Diesel Ford Focus intermittent cutting out - any ideas or a good mechanic

dario28

Has anyone heard of this before

Have a 2008 Ford focus zetec diesel 1.8tdci. Heading on the M50 one day it had 1/4 of a tank left and all of a sudden it just lost power, I was doing 120kmph and luckily made it into the hard shoulder. Got towed to a garage and they couldnt find anything wrong, initially they thought it was out of diesel but we put 10eur of diesel in and no luck. They said they put it on the ramps and no broken part or filters blocked it just started after a while.

5 months later same thing happened on the M1 , same speed and same amount of diesel left in the tank , except this time , it was by the side of the M1 for about 2 hours until tow truck arrived and on the first turn of the key the mechanic said there is no diesel in it, even though the dash computer and dial said other wise like first time but on 3rd turn of the key it started and has been fine since

Anyone got any ideas or a good mechanic with Ford experience ?

I cant trust the car on motorways until I get a resolution.

dario28

dario28 wrote: »

.......... it had 1/4 of a tank left............................... same amount of diesel left in the tank.............
Anyone got any ideas .........

Is there an in tank fuel pump in them?
Have you often had it 1/4 tank left with no issues?

George Dalton

No in tank pump in them.

When did it last have a fuel filter change?

Have you had a diagnostic scan done since the problem occurred?

hamco

A quick search shows your not alone.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090211051759AAcWibc

dario28

George Dalton wrote: »

No in tank pump in them.

When did it last have a fuel filter change?

Have you had a diagnostic scan done since the problem occurred?

Thanks for your replies

It was serviced a few months ago , not sure if fuel filter was changed but the first time they had it on ramp they said filter was ok

Its been drivin on lower than a quarter tank before year , but prob not at 120kmph as dont use motorway much.

dario28

hamco wrote: »

A quick search shows your not alone.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090211051759AAcWibc

That link has loads of different issues in it , but in my case no lights came on and i was accelerating not slowing

dario28

George Dalton wrote: »

No in tank pump in them.

When did it last have a fuel filter change?

Have you had a diagnostic scan done since the problem occurred?

Where could I get a diagnostic scan ?

George Dalton

There is no real way of telling whether or not the filter it ok without changing it. We had a 07 Mondeo 1.8tdci (same engine as your car) in recently with intermittent loss of power. Diagnostic scan showed nothing. There was no evidence of a fuel filter change on it so for the sake of €25 we decided to change it to see if it helped. Took out the old filter and it didn't look too bad, there was a certain amount of dirt in it but I have seen much worse. Anyway the point is once the new filter was fitted the problem went away completely.

So if I were you I would get the fuel filter changed first. It won't do any harm and could even solve your problem.

You can get a scan done in either a Ford dealer or an independent garage with the appropriate equipment. Indy will be cheaper.

Chriscl1

Sounds like a Friday afternoon car. A mate of mine had a tdci mondeo in England and had a load of cutting out problems that had no apparent reason, fuel pump, injectors all fine, no faults when ecu was read. His mechanic said he gets loads of diesel fords with ghosts in the system and was probably built on a Friday afternoon lol. It was off to the auction with that one.

^^^^
Sounds like a Friday afternoon mechanic :pac:

Chriscl1

:pac::pac::pac:

MugMugs

I accept the car is telling you that there is a 1/4 tank but is there? Like is it running out and not telling you?

Seems a bit odd that with a bit of fuel put in she fires up again, no?

dr.fuzzenstein

Have an '06 CMax 1.8 TDCI.
When the fuel filter is clogged it can bog down, this usually happens when you put the foot down though. Not so much on just cruising along, but change it anyway, it's only a few quid.
If you're changing it yourself, bring a spare battery, it takes a lot of noodling to get it going again.

liam1kelly

Omg. 08 1.8tdci very same prob. Cuts out at states tank, then starts again after a while. Did you find out what the prob was after?

The Guvnor

Have a look at changing your crankshaft position sensor.
Good news is that usually they are not an expensive part and should be easily accessible.

dr.fuzzenstein

IBTL:
The 1.8 TDCI's don't have a sender pump in the tank. The high pressure pump has to suck the diesel (suckin' daesel now!) all the way from the tank.
If there is the slightest air leak or kink in the line, your car will die for no apparent reason and all mechanics will scratch their heads, because their diagnostic tool won't show any useful info.
My car eventually died and no-one could help. Ford replaced the fuel line between the filter and the high-pressure pump, because it had the tiniest flaw and that stopped the whole car from working. After that it worked fine without a single issue.

TL/DR:
Check the fuel line start to finish. The slightest kink and/or airhole will cause this issue. And no mechanic will have a clue what's wrong and start throwing pumps and injectors at the issue, without success.

mullingar

Put some transparent silicone hose between tank and filter, you will easily see any air trapped in the diesel