Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI problem

timberzz

Hi,

I have a 2009 Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI with 66,000 kms done. Occasionally, when on longish motorway journeys the engine will begin to 'mis-fire' and eventually display an 'Engine Malfunction' message. The car will now only idle and not respond to the accelerator at all. The Traction Control light will also be illuminated. Turning off and on the engine usually resets everything and all is well until the next episode. There are no fault codes stored. Has anyone else experienced this with their Focus or Mondeo?

George Dalton

If the engine malfunction warning appears then there will be a code stored in the memory. If you are scanning and not seeing any codes then you need to try using a different scanner.

miller50841

dpf possible fault as car has very low mileage

bazz26

The 1.8 TDCi of that vintage didn't have a DPF afaik.

OP needs the faults read with proper diagnostic equipment.

timberzz

Thanks Folks for replies.

George Dalton - I will be bringing the car to a Ford dealer after Christmas to have diagnostics done but I'm doubtful they will find a code. My reader is new and does read codes on other cars successfully. There is lots on the 'net regarding 'Engine Malfunction' and no stored codes. But I agree with you, something caused the 'Engine Malfunction' message and it should be logged ... but isn't

miller50841 - Correct, no DPF on this car.

The problem seems to happen after an hour of motorway driving. Always preceeded by mis-firing. My theory is that the dreaded EGR valve (incorporated into the inlet manifold and not easily removable) is sticky and when opening is flooding the cylinders with inert, burnt exhaust gas causing poor combustion until it closes again. I ran a can of Wynnes EGR 3 cleaner through it last week and took it for a motorway run yesterday. This time I did get one episode of mis-firing that lasted 5 seconds but not enough to bring on the Engine Malfunction light. Maybe I'm on to something?

bbability

I've just cleaned my EGR valve with similar symptoms. Worth having a look at before you spending money.

Deliverance XXV

My 03 Mondeo (2L TDCI) goes into limp mode, loses bit of power and the coil light flashes if I hit certain high revs or hit the accelerator too hard when in fourth or fifth gear. This resets after the car is restarted. Very annoying as plenty of similar stories on the internet but no indication as to what it could be?

Mansized Wreath

I've the same car and had the 'engine malfunction' light come on for the first time a few days ago after getting some diesel. It's been on the entire time since, abeit it's slightly low on oil and needs a service but it drives perfect. Gonna drop it into ford when get paid next month to run checks.

Savman

Had this problem on Mondeo before, turned out to be a wiring loom that came loose. Not an expensive fix but important nonetheless.

George Dalton

timberzz wrote: »

Thanks Folks for replies.

George Dalton - I will be bringing the car to a Ford dealer after Christmas to have diagnostics done but I'm doubtful they will find a code. My reader is new and does read codes on other cars successfully. There is lots on the 'net regarding 'Engine Malfunction' and no stored codes. But I agree with you, something caused the 'Engine Malfunction' message and it should be logged ... but isn't

First of all you don't need to bring the car to Ford to get it scanned. There are plenty of independents around with the diagnostic gear who won't charge you as much as the dealer.

If you are just scanning the car with a generic OBD reader then it will only pick up certain fault codes, to get all fault codes you need to do a Ford specific scan using something better than an OBD reader.

digitals

Hi all
Sorry for the waffle
Looking for a little advice and assistance if that's possible,
As a young family we bought a Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI back in Jan 2009, Brand New.

Couldn't fault it, brilliant car, enough power when needed, excellent on the odd motorway journey.
Very Happy Overall.

Full service history, at the local Ford Dealership, even though maybe too well serviced, dealership insists on a 14.000km (7000mls) where as I have found out that those engines have a 20000km (10000mls) service requirement.

Last November now almost 3 months ago, Engine Management Light Illuminated, along with some loss of power, after 3 visits to main dealership within a fortnight, finally discovered an issue with the intercooler which was replaced, all ok. (At the time they couldn't see what caused it, question them now and immediately it was a pebble or stone struck it and damaged it......!!!!!) Total cost with replacement wiper blades, just under €600

Mid December Car put through its paces, with its first NCT, Passed with flying colours, which I never doubted.

2 weeks ago, Car now having under 133000km (72000mls) clocked, unfortunately I was away For a few days and not available to inspect and view the upcoming issue, the better half was on her way to work, informed me of a loud clicking noise emanating from under the bonnet, parked up,  AA called, no ideas, as not long after arrival noise stopped.
Drove it to dealership whom on inspection claimed the Auxiliary Drive Belt was "Ravelled", their words not mine, possible due to again maybe a pebble or stone entering the engine bay and getting caught in belt. They said nothing was out of place in engine bay that may have been the cause but not happy with a particular pulley and play on the water pump shaft

Total estimated cost of repairs again under €600

Acquired quotations from alternative dealerships, all within same price range; however one did say that timing belt should be done also as a precaution, total cost now at about €900.

After a little Google Searching noted timing belt change at 200000km (125000mls) or 10 years, another dealership confirmed this and explained every service aux belt and accessories checked, usual replacement being with timing belt.

Sounds to me like bearing failure, possible original cause of "Raveling" Belt. Should it be covered by some sort of warranty?

Two days ago, Car started for about 20 mins to Defrost a little, drove for approx 300 Meters, ABS and ESP light illuminated at a junction, nothing major thought at the time, some frost on road, on take off from junction, Battery and Oil lamps illuminated and Car Stalled.

Failed to restart, AA started with Booster Pack,

Delivered to Dealership, had a few choice words with them but got no where, they think it's the battery, at a guess as there are no fault codes present.

Their Quote for replacing Battery, €100 + Labour + VAT.

Has anyone had similar issues.

Any advice Greatly Appreciated.

Thanks In Advance.

Shane.

timberzz

Well, here' s an update, almost a year on since my original post. Some months back, in an effort to capture a code, i drove to Dublin with an EOBD code permanently connected. At some point I noticed the guages all swing momentarily to full scale then back to normal. The car drove fine. 10 miles later I got an Engine Malfunction alarm but no loss of power. Would you believe it... the screen on the code reader was now barely legible, lines of pixels missing. However I could just about read these codes: U0140 ‘Lost Communication with the Body Control Module’
U0001 ‘High Speed Can Communication Bus’
U2005 ‘DTC Definition not found, please refer to vehicle service manual’
I think my reader developed a fault and caused this communication errors and consider them a red herring.

I took the car to a Ford dealer to see if any other codes were stored but they also saw only the ones mentioned.

I feel i could drive the car arouind town and the suburbs all day and never experience an issue. But if I drive it on the motorway at a constant speed then I'm guaranteed to experience an occasional and farily violent mis-fire. Does anyone else experience this?

Jeff_2009

Hi timberzz, Did you ever get to the bottom of you Focus problem, I have the same issue now on my 08 Reg tdci. Thinking about just moving the car on as its been a creat servant as a commuter can with 244k km on clock now.

Cheers