Hey, new here and completely retarded when it comes to cars.. I apologise in advance as I haven't had the time/brain power to find the answers to these questions myself. I've just moved to a new area and everything in my life seems to be falling apart including my car haha.

Right, so to save you wasting too much time, I have an 04 plate Mondeo Ghia (diesel).. And the small research I've managed indicates to me the fault seems to be something regarding the dpf. I don't know if said car has one, but I'm assuming it does.

The problem - my car is constantly kicking out a load of crap, quite often struggling in lower revs. If I rev it in neutral it kicks out a load of dirt, is ok for a few minutes then starts chugging again. At first I just assumed the filter was gone, so I found a garage near where I've moved to, explained the problem and booked a service. £200 later, including new filters, the problem still persists despite taking it for a long drive and using the fuel cleaner product a couple of times. Anyways, I'm a bit dubious about this garage I used so would rather not be going back!

This led me to a bit of research and the dpf. There's a ford dealership/service centre on my drive home so I popped in yesterday but could only speak to a receptionist who wasn't so clued up - I asked how much roughly she would think it would cost and obviously it's not a cheap repair, particularly with labour, assuming that it is indeed as simple as the dpf. Hence more research! Btw, I haven't got the fsh with me just now so I don't know wether it's already been replaced, but I'm just under 110k so it's probably about time to be replaced anyway from what I've read...

Now, in the past I'd have just given it to my garage and paid whatever it cost to fix, no questions asked. However, I've just blown the majority of my savings on moving and a whole host of other things (like I said, everything seems to be hitting me at once!) so budget is a bit of an issue. Having already spent over £200 on not having it fixed, ideally I wanna pinpoint the problem as close as possible so I can keep costs minimal. I've got a guy in mind to fix the problem for me, although he's on holiday at the moment so I can't contact him and get any advice!

So, if any of you guys have had similar problems or could point me in the right directions it would be very much appreciated! I googled a Mondeo dpf and I'm looking at about £300 right?

Also, if I'm completely wrong and it's not the dpf, any suggestions what the problem sounds like?

Ta very much!

I could be wrong but I don't think ford were fitting Dpf's that early.

More likely to be your EGR valve gummed up and jammed open.

No D.P.F. on an 04 Mondeo, it's got a CAT

Is the E.G.R.V. blanked off ?

Thanks for the replies.

Just googled it and it makes sense yeah, will have a look at it tomorrow afternoon and see if that's the case.

Bearing in mind I'm a bit dopey, if it's just clogged can I clean it myself with minimal tools?

Thanks again :)