1.6 Ford Focus Turbo problem I think

toe_knee

I was driving down the motorway this evening in my 1.6 Ford Focus when I lost power. The car will only do between 80 kph and 100 kph max. I was nearly home when this happened so I continued down the road. There was no smoke out of the exhaust which I would expect if I blew the turbo.

I priced up turbos online and a second hand one will cost me around 500 and a new one nearly 1k
So anyone have any ideas before i get to a mechanic?

jay_fin

what makes you think its the turbo that is the problem did the eml come on?

-Corkie-

Sounds like a MAF.

toe_knee

No warning lights came on. I just took a guess that it might be the turbo but with no smoke I don't know what it could be. I haven't a clue about engines.

If it was the MAF would it be an expensive job do you think?

-Corkie-

toe_knee wrote: »

No warning lights came on. I just took a guess that it might be the turbo but with no smoke I don't know what it could be. I haven't a clue about engines.

If it was the MAF would it be an expensive job do you think?

No a MAF (Mass air flow sensor) is about 100 euro ish.

toe_knee

A hell of a lot cheaper than a turbo then. Hopefully thats all it is.

_toiletduck_

Yeah, MAF sounds about right, expect your car to have NO pull if the turbo went, also you could hear if the turbo wasn't spooling.
MAF just gets a false reading, and makes the engine run either lean or rich,
Rich = too much diesel = smokey ... not the worst for the engine
Lean = too little diesel = no smoke but not much power ... not great for the engine.

-Corkie-

toe_knee wrote: »

A hell of a lot cheaper than a turbo then. Hopefully thats all it is.

Check your oil level in the morning just to be sure but I can nearly guarntee it is not the turbo. The MAF maybe dirty either so if you can locate it and clean it maybe that would help..

PaulKK

-Corkie- wrote: »

Check your oil level in the morning just to be sure but I can nearly guarntee it is not the turbo. The MAF maybe dirty either so if you can locate it and clean it maybe that would help..

Sounds like the MAF alright, but could be a split pipe etc either.

Row

One quick way to check a failed turbo on these is to remove the turbo intake
hose from the turbo and insert your index finger + thumb into the turbo...check the turbo shaft for excess play/movement.

(ONLY DO THIS WHEN THE ENGINE IS TURNED OFF AND NOT TO HOT..:))

There should be very little play in the shaft...if its rattling around the place then it looks like a failed turbo.....:(
To check and see if the turbo is boosting grab the intercooler to intake hose a get someone to rev the engine to around 2.5-3k..you should feel the hose
swelling.
If your still in doubt get it plugged into some sort of diagnostic equipment and check to see if the turbo is boosting and if there are any other faults logged.....Best of luck with it.

This clip shows a failed turbo... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpitkgFZCm4

OldmanMondeo

What year Focus is it? I didn't think the 00-10 Focus was a 1.6 Turbo, only the new version just released.

babygirlz

I ended up changing the turbo in my car last year as like yours it kept dropping power, there was never any smoke coming from it. I sent it back to the garage a couple of times and they changed everything but the turbo but it kept losing power. Since it was replace I have not had a problem with it.

Btw, mine was under warranty so it didn't cost anything.

acier

Whens the last time your fuel filter was changed? Might just be a clogged up filter

Rackstar

My bet is the ERG valve is sticking. It's happened to me on 3 different 1.6 CTDi Ford Focus's. Common fault by the looks of it.

New ERG is about 250-300 fitted in main dealer. If it is the ERG and you keep driving the car it might fix itself as happened with my current car.

toe_knee

Its a 06 focus. It had a full service about 9k km ago

Plug

Ahh I say its the little rubber pipe that goes onto the boost control valve on the turbo. Probably just fell off. Reconnect, happy days:)

shamwari

OP, read Row's and Plug's posts and perform some simple DIY diagnostics first.

This kind of fault can be anything from a duff diesel filter, a jammed EGR valve, a MAF fault, a duff turbo, a leaky intercooler hose, a faulty accelerator pedal, bad diesel, a duff injector, a clogged DPF, jammed brakes, or even the war in Iraq.

Moral of the story: you will need the car scanned for fault codes and read the live data to exactly what is happening. And do this BEFORE you go swapping any bits.

steevee

check around the injectors for leaks . I had the same prob with mine 04 1.6 110bhp just had to replace washers around the injectors and no probs since:)

Saruman

Same diesel engine as my 2006 Peugeot 407 that I had a while ago, right?. Same thing happened and then it all went to hell a few days later. It pretty much exploded, all the oil left the engine and I needed a new engine and turbo. Cost with labour was more than the car was worth so I sold it for parts and bought another car.

chris1986

Hi my engine light came on there the last day garage reckons its the erg pipe. They gave me number of a guy in main Ford and they reckon it will cost about 300 for part and 200 odd euro for labour. Seems a bit expensive only got whole car serviced with them 2 months ago. also they said something about the erg pipe needing coding?
Any help would be great
Cheers

George Dalton

Too expensive. The part is available much cheaper than that and €200 labour to change an EGR valve on one of these is bordering on extortion.

chris1986

Was thinking that alright bloody cowboys. any idea what they meant about getting the pipe coded???