Fiesta titanium 2014 juddering 60 - 70 mph

[Laneybel]

My 2014 fiesta has been intermittently juddering whilst in 5th gear driving between 50 & 60 mph. So I took to Ford and they tried to replicate the fault and couldn't.  So they checked the suspension, re-aligned the wheels and gave it a good check over.  It seemed to have gone.  However days later it now does it between 60 & 70 mph, but not as bad. 

I can feel the juddering under my acceleration pedal and it is almost as if you are running out of diesel. It always has fuel in it. So if just over a quarter, or half a tank it doesn't make a difference. No warning lights either. 

They have asked me to try and note when this is happening, but it really is random.  So it does it 5 mins after driving or can do it 20 mins after driving. 

I am going to book it back in but though anyone who has experienced this may be able to give some clues..

It is 64 plate, diesel, with 13,000 miles on the clock, titanium 1.5.

Thanks in advance.

[Tdci-Peter]

4 hours ago, Laneybel said:

intermittently juddering whilst in 5th gear driving between 50 & 60 mph

It sounds more like an engine fault than transmission or suspension, to me. It might be possible to make it happen in other gears & speeds, but the lowish rpm & moderately high torque conditions that you get while cruising in 5th are difficult to replicate in other gears.

When the juddering started, did it have a regular pattern (vibration or shaking), or was it just the occasional random jolt?

There is a large number of electrical or other faults that could cause this. Usually some error codes will occur at some time (a 1st occurrence of a code will often not light the warning lamp, but will still be stored). I would use diagnostic equipment to keep looking for codes, especially immediately after the fault appears, and log live data like egr valve position and fuel rail pressure, looking for clues. But that is not everyone's idea of fun!

It will be hard for the garage to diagnose this if the fault is so intermittent. If they suggest using it until the fault develops to a point where it can be diagnosed, I would go with that. Inconvenient, but may be better than changing random bits & hoping.

Peter.

 

 

[Laneybel]

Thanks, for your reply. it is a regular pattern but not all the time.  This morning only did it a about a minute.  I took my foot off the gas.  But for some reason when I depress the clutch fully and gently slide into 5th gear it doesn't seem to do it. Although that could be random at times.

[Tdci-Peter]

36 minutes ago, Laneybel said:

it is a regular pattern... depress the clutch fully and gently slide into 5th gear it doesn't seem to do it

Hmmm,

I can see why the garage looked at suspension. Engine mounts would be another possibility.

But there are still a number of engine related possibilities: An intermittent fault in one injector. A faulty sensor, or a sticking actuator could make it hard for the pcm to maintain even power - control loops can easily oscillate (or judder) if there is some fault in the loop.

You could try asking the garage if they ever fit logging or monitoring equipment that can record results over a period of time, while the car is in normal use. I doubt if they can, but that is increasingly going to be needed as cars become even more complex.

Peter.