hi there guys. i am having problems with my focus mk1 1.8 tdci 2004.

When i start the car there is alot of white smoke which comes out of the exhaust and the car is only running on 3 cylinders. i have to keep my foot on the accelerator for the engine t keep running otherwise the engine will cut out. Once the smoke has cleared the car runs okish.

The car is also slow up hills in 3rd gear. i had another focus 1.8tdci and that pulled great up hill this is just slow and has no pull.

The glow plugs have been changed and has been serviced, still no change.

any info on this will be great.

cheers

Ello mate, my car had really big starting issues, but mainly when it was cold, so I changed the battery to a bigger cc (cold cranking) rate and that seemed to do the trick. Not sure if this is the same problem, but have you checked your battery?

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hi there fella many thanks for your reply.

um to be honest the engine is cranking over good with the battery what's currently on it.

im really concerned about the smoke really as its quite alot, it clears itself after 10-20 secs.

im thinking maybe injectors, i really hope its not as i have heard its a very expensive job.

or it could be fuel filter.?

once many thanks for reply.

any more info guys would be very much appreciated.

many thanks

Hi, the fuel filter could be your problem, I know you say that glow plugs have been changed, but I would re-test the glow plugs first as you could have had a faulty one fitted, don't do it with a meter, take them out and test on the battery.

Don't wanna hitch-hike your thread, but my 53 plate 1.8 TDCi has shown it's 'known cold start issue' a few times since buying 2 weeks back.

Bit of smoke for about 2 seconds on start, but struggles to get fired up some chilly mornings. Once running she's fine, pulls & accelerates well, no other issues.

The glow plug light on dash only comes on for a second at most even when frosty, so figure glow plugs may be shot - does that sound about right?

Tds02 - I take it your 'running on 3 cylinders' thing sorts itself once running? I'm with Alz on testing your glowplugs though, sounds a good first step.

That lack of oomph & 3 cylinder running would make me take to local garage tbh though. Wouldn't be driving it.

Hi many thanks for reply. I have actually tested the glowplugs aswell by taking them out.

The car was in garage last week also and they tested them whilst doing another job. I couldn't afford for them to look further in the starting problem as the job they have just done cost over 300 pound.

They did mention it could be injectors.

Many thanks.

hi again guys. this problem still exists unfortunately. it seems to be getting worse regarding bad starting and loads of white smoke. also running lumpy for around 20-30 secs..

I have noticed i have also been losing small amounts of water out the header tank. The car never overheats. i have done some checks regarding headgasket failure. ie checked the dipstick and oil cap for white sludge. there is no oil in the header tank. there also seem to be no coolant in the oil. There is a lot of condensation in the header tank though.

The car is booked in on tuesday for another issue but i am going to get a compression test done i think. This car has been nothing but trouble so far. It has 102,000 on the clock. I had another focus before this and it was fantastic i sold it when it had 190,000 on the clock and its still going strong.

anymore views on this would be fantastic thanks