No Power

[Rikka]

Hi every1,,,,,,, I have just bought a 54plate 1.4 diesel fusion yesterday, i took it out on an urban
test run, and it was great everything was perfect ,but when on the journey home,
As i was entering the motorway it just didnt seem to have any to much umph and was
slow on throttle response...... Going for a little drive today i realised that if i put
my foot near to half throttle the car would pick up a bit quicker but if i go for
full throttle the car has a lot less acceleration and power. It seems to me that
i only have halfish of the throttle. I am new to diesels and not sure what it may be
can anyone help me :-)
thanks
Rikka

[jeebowhite]

Sounds like either your due a good service, or you have an issue with the potentimeter.

This is the sensor on the accelerator assembly that tells how far down the pedal is, then sends a signal to the ECU to say "50% power" or "25% power" and the ECU transfers that to the engine.

If you are geting little out of it all the time up to 50% then you probably need to replace this. Alternatively, if your finding its fine most the time, then has a blip, your probably have an alternative issue. It could be as simple as needing a service, a clogged fuel filter or similar.

[CarlosManta]

If you take the car to service make sure they check the injectors.In my case,I had to replace the injector "feeder", it is a small plastic part, very cheap,that has often quality issues and comes loose. Once the car wouldn't even turn on, the plastic just broke...

[Rikka]

Thanx guys for your replys ,,,,,

james im gonna change the fuel filter soonish but that was changed a couple of months ago but some one said that the actuator/arm seizes up on these models ,,,,do you or any one know how to test it, to see if the actuator/arm is working or if the actuator/arm can be moved when not running as I cant move this one,,,, but on my starlet turbo I can move that one ok ?

thanks

:-)

[jeebowhite]

Aaaah, in that case.... you need to have a look over here:

http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/18532-fix-durashift-gearbox-problem-easy/

[Captain Haddock]

Welcome aboard Rikka.

A standard 1.4Tdci won't have the type of acceleration that even a 1.25 petrol engine has, but the 1.4Tdci will bimble along quite happily (more torque than a petrol) at lower revs (for a given road speed) and return much better MPG.

James' suggestion of changing the fuel filter is a good call (especially if the car's been fed Morrison's DIEsel - there's a reason that stuff is cheap .... ) and if you're doing the fuel filter change yourself the 1.4Tdci even has a built-in squeeze bulb (next to the driver's end of the air filter) for priming the fuel system (unlike the 1.6Tdci; grumble, moan, mutter ... :().

Is Rikka refering to the turbo's electronic variable vane actuator rather than a Durashift gearbox actuator ?

I don't know if the turbo's vane actuator is moveable by hand when in situ, but if the turbo vane actuator sticks then a 1.4Tdci certainly won't have much 'get up and go' at anything other than part-throttle.

Another thing simple to check for would be for injector blow by (a known occurance on a 1.4Tdci, but less so on the 1.6/1.8/2.0 Tdci) :-

• Make sure the engine is stone cold (do the check first thing), open the bonnet fully and start the engine.
• Listen around the top of the engine near the injectors using a short length of hose; one end near to your ear and the other next to (but not touching) the point you want to listen to as it makes it much easier to pin-point the source of the sound.

If you can can hear a localised 'chuffing' noise and there's some thick gooey (almost like tar) black deposits around the base of the injectors that looks like congealed old engine oil then you may have leaky injector seals.

If you do find this to be the case then get the injector seals changed (use a reputable diesel mechanic/garage) as the leaks will definately get worse over time. Don't be tempted to 'cure' the problem by tightening the injector clamp down 'a bit more' as once the seal leaks you won't stop it by over-tightening the injector clamp bolt (you may even damage the injector or clamp point). The injector seals themselves are copper washers that require flat clean mating surfaces (both injector and cylinder head) in order to stop the engine's compressed gasses from escaping.

[Rikka]

Sorry guys I shoulda said,,,, it was the turbo actuator/arm I was talking about,,,, lol ,,,,,as I said earlier I was told about the turbo actuator /arm seizes up from my son,,,,, so my son went out last night and soaked the actuator/arm with wd40,,,,, and 2day when I went out the acceleration seeeemd a bit better,,, and it didn't seem so dead as it was yesterday, at full throttle so ill give it a bit longer and give it a bit more time and more wd40 and see what happens,,,and fingers crossed, as far as im thinking lol :-)

thnx 4 ur time peeps :-)

[Paddy Fusion]

Hi all.

I'm reading this topic with interest. I've had my 1.4 tdci for over 2 years now and it is my first diesel car.

I always thought with a diesel car you could 'plod' around in a higher gear compared to a similar size petrol engine powered car, but I always have to work the gears to get any kind of performance.

My car is slow, VERY slow infact, pulling out of junctions is rather interesting at times. I get my fuel from the local Morrisons, would I be better saucing a fuel like V power or similar.

Also to be honest my car has 80,000 on the clock and I don't know when the fuel filter was changed last ...the car was on 65,000 when i bought it.

Also my car is used mostly for short journeys arond town.

Is this normal for this engine.

Thanks guys.

[Paddy Fusion]

Haveing a look under the bonnet yesterday I noticed the bolt holding the resanator box to the turbo was very lose allowing the joint to flex open a little.

A quick tighten with a spanner and i can now feel the turbo kicking in when driving ☺

[jeebowhite]

Simple but crucial!