2008 1.6 Diesel Focus engine malfunction Warning

[CreevyKop]

Hi guys.Got an oil change yesterday,Took car home and went out for a run today And engine malfunction warning came on along with amber engine management light.Could this be related to oil change ?don't want to drive about with warning flashing,Cheerrs in advance

[Tdci-Peter]

How long since the previous oil change (months & miles), these cars seem to be prone to problems with extended time between changes. 5000 to 6000 miles seems to the recommended limit for this engine. Could be some gunk in an oilway, causing an oil related problem. Listen under the bonnet for odd new noises.

Hopefully that is not the case, more likely to be something entirely unrelated. There will be some stored diagnostic code.

You have some options:

Go to a garage for a diagnostic readout. Free if they know you and are generous(?), up to £100 otherwise.

Find a mate with a scanner: Cost you a pint or equivalent maybe!

Get a generic OBD2 scanner. From about £10.00. I got a U480 off eBay, worked fine. Very easy to use, self contained, but limited capabilities.

Get a powerful Ford specific system. Cost £15.00 for the interface. Needs a computer of some sort. (COM port, USB, bluetooth or WiFi interfaces available). Not as simple as the self contained OBD2 scanner.

You will find a lot about ELM327 & Forscan on this site, which together provide a very comprehensive diagnosis & maintenance tool.

For ELM327 see:

http://www.spanglefish.com/TunnelratElectronics/index.asp?pageid=516992

One of these will pay for itself in no time.

you ill also need a program called Forscan, its free and you can get it from

http://forscan.org/download.html

Most of these faults are not really time critical, but do keep an ear open in case of oil problems, especially if last oil change was >8000 miles ago, or so.

Peter.

[CreevyKop]

Thanks for that Peter ,a lot of very helpful info,Been 6000 miles since last change,Going to get it checked tomorrow ,Thanks for advice

 

[Tdci-Peter]

Thanks for the feedback, please post any results here, or further questions. May be of use or interest to others.

Peter.

[CreevyKop]

Turned out to be DPF showing a fault,Put a wash through it at 80Euro so I hopr that helps,Finger crossed,Only have her 6 months so might have to get filter cleaned ,The joys of driving

[Tdci-Peter]

Thanks for the feedback. Glad it is not oil related, that could be very expensive.

There is plenty of info about DPF cleaning & regen on this site & elsewhere. Longish drives at speed over 50mph is supposed to help. I don't have one, so have no experience.