Engine Management Light on Ford Focus

coup1917

My Engine Management Light on my Ford Focus diesel came on earlier today. Just to be on the safe side I called into a Ford Dealership on my way, to see if I could keep driving it for the time being.

The usual spin from the dealership was that they would book it in, in a few days obviously.. but that it was okay as long as I wasn't going to be driving a lot of mileage..........:rolleyes:

Was running low on diesel so I decided to fill up, as I read before that it could be anything from a sensor to a filter issue. Surprise surprise, the light went out as soon as I filled.

I'm thinking I might have dragged up dirt from the engine by running low on fuel..

Anyone seen this happen, or am I way off...??
Am gonna get the diagnostics done anyway, but maybe not at a main dealers...

Mr Benevolent

Could've been a low fuel pressure warning from the fuel filter getting clogged. Keep an eye on it.

coup1917

Ya cheers,
Think i'm due to get a service done soon, so I'll have to get the filter checked out. I think I've let the tank run a bit low once too often..

shawnee

Quality of diesel sold on some forecourts is causing problems. Had a similar problem and was advised to only buy fuel from the more reputable and known garages (even if more expensive) Otherwise you could be left with a fairly hefty repair bill for fuel pump or injectors.:rolleyes:
You may however be lucky and have just hit a bad spot with your fuel and car will free itself out.

Row

If its diesel related then the first thing is to replace the Diesel filter...after that get fault codes read and take it from there...:)

psychosax

had my 08 focus TDCi serviced at ford garage 2 months ago, 4 weeks ago engine management warning light/message came on and this limited revs etc.. once I restarted warning went away but came on again few days later!

brought it back to garage and they hooked it up to computer to check error codes, could find nothing so explained it as a glitch!!! and reset!

4 days ago while driving bloody car just shut down, luckily I was only doin 10/20 kmph. restarted and drove fine for rest of day.

next day cut out again so rang garage and booked it in again for today.

fuppin nuisance, of course it didnt cut out today on way to garage

Kid Nothing

coup1917 wrote: »

The usual spin from the dealership was that they would book it in, in a few days obviously.. but that it was okay as long as I wasn't going to be driving a lot of mileage..........:rolleyes:

Sorry for going a little bit of topic but what other response would you have expected? And why is it 'spin'?

shawnee

psychosax wrote: »

had my 08 focus TDCi serviced at ford garage 2 months ago, 4 weeks ago engine management warning light/message came on and this limited revs etc.. once I restarted warning went away but came on again few days later!

brought it back to garage and they hooked it up to computer to check error codes, could find nothing so explained it as a glitch!!! and reset!

4 days ago while driving bloody car just shut down, luckily I was only doin 10/20 kmph. restarted and drove fine for rest of day.

next day cut out again so rang garage and booked it in again for today.

fuppin nuisance, of course it didnt cut out today on way to garage

I have a similar intermittent problem with a Mondeo tdci, I would be interested to hear what the dealer says !!

psychosax

shawnee wrote: »

I have a similar intermittent problem with a Mondeo tdci, I would be interested to hear what the dealer says !!

acc to garage just now, they will need to keep it overnight and try to replicate the problem from a cold start! possible error with fuel mix that might be causing engine management to shut down the engine or else a problem with the fuel pump!!!:mad:

psychosax

got car back today at 4.00 none the wiser!! garage cant find any problem:mad:

advice was if it happens again just leave car where it is and call garage, they will recover the car and hopefully be able to see the problem.

all well and good except what do I do if its in the fast lane or going thru the Jack Lynch tunnel?:eek:

shawnee

Was that with a Main Ford dealership ? Either way it's a totally inadequate reply/result ?

psychosax

shawnee wrote: »

Was that with a Main Ford dealership ? Either way it's a totally inadequate reply/result ?

Yeah! CAB Cork http://www.cabmotors.com/

buddy of mine who is a mechanic said I could try ringing garage again and say that I dont feel its safe to carry family etc and would they cover courtesy car for 7/10 days while they hold onto car and try replicate the problem?

he also said that if they hadnt a solution it probably means its a rare occurrence:eek:

Plug

Are ye getting no fault codes? If they are not using IDS they might not be able to get a trouble code up. Are both of your engines 1.8 diesels?

psychosax

No longer getting an error message! Originally I got an alarm tone, red light and mileage box changed to "engine management fault" .

Now when it cuts out all dash goes also!!

shawnee

psychosax wrote: »

No longer getting an error message! Originally I got an alarm tone, red light and mileage box changed to "engine management fault" .

Now when it cuts out all dash goes also!!

Certainly not a rare occurence, have seen this in both a Focus and a Mondeo tdci !

bbability

That car needs to go on a rolling road for testing from cold. Then they should be able to isolate the problem. Hopefully it's not an ecu problem. But it wouldnt be any harm to check that the earth wire hasn't come loose and it's making good contact.

psychosax

A complete shut down?? power steering, brakes and dash? Don't suppose you found out the reason?

Also my focus is 1.6 TDCi Style

bbability

I'd check earth connection and ecu connector. Maybe something simple like a pin bent in ecu connector or not making full contact.
Needle in a haystack stuff but would start with simple things

Plug

bbability wrote: »

I'd check earth connection and ecu connector. Maybe something simple like a pin bent in ecu connector or not making full contact.
Needle in a haystack stuff but would start with simple things

That would bring up a fault code.

shawnee

bbability wrote: »

I'd check earth connection and ecu connector. Maybe something simple like a pin bent in ecu connector or not making full contact.
Needle in a haystack stuff but would start with simple things

Strange ! here are we on boards. trying to sort a feckin problem that a main dealer can't diagnose , even with all the modern technology. !! Not good enough,. bring back the real mechanics !:p

Mc Love

Apologies for dragging up a zombie thread but the warning light showed up on my 1.6 TDCI today. Would the Ford dealer be the best place to bring the car in to get diags run? Or would it matter, would an Indy be any better? Year is 2008!

dr.fuzzenstein

Mc Love wrote: »

Apologies for dragging up a zombie thread but the warning light showed up on my 1.6 TDCI today. Would the Ford dealer be the best place to bring the car in to get diags run? Or would it matter, would an Indy be any better? Year is 2008!

Had engine fault on my 1.8 TDCI 06 CMax, Ford dealer sniffed at me, maybe in a few days, really difficult and expensive to do, take all day, oooh, lots of money, this is really complicated stuff, min E80.
Brought it to an Independent, plugged it in, ah, there's your problem, fault with glow plugs, reset and test, print me out fault code with explanation, had a chat, he showed me a manifold he had from a Jordan F1 car, E10.
Bought glow plugs, fitted them, fault gone.
Or you can buy a fault code reader from a motor factors, never go to a garage again.
Don't go to a main dealer. (unless under warranty)
The engine management system is your friend, it will tell you what the problem is, people are too scared of these things, they're useful at the end of the day.

Mc Love

Thats fair enough so. Any recommendations?

Thanks for your reply

dr.fuzzenstein

Mc Love wrote: »

Thats fair enough so. Any recommendations?

Thanks for your reply

Depends on your location, the garage I went to was in Ennis.:)

Mc Love

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Mc Love wrote: »

Thats fair enough so. Any recommendations?

Thanks for your reply

Depends on your location, the garage I went to was in Ennis.:)

Went to those lads in clondrinagh, they are bmw specialists but they do other cars, and actually speak to you like so normal citizen, instead of talking down the noise to you.
They diagnosed that it was the egr valve that was sticking, getting it looked at tomorrow

Mc Love

They cleard out the EGR valve and cleared the light, and said it should be good to go. On the drive home, it still didnt feel right, sluggish acceleration wise. Had to go out and when I started the engine, lamp came on again, looks like I have to get the EGR valve replaced.

Plan to drive to Dublin tomorrow, would the car be okay to drive?