Focus 1.6TDCi major problem

[thejollysinker]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and would appreciate some advice please.

I bought a 56 plate Focus 1.6tdci last year which basically just blew up. I bought a replacement engine from a company online that looked like a good deal and was about £550 for a complete engine, and was advertised as having done only 48,711 miles. It came on a pallet and I paid someone £300 to fit it, but experienced problems from the off. I would have done it myself but was recovering from carpal tunnel surgery. I had to ask the supplier to send a replacement high pressure fuel pump, which they did. Somebody else fitted a new turbo core for me as well.

 

Anyway, it ran intermittently in and out of limp mode, even after someone did some diagnostic work, and then it started to affect the new turbo core in a way I didn't like, and went back to limp mode. The 3 month warranty had run out and the supplier wasn't interested. I did some research and found out some horrific stories online about these engines blowing turbos etc so decided to take the sump off and have a look.

 

What I found was a thick layer of black, almost tar like oil in the bottom ( see attachment) which was starving the turbo of good 'clean' oil, as in what I'd heard. I was horrified because this engine had supposedly only done 48,711 miles, which I now don't believe for one minute. The year that the head was cast is moulded onto the casting near the engine type mark (DV6) and was 2004, so I suspect it was put together around that time and put into a car at least within the year.

 

I have been arguing this fact with the original broker who helped me to get this engine and he says I can't prove the fact that I think the engine has done a very high mileage so doesn't care.

 

Does anyone who has bothered to read this know of way in which I can verify what I suspect to be true, about it being a high miler?

 

 

 

 

[TDCiST]

I don't know of anyway to confirm how many miles an engine has done if its just the block...

However it does look like the oil hasnt been changed at its stated intervals if its gone sludgy like that!

You are correct in what you have read, that if the oil isnt changed regulary, the sludgy oil will block the turbo feed pipe with crud/soot/sludge and starve the turbo of nice oil.  I know a few people that have changed this pipe at certain intervals as well as their oil, just to make sure.

[Simon_K]

I don’t know if they would supply the information, but the DVLA might have a database of engine numbers matched to cars (as its on the log book). From that you could find a registration number and then MOT history and mileage covered?

But that’s just guesswork from me. 

[thejollysinker]

1 hour ago, TDCiST said:

I don't know of anyway to confirm how many miles an engine has done if its just the block...

However it does look like the oil hasnt been changed at its stated intervals if its gone sludgy like that!

You are correct in what you have read, that if the oil isnt changed regulary, the sludgy oil will block the turbo feed pipe with crud/soot/sludge and starve the turbo of nice oil.  I know a few people that have changed this pipe at certain intervals as well as their oil, just to make sure.

I bought a complete engine, with ancillaries....

 

The rocker cover/breather was filled with crud and the plastic latticework on the underside was caked in the stuff too. The whole engine was disgusting inside and the turbo return pipe was delaminating inside, which to me would be another indication of high mileage.

 

I believe, from what I've read, that it's not just a case of the oil being changed at the correct intervals that is the only cause of these problems with this engine, it is the shape of the sump as well. The sump arrangement allows a certain amount of old oil to be left in there after each and every change, causing the build up. You can buy a modified sump for these which allows all the old oil to be drained properly.

 

I have stripped this thing down and rebuilt it with new components (oil pump etc) and cleaned it to within an inch of it's life, including two flushes which costs.....

[thejollysinker]

1 hour ago, Simon_K said:

I don’t know if they would supply the information, but the DVLA might have a database of engine numbers matched to cars (as its on the log book). From that you could find a registration number and then MOT history and mileage covered?

But that’s just guesswork from me. 

Thanks, it's worth a try....

just fired off an email to them to ask if that would be possible....

[TomsFocus]

It's possible to be like that from low mileage.  People that do very low miles often don't bother servicing cars, and there's no service indicator to even warn them on the focus.   A lot of short trips with a blocked DPF trying to regen every day ruins the oil pretty quickly.  

If DVSA can't help, I wonder if Fords system contains engine numbers along with the VIN and Reg number.  Getting the reg to do an MOT check is the only way you'll find out the rough mileage.  

[thejollysinker]

22 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

It's possible to be like that from low mileage.  People that do very low miles often don't bother servicing cars, and there's no service indicator to even warn them on the focus.   A lot of short trips with a blocked DPF trying to regen every day ruins the oil pretty quickly.  

If DVSA can't help, I wonder if Fords system contains engine numbers along with the VIN and Reg number.  Getting the reg to do an MOT check is the only way you'll find out the rough mileage.  

I appreciate what you're saying, but it is highly unlikely that a 13 year old engine has done such low mileage. It's got multiple oil leaks which have only appeared on the 'washed' unit as it's been running, on and off..... it just looks like a typical old broiler that's been taken out of an old car and flogged on.

I bought a 1999 Discovery TD5 3 years ago that was a good example of a low mileage vehicle and had done 61,000 miles, and the engine was absolutely spanking. This 1.6TDCi looks like it's been driven round the equator several times....

AND, the thing that makes me really suspicious is the fact that the site where I got the engine from, is still listing these engines as having done exactly the same mileage as mine! what's the chances??

When you say Ford's system, would that involve a trip to my local Ford dealer to ask them?

Thanks for you input.

[thejollysinker]

On 10/29/2017 at 6:04 PM, thejollysinker said:

Thanks, it's worth a try....

just fired off an email to them to ask if that would be possible....

DVLA just got back to me.... they only work with registration numbers, not engine numbers.... bit pointless having a number on the engine in the first place then?

Never mind....

[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, thejollysinker said:

I appreciate what you're saying, but it is highly unlikely that a 13 year old engine has done such low mileage. It's got multiple oil leaks which have only appeared on the 'washed' unit as it's been running, on and off..... it just looks like a typical old broiler that's been taken out of an old car and flogged on.

I bought a 1999 Discovery TD5 3 years ago that was a good example of a low mileage vehicle and had done 61,000 miles, and the engine was absolutely spanking. This 1.6TDCi looks like it's been driven round the equator several times....

AND, the thing that makes me really suspicious is the fact that the site where I got the engine from, is still listing these engines as having done exactly the same mileage as mine! what's the chances??

When you say Ford's system, would that involve a trip to my local Ford dealer to ask them?

Thanks for you input.

Different engines do take mileage differently, the 1.6 TDCi is known to be very delicate, whereas the Disco engine is presumably a lot more reliable (I know nothing about those lol).  I've had engines blow headgaskets and gearboxes before 50k...but also ones with over 200k on original parts which were still fine, one with 274k even...the HDis could take massive mileage with little to no servicing before Ford ruined them.

Saying that, I wouldn't trust an engine company to sell you what you actually ordered...in fact I've seen similar knackered high mileage engines passed off as low or even as reconditioned on watchdog several times!

Yes, if Ford do keep the numbers a trip to the dealer should help, they might even do it over the phone.  If DVSA don't hold engine numbers, I'm not sure Ford would, but you won't lose anything by asking.

[alexp999]