Hi all, newbie here! I've recently bought a 2013 1.6TDCi Econetic and all has been going well until last week. I was on my way to work and there was a warning chime with a message on the dashboard "Engine malfunction. Service Now". I pulled over and switched the engine off. I restarted the engine and carried on to work, the indicator had gone out, but the car was seriously lacking in power - almost as if the turbo wasn't kicking in.

Anyway, I finished work that evening, got in the car and drove home - and everything seemed fine - power was back to normal, no error messages. Since then though, it has thrown the error a couple of times and the power loss appeared to be getting more and more common.

I changed the fuel filter on the weekend thinking that could be the culprit - it hasn't been changed for around 13 months. This has made the car run smoother and I thought had solved the problem, but one my way to work this morning the same thing happened - error message and lack of power. And on my way home, I had full power until around half way home, when the power reduced (this time with no error message).

Anyone have any idea what's going on? One thing I've noticed is that I can tell when I'm going to lose power, because the MPG gauge - which normally reads 70-85mpg on an open road at 60mph will suddenly drop to 40-ish mpg, then bounce back up to normal, then down again. Once that happens, the car appears to have no boost (and struggles to maintain 60mph while climbing inclines).

Any help appreciated :) Thought I'd try here before taking it to the garage - I can't get it booked in this side of Christmas :(

Thanks

My mates MK3 had similar issues turned out to be his turbo but I hope it's just your fuel filter boss, try a Halfords garage, some are actually alright hope you can get it sorted.

Any smoke ? If so what colour ?

No smoke at all. It's really odd. The car idles normally and other than the lack of power drives pretty normal.

One thing I noticed when I got home, I was backing up my drive and usually I can just use the clutch to pull the car up it, but today the engine was 'hunting' around 1-1500rpm and needed a bit of accelerator to help it.

Would definately change fuel filter unless it's been done recently.

Is it a DPF model? Any DPF issues before?

Is it a DPF model? Any DPF issues before?

Will be dpf on that model,

Fuel filter, or it will need dtcs read with a code reader

Poor mpg on the TC could indicate a regen attempt which is failing. Codes read is always best with faults like this though, surely you can get that done before xmas?

Fuel filter is brand new, fitted only last weekend. I don't cover many miles in the car and have been reading about certain criteria that have to be met for the dpf to regenerate. I'm a bit of a hypermiler and tend to baby the car everywhere...driving like a granny if you wish! It rarely goes over 2k rpm. I've only had the car a few months and in that time have covered only 1500 miles. I only ever put a tenners worth of diesel in it because that'll last me ages! But I've read that the regen won't work if the fuel level is less than a quarter - which is often the case with my car.

I'll see if I can get it booked in to have the code's read. If I can't get it done, do you reckon a good service, fill the tank and get it nice and warm then stick on the motorway for a while to see if the dpf will regen? How do you actually know when it's doing it?

Ta

Sounds like the car needs an Italian tune up . . . aka a damn good thrashing, & subsequent frequent high-ish rpm driving at least once a week

The worse thing for any diesel engine is to drive it like a Nun . . .

Sounds like it needs a regen to me, will probably be beyond putting on the motorway for half an hour now but any garage should be able to 'force' a regen with software. I would have the codes read first though, it'll almost certainly be 'regen duration' code...the amount of times I've seen that one! :(

Just out of interest, why did you chose a DPF equipped diesel for that sort of driving? It really isn't suited to it unfortunately.

I went for the car as it seemed perfect for our small family - no tax, cheap to run, and my missus is learning to drive so I had to downsize from a larger car. We have family in Scotland so needed something comfortable on a long run, and we also do a 200 mile run every other week. The Focus had a good rep and after trawling through countless reviews I never came across anything saying this particular model wasn't suited to my driving habits.

I'll just adapt the way I drive :) Would seem such a shame to get shot of the car already.

Drive it like you stole it occasionally & I'm sure it'll be fine :)

I went for the car as it seemed perfect for our small family - no tax, cheap to run, and my missus is learning to drive so I had to downsize from a larger car. We have family in Scotland so needed something comfortable on a long run, and we also do a 200 mile run every other week. The Focus had a good rep and after trawling through countless reviews I never came across anything saying this particular model wasn't suited to my driving habits.

I'll just adapt the way I drive :) Would seem such a shame to get shot of the car already.

Ah that's fair enough, I read it as you only ever do short journeys above.

If you do part of that 200mile trip (about an hour) in 4th or even 3rd gear each time (speed dependant) that should keep the DPF clear, you will of course lose some MPG from doing that but that is the way with these daft DPFs!

Thanks for all your replies, you seem like a good bunch :) will let you know how I get on.

For reference, just got back from the garage. Turns out it was the 'turbo boost sensor'. Not sure where that is, why it would fail on a car with only 24k miles, but glad they got it sorted.

Thanks for posting the solution. :)

Common fault on some cars but not common on these, especially at that mileage, you must just have been unlucky.

Okay so that didn't fix it. It's gone back in and they said they're changin a solenoid next week.

I've pinpointed the exact moment it happens - it's only when the car is decelerating for around 5 or more seconds, this triggers something that then puts the car into limp home mode. As an example, I live on a hill and therefore coast to the bottom. By the time I reach the bottom the car is in limp home mode. I turn the car off which resets the problem, works fine joining the motorway, but when I exit the motorway and slow down at the junction, this triggers limp home mode again. No error lights displayed, just reduced power.

Problem was software related. Updated the software and it's like a new car again! :)

Problem was software related. Updated the software and it's like a new car again! :)

Did you have to goto a dealer to get this done?