Hi there,

Today my C-Max made the warning alarm sound and showed the message "Engine Malfunction" while I was accelerating along a slip road to join the motorway. Nothing seemed to actually stop working and the car continued to drive without a problem. I slowed for a while but got back up to 70 with no issues. I was not too far from home so figured it was best to get home while it was working ok.

When I got home I ran the diagnostics test and it said there were no fault codes, the warning has disappeared since I turned the engine off. The only thing that looks wrong (but I am probably just paranoid), the red light between the temperature gauge and fuel gauge is permanently on when I turn the key - is this normal? I don't remember it being on, but then I never looked too hard at this!

Other people seem to have had this unexplained issue and as I was accelerating when it happened I wonder if it is to do with air intake. A wild guess, but I have felt for a few weeks that the car makes loud air resistance noise when accelerating, something that I had not noticed before. Hard to explain but they are noises that were not there when I first got the car 4 months ago.

Any ideas on what to check?

I will book it into the garage hopefully this week, but it has taken away a lot of confidence in the car despite it being fine for 4 months...

Thanks,

Sam

First thing i would check are the air intake pipes are not loose or split as it sounds like its drawing air in from elsewhere the way you have described it. How does the air filter look, has it ever been changed?

Is it petrol or diesel?

Hi,

This is a diesel (1.8 Tdci). I had a quick look and could not see any damage although it is quite tight in there to see a great deal!

The car is under warranty so obviously I should take it in, however it seems that other people who have had the "Engine Malfunction" warning with no fault codes, have not had much luck getting it sorted out. The car apparently had a full service when I bought it 4 months - I will have a look at the filter if I get a chance before taking it in (just to be curious). The dealer seems fairly honest as I had a couple of new tyres and when fitting them they noted that part of the suspension would need replacing within the next year or so - I asked them if they would do it there and then under warranty and they did.

I suppose I am slightly worried that if/when the warning comes back it will have an effect on something. Most people say the car goes into limp mode when you get this - not sure why mine allowed me to carry on as normal...

Thanks,

S

be sure to get that suspension part changed while you still warranty don't put it off

paul

I had this issue and it was a fuel filter.

Hello,

I thought it was worth updating this thread as things have happened.

My engine malfunction was caused by a split in the intake pipe for the intercooler. This was fixed, but not under warranty. They did fix the suspension under warranty and did an ECU upgrade for free too. I can say that the car is like a new car, more pick-up in 2nd gear, no stalling feeling, acceleration is strong and fuel economy is a world different - I did a 300 mile run and it returned 55mpg which was good considering I was stuck in traffic and a lot of the journey was on windy, hilly roads.

This was all done at the Ford main dealer, so kudos to them - was happy to pay for pipe as it seemed fair game for wear and tear. The parts they paid for were more expensive overall.

Cheers,

S