so just left it unplugged. I recently plugged it back in and it hasn't happened again, just the limp mode problem.

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

Black smoke is indicative of a fuel / air imbalance in the combustion chambers - normally a lack of air / oxygen & the top suspect is a leaking / split pipe that connects the intercooler to the EGRV

[Steve Jarvis]

Check for smoke coming from the turbo heat shield area, could be a leaky pipe causing lack of pressure http://i351.photobucket.com/albums/q459/baitman2006/forum%20bits/car%20pics/mondeoenginedetail_zps5755de92.jpg

[spirolia]

The only place I think there could be a leak is a short pice of rubber pipe with wire wrapped around it. It is part of the pipe work for the inter cooler, at the bottom of the engine, I'd say just under the starter motor. I thought I had an oil leak, but when I looked underneath it was this piece of rubber pipe which had engine oil on the underside of it. I took it off and could see no holes or tears in it, and the two plastic pipes it connects were dry so I guess this has some sort of leak in it.

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

That is worth replacing then

[old jim]

I have a 03 Mondeo 2.0 tdci with 170.000 miles on the clock.

I first had problems when, occassionally it would go in limp mode at high speed on the motorway. This problem accentuated to it going into limp mode on every trip, so that it became almost undrivable. It further developed into starting problems to the extent that I didn't know whether I would be going to work the next morning.

After reading the forums, I had fitted a new fuel filter (must be delphi or ford), a crankcase sensor and a camshaft sensor. The car ran infinitely smoother after this, but the problem persisted.

A mechanic I knew gave me a free test and said it was the fuel pump because the problem was low fuel pressure. When I said whether it could be the injectors, he replied 'maybe'.

When the car became undrivable I took it to another mechanic, who said there was no other way other than spending time on it and doing a series of tests. He did the fuel pressure test and confirmed the low fuel pressure. The injector test showed that I had 3 poor injectors and one dead one. Although the injector needed replacing, he couldn't categorically say that it would solve the problem.

I was going to fit a used injector, but he insisted on a new one. Altogether, I paid £50 for the test, £125 for the injector, and £50 to fit it.

The result is that at present the car drives like new. It seems too good to be true, and I keep expecting the problem to return, but so far so good.

[Tony Mondeo]

I have just joined the forum and the first post I came across was this one. Firstly, many thanks Dave for taking the time to write such a comprehensive, well illustrated article. I have had a 'sort of' similar problem. My TDCi 130 would cut out literally around 150 yards from the house when started up from cold. No error codes but a new fuel filter seems to have cured the problem. I will certainly be keeping this post handy for future reference.

[stef123]

The fuel filter seems to be the most common culprit in many cases. Glad to hear your sorted again.

[orisaii]

i just bought a 2L tdci 2003 estate , and now after hearing these im not sure what to go ahead with? please is there any clear thing to start with.

my mondeo will cut out if the accelerator is stamped on, or up a hill. glow plug light does flash for about 30 sec-1min before going limp, turn off and restart does cure the problem but obviously only for a short time.

to note, when it is idle the engine does flutter about, and is not smooth on idle, either on first start up or after warming engine up.

i really need to get this car working as i need it for family and work, and after forking out for it i don't want to just sell or scrap.

[Dave May]

First thing to do is go on eBay and purchase a camshaft position sensor and a crankshaft position sensor from " Transitpartsuk"  both items cost around £10 each. Camshaft sensor fitting is a very easy 5 Mins, the crankshaft sensor is difficult to find if you don't know where to look. Remove the battery and battery box and the air cleaner box ( 5 min jobs ) the crankshaft sensor is hidden under the silver 1inch dia tube that is now seen and is easily replaced from the top NOT under the car.

If the car still cuts out with the glowplug light on and it cuts out when going VERY FAST its a sign of fuel starvation. Try driving at a steady 40mph, does it still cut out, if OK, fault could be blocked fuel filter causing the fuel starvation or injector leakback valves leaking as I experienced.

Type On Google " MONDEO TDCI 2004 MORE CUTOUT PROBLEMS ALL FIXED NOW " for more details.

Good Luck

Dave

[markgolf]

I have very similar issues with my Mondeo TDCI. A diagnostic test at a garage informed me that there is a fuel pressure issue and the mechanic advised it is either the fuel pump or injectors or both, but just investigating will cost a fair bit, let alone replacing everything.

So I have done some research myself and thought I'd give it a go. Initial research suggests the first place to look is the fuel filter. I have replaced this, but still the issue persists. So I have now inspected the old filter's contents and the filter itself in the gaps. I didn't see any metal particles but I sought a second opinion from an agricultural machinery mechanic at work who was adamant there were no metal particles present in the fuel sample or filter.

My understanding now is that it is more than likely to be one or more faulty injectors. I see the next step as doing a leak-off test and determine which injectors are faulty and then replace those and re-code.

Am I heading in the right direction? Should I be looking at anything else? I have removed and cleaned the EGR valve but that made no difference either. A friend of mine that is a mechanic (or was till he had a change of direction) suggests I should remove the common rail to inspect for metal particles as these gather there and in the injectors. Is this right? Should I do this before pressing ahead with doing a leak-off test and replacing the injectors? Or should I skip the leak-off test and just replace all four injectors?

[Tdci-Peter]

21 hours ago, markgolf said:

My understanding now is that it is more than likely to be one or more faulty injectors. I see the next step as doing a leak-off test and determine which injectors are faulty

Definitely do the leak off test first. It is a low risk test (it does not disturb high pressure pipes or risk getting dirt in the injectors). It is not always a good guide, the results are often unclear, but sometimes it does work well, especially if one injector is leaking badly. Bear in mind that this "leak" is actually a normal and essential part of the injector operation, but the actual proper amount is rather poorly specified.

Any disturbance to the high pressure system should be a last resort. The fittings use metal to metal seals to take the 1500Bar (22,000 PSI), and are not really designed for repeated use. The danger of dirt getting in is ever present. Ford use a little vacuum sucker near the joints when undoing or doing them up.

Lack of metal in the filter does not guarantee proper fuel pump operation. There is also a volume regulating (IMV) & maybe a pressure regulating valve on it.

One person found cracks in the hose from filter to pump, that let air in.

Before spending a lot of money, invest in Forscan (from about £15 with a windows laptop.) It can measure fuel pump pressure while starting & driving. In conjunction with a leak off test, it may help identify if is IMV, pump, or one or more injectors, or even something else altogether.

Injectors are not cheap, unless you get used ones, and then you need to be absolutely sure there is a problem, as the used ones may be no better, and could make things worse!

A couple of Forscan runs I took of my fuel system:

These may look a bit complex, but can be very informative. I or others could provide assistance.

 

[Jordhastings]

Hello,

I had pretty much the same problems with my recently bought Monde tdci. It would hesitate then the glowlight would flash then the engine would cut out. It did this whatever the speed or driving conditions. the mechanic I bought it off said it must be how I drove it, and that I must be "ragging" it! He honestly had no idea as to what path to go down. Through Internet forums, I decided the symptoms matched fuel filter and cam sensor faults, among others. As these were the cheapest, I decided to change these first at a total cost of £28. Now the car runs absolutely fine. Well worth a try first before going down the expensive routes I think. 

PS Great write-up by Dave there aswell.

[dboughtwoodeason]

our car has  just started doing this and having some injectors fitted next week :) we have the 2.0litre 130 Mondeo estate

[stef123]

21 minutes ago, dboughtwoodeason said:

our car has  just started doing this and having some injectors fitted next week :) we have the 2.0litre 130 Mondeo estate

Are you fitting new injectors because the light has come on? 

[iamthequinn]

Hi there, thanks for this thread.  I *too* have the flashing glow-plug issue: I had it first last year when the DMF failed.  At the time when the car got the point where it conked out, the AA mechanic ran the diagnotics and reported errors on the cam and crank sensors.  He had a spare cam sensor which didnt solve it (I think he may have put the old one back in) and I got towed to the garage where they replaced the crank sensor.  Problem solved.  Until now it's come  back again, initially first when doing 70(ish) up a fairly steep bit of dual carriageway in 6th (like the first time) and then when accelerating out of a roundabout and changing early from 2nd and into 3rd.  Now I managed to work out a way to drive around the problems  - 5th up the hill doing 60, and only changing gear at 2500rpm, but then on Xmas Eve (obviously) it conked out half a dozen times, sometimes just when I was driving normally.  

Am going to buy a cam sensor tomorrow and see if that solves the issue.

BTW -I bought a diagnostic tester, but it was the wrong one as it turns out: I read elsewhere that an 04 TCDI was OBD2, but it appears I was told duff info - anyone tell me what one I should have?

[Dave May]

  

 

The Diagnostic Tester I used is   AUTEL AL301 Autolink OBD2 and is still on eBay at £19.99. There are more expensive AL301's  but I found this cheaper version to give the correct fault code. NOTE: some codes are not stored if you switch off the ignition, so I plugged in this tester with ignition still on.

Regarding replacing the  CRANKSHAFT SENSOR .   My Mondeo has an Automatic Gearbox where the FLYWHEEL is bolted DIRECTLY to the engine. If you have a Manual Gearbox The FLYWHEEL is RUBBER MOUNTED to the engine which is proved to be NOT a good idea. The rubber gets weaker with age causing the flywheel to touch the Crankshaft sensor and damages the sensor. First sign of weak rubber mount is iron dust on the Crankshaft sensor or if this sensor has to be replaced more than once. Changing the rubber mounted flywheel is expensive at about £600. I still have my Auto Mondeo which is still running perfectly with 180000 miles on it so thats why I 

recommend purchase of Automatic.  

 

[nicam49]

Hi, if anyone else had an older Mk3 Mondeo TDCi (pre 04)and wants a compatible code reader, and injector coder, then look no further than tunnrat electronics. (they're on the web) British based, give advice, and sell their code readers at under £20. For years, the only compatible reader/coder was a Fordiag with its own software, at around £70 from Croatia, but Tunnelrat's reader uses Forscan which is freely available and regularly updated, for example, the latest versions support 'abs service bleed' which recently got me out of trouble with air bubbles in the hydraulics.