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Hello. Long time lurker, first time poster etc etc. Spent a fair bit of time reading posts here and taking in the great information, and had a few questions hopefully you enlightened and experienced owners can help with.

Just bought a 2010 Focus 1.6 TDCI, 43K on the clock, one owner full ford service history. So far loving the car, much more responsive drive than the Honda Jazz my wife has just inherited.

My questions were: I've read a lot about turbo failures on the 1.6 TDCI, but these seem in the main (not all) to relate to pre-facelift versions (MK2 as opposed to MK2.5). Honest John's website says the facelift model changed things so this is less common, anyone have any advice?

Secondly am I right in thinking this car (Euro 5 emissions) doesn't have the Eolys fluid replacement necessary? I can't see it mentioned in service book, and if I have read the etis website correctly it seems to suggest it doesn't.

Finally, I think this car has a power steering motor as opposed to a pump? Does anyone else's make a quiet siren/ whine? I heard the noise when driving the car home from dealers, and fearing a turbo about to go pop took it back to the dealer and the technician (not a ford dealer) reckons it's the power steering, nothing untoward just the noise it makes. I've booked in for a check up at my local ford dealer next week for piece of mind but wondering if anyone else has this?

Thank you in advance, and I hope all is well with the car and in future I can contribute to the forum.

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Hello. Long time lurker, first time poster etc etc. Spent a fair bit of time reading posts here and taking in the great information, and had a few questions hopefully you enlightened and experienced owners can help with.

Just bought a 2010 Focus 1.6 TDCI, 43K on the clock, one owner full ford service history. So far loving the car, much more responsive drive than the Honda Jazz my wife has just inherited.

My questions were: I've read a lot about turbo failures on the 1.6 TDCI, but these seem in the main (not all) to relate to pre-facelift versions (MK2 as opposed to MK2.5). Honest John's website says the facelift model changed things so this is less common, anyone have any advice?

Secondly am I right in thinking this car (Euro 5 emissions) doesn't have the Eolys fluid replacement necessary? I can't see it mentioned in service book, and if I have read the etis website correctly it seems to suggest it doesn't.

Finally, I think this car has a power steering motor as opposed to a pump? Does anyone else's make a quiet siren/ whine? I heard the noise when driving the car home from dealers, and fearing a turbo about to go pop took it back to the dealer and the technician (not a ford dealer) reckons it's the power steering, nothing untoward just the noise it makes. I've booked in for a check up at my local ford dealer next week for piece of mind but wondering if anyone else has this?

Thank you in advance, and I hope all is well with the car and in future I can contribute to the forum.

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It's electronic hydraulic power steering system on the focus as are a lot of cars as opposed to the older hydraulic power steering systems a lot of us were used to in days gone by.
Later cars did do away with the additive fluid and used a ceramic coated DPF. These do seem to be more reliable than the earlier system.

I had a whiny turbo on mine and ended up replacing the turbo, but that was around 70-75k of the top of my head and it's fast approaching 100k now and I only changed the turbo didn't do the whole shebang that's suggested when changing a turbo, maybe I was lucky though.
Look after it and regular oil changes should help, the biggest problem is not doing enough mileage and getting regenerations of the DPF completed that cause the majority of issues with DPF equipped diesels.
Good luck and enjoy the motor.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk


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Welcome to the forums  :smile:

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Thanks for the replies guys, and the warm welcome. I'm wondering if I have opted for the wrong engine now, I do a daily commute of 35 miles round trip, half of it on an A road an half on roads through villages. Add other trips on and probably do around 10K - 12K per year. Maybe worth taking it out on a blast on a long dual carriage way or motorway now and again to help with the dpf regeneration? I'm also planning on putting BP diesel in (not touching the supermarket stuff) and also putting in the BP Ultimate from time to time to help clear the gunk out. I've read about doing 50mph in 4th (2000 + rpm) constantly for 10-12 minutes will help the dpf, would you say this is right or is there a better way to do this?

Thanks again for taking the time to help, much appreciated.

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I had a 09 Seat Exeo until from new until two weeks ago, and that had DPF.  My mileage was lower than yours, about 8000 pa, mainly commute to station and a few longer runs.  I only ever used supermarket diesel, and NEVER had the DPF light come on.  You don't need very much to keep it clear.

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12 hours ago, Focus Newbie said:

Secondly am I right in thinking this car (Euro 5 emissions) doesn't have the Eolys fluid replacement necessary? I can't see it mentioned in service book, and if I have read the etis website correctly it seems to suggest it doesn't.

The 1.6 diesel (also found in the Volvo C30's) is known to use Eolys fluid which needs replacing at intervals - you will know if you have the Eolys reservoir as it's a little tank bolted above the fuel tank at the rear underside of the car. You will see it clearly. I would imagine yours does have it being a Euro 5. Most Euro 4 cars with these engines didn't require a DPF, my 2.0D (also a Euro 4 Ford/PSA Engine) in my C30 didn't have one fitted so I didn't need to worry.

Better yet, if you can see a DPF filter attached to your exhaust, you will need the fluid topping up at some point. - The point of the fluid is to help burn off the build up as these engines don't get hot enough to do the job on their own. (incase you were wondering what it was for...)

Hope this helps.

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The main problem with the Mk2.5 Focus diesels is that there isn't a DPF light so you don't know whether you're doing enough or not until it's too late.  The mapping for the Ford/PSA  Eolys system is also rubbish tbh, I had several regens start in the middle of town where they obliviously failed early.  On a 2010 Focus he will at least have the coated DPF which should last longer and the regens are mapped differently as well.  The Euro 5 all had the cDPF afaik.  It's the Euro4+DPF 1.6TDCi/HDi which has the Eolys system (unnecessarily imo!).

It's a bit of a myth about 'doing 20 miles at speed' to keep it clear, the ECU decides when to regen and you can't force it just by driving harder.  Booting it onto the motorway is likely to cause a big enough pressure differential in the DPF to trigger a regen if necessary, then you want to keep the load up to help it ideally.  It's more about high load rather than high speed and light load.  But then of course high load ruins the DMF instead so you have to find the right compromise! :laugh:  

Honestly the only thing you can do is keep an eye on it for now.  I was doing 30 mile round trips most days when I bought mine and assumed that to be enough for the DPF, but it was too much town and village driving and only very short motorway blasts and just didn't work for me. 

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Thanks for the replies guys. I don't think mine had the Eolys tank, but will have a look. Nothing in the service manual about topping up Eolys fluid at any interval, from what I've read I think as Tom mentioned, the Euro4 had the tank (I'm going to ask Ford when it goes in for a check up on Friday) - mine is a 2010 registration, but made in 2008 I believe, Ford Etis schedule doesn't mention it. That's a real pain about not having the dpf light, at least that would give you some indication of when you need to do something. Maybe when it goes to Ford on Friday their snazzy computers will tell me if there is a problem or not, really hope not, like the car, would hate to have to hand it back to dealers with a fault and get my money back

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2010 should be a Euro 5 and therefore shouldn't/won't have eloys fluid. Correct.

The 1.6TDCi engine is used in both MK2 and Facelift MK2.5 and they need to be nurtured like a small child.

  • Must be serviced on time evey time
  • oil changes every 6000 miles recommended
  • Check injector seals for leaks

Those are the bits I learned from losing my 1.6TDCi engine at 88,000 miles.

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Hi Andy, thanks for the reply.

I have the car going to Ford on Friday so will get them to check the injector seals. Such a shame, great car barr all the dpf / turbo / injector seal issues. I know I have 30 days from buying the car to give it back if there is a fault present, hence why I want to get this all checked out while I still have some rights. Really hope it doesn't come to that.........

Thanks for your help, much appreciated

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8 hours ago, Focus Newbie said:

Hi Andy, thanks for the reply.

I have the car going to Ford on Friday so will get them to check the injector seals. Such a shame, great car barr all the dpf / turbo / injector seal issues. I know I have 30 days from buying the car to give it back if there is a fault present, hence why I want to get this all checked out while I still have some rights. Really hope it doesn't come to that.........

Thanks for your help, much appreciated

You are very welcome :) The car its self is a lovely car and I was devastated when mine went pop. Partly my own fault and lack of knowledge in all honesty, which is why I try and pass on what I have learned from other people here.

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Thanks Andy, I'm in a similar boat - this is my third car, been driving about 5 years. First car - bog standard A to B little Corsa, did its job, traded in for a Honda Jazz, which despite looking like a chest of drawers on wheels, touch wood has been great, so when the Mrs passed her test I thought I'd upgrade and let her have the Jazz.  Still learning about even the basics, as my bro said - gone are the days when Dad would spend the weekend under the bonnet of the Cortina armed with a tool box and Haynes manual, it's all ECU's now. Will update once the Focus comes back from Ford. Thanks again mate

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Wilto - if there is any major issue ford find, its going back to the dealer within 30 days for full refund. Hand on heart if I had the choice again I would go petrol I think, I did check Honest John / Auto Express etc for common faults etc and Turbo (for the mk2.5) was never mentioned once (mentioned for the mk2). I think dpf is just an issue on any diesel car irrespective of age/ make if it's not doing the right type of mileage. If it's all ok I plan a good boot up the motorway and dual carriageway every few weeks which I hear will help a bit

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Learning to know when it is doing a Regen and when it is likely to do one will help if you know it's happening and drive it accordingly to complete the Regen. Otherwise your wasting fuel as it injects more fuel amongst other things to help raise the exhaust temps. If you drive it properly and regular oil changes and keep an eye on it, it shouldn't be too bad. Most of the horror stories are from people who don't do enough miles to justify the diesel and don't look after the DPF as they are not clued up on it.
Imaging it's like a computer, if you just use it and don't look after it, eventually it will slow right down and stop working hanging etc. Look after it and service it etc and it should be more reliable. The other issue with DPF problems is you don't know how it has been treated by previous owners so may be almost to the point of requiring replacement before you even owned it.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

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Hi Simon, very true - I plan to get the oil changed every 6,000 miles as suggested, and will take it for runs on the motorway (good excuse to see my best mate in Leicester!), in terms of knowing when its doing a regen, are there any tell-tale signs? I don't have the diagnostic /scan thing (but I can get it if needs be), but while driving is there any signs to look out for. Mine has the privacy glass on the back window / back side windows, so not always easy to see if the car is chucking out exhaust fumes, anything worth looking out for?

Thank you

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The way I noticed mine constantly trying to regen was the engine cooling fan running on for several minutes after switching off the engine when it wasn't warm out and I hadn't been using air con.  Then noticed that the instant fuel economy on the dash screen suddenly dropped for about 5 minutes or so while trying to regen.  Mine also got a jump/judder under light throttle while doing a regen but not everyone's seems to do that. 

I never did see it chucking out clouds of smoke but I've also got privacy glass. 

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Not sure how Ford set up their regeneration system, but on the Citroen C4, one of the things it does is switch on the heated wing mirrors to load up the electrical system/alternator. Some C4 owners have wired in an LED bulb behind the mirror glass, which lights up when regeneration takes place.

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Thanks Tom / Yog, I'll keep an ear out for the fan and an eye out for any electrics turning on. Think I'll take it for a ride up the A5 on the way home, just in normal gear above 2000 rpm see if it does anything. Don't want to try and force a regen yet, but that's a good 15 minutes at decent speed each way which hopefully will help with passive regen, then I'll ask Ford about regen when it goes in.

As always, thanks for your help guys

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How long regen operates?

Could it be that it drops consumption a bit (0.4 l instead of 0.5 and icreases rpms to 1k)?

If i switch off engine when arrived, it will continue or its stopped then? Or it  start next time when conditions are met?

What are conditions when it starts regen(egine t, fuel level, rpms)?

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Hi guys, so a quick update, car went into Ford and they tell me its OK, no unusual noises, and they checked the turbo bearings and the injector seals which are clean, so good news there. Another quick question, what tyres do you guys have? Currently car has Goodyear Efficient Grips, but needs four new tyres all round. I've read some stuff about the Goodyears having soft sidewalls, what do you guys have? My profiles are 205 / 50 / 17 / 93W. Thanks again.

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Hi guys, so a quick update, car went into Ford and they tell me its OK, no unusual noises, and they checked the turbo bearings and the injector seals which are clean, so good news there. Another quick question, what tyres do you guys have? Currently car has Goodyear Efficient Grips, but needs four new tyres all round. I've read some stuff about the Goodyears having soft sidewalls, what do you guys have? My profiles are 205 / 50 / 17 / 93W. Thanks again.

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