Is it the end of the road for my car?

IvoryTower

I have a 2007 ford mondeo, the "newer" shape. 192k miles on it. Lately it has a major issue and the the garage I work beside cant seem to figure it out. I just thought id put it here in case anyone recognises the issue and I could maybe give them some suggestions.

Symptoms

Lack of power in the car, very slowly moves up the gears and only goes as fast as 100km/h on the motorway at best. Pretty sure I get a slight burning smell when I stop. When I have to stop/start repeatedly is when things really get bad, I can feel the power to accelerate getting weaker and weaker until eventually you're pressing on the accelerator and nothing is happening at all. At this point you have to leave the car alone for a few hours, then it will work again for another while

Anyway it could just be the end for my car but I really wish it wasn't!

Atlantic Dawn

Any warning lights on the dash?

IvoryTower

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Any warning lights on the dash?

Nope all normal

trellheim

petrol or diesel, what size engine

your comment with "slow moving up the gears" is it an auto box ?

also when you are pressing the accelerator is it revving ?

IvoryTower

Diesel 1.6

I mean it takes a lot longer than usual to get to the point where you would move up a gear. Like the car is struggling to build up speed

Normal gear box

When you press on accelerator it revs when it's working. When it's not working the car is running but no rev

colm_mcm

Are you sure it’s 1.6, thought they didn’t come out till 2011, maybe it’s 1.8?

The_Chap

Feel like the clutch is slipping at all?

Cee-Jay-Cee

I’m sure the garage has checked the brakes aren’t binding which would cause your exact symptoms?

IvoryTower

colm_mcm wrote: »

Are you sure it’s 1.6, thought they didn’t come out till 2011, maybe it’s 1.8?

Yep it could be 1.8 sorry I can't remember, I will check

IvoryTower

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

I’m sure the garage has checked the brakes aren’t binding which would cause your exact symptoms?

They recently fixed a break issue so if assume so but I will say it to them

endacl

I put a bullet in an 05 Focus a few months back. Same symptoms. Clutch was the issue. Can't imagine a garage not being able to figure that out though!

IvoryTower

I'll mention the clutch as well so. Thanks

Four Phucs Ache

Did the garage say anything about the clutch?
Do the revs increase without speeding up?

If they can't figure it out it sounds like they are happy its not the clutch.

Does it rev normal when stationary?

IvoryTower

You see it tends to go back to almost normal over time so they make a change, test drive it, think it's fine, then I get it and within 30min it's struggling

IvoryTower

Four Phucs Ache wrote: »

Did the garage say anything about the clutch?
Do the revs increase without speeding up?

If they can't figure it out it sounds like they are happy its not the clutch.

Does it rev normal when stationary?

If I turned it on now it would rev as normal but if I drove it for a while it would eventually struggle to rev and then no rev at all

Four Phucs Ache

If you left it in the drive for 20 mins would it still rev normally or would it have deteriorated?

If it is bogging down when driving as posters have mentioned above they are most likely correct about the sticky brakes/ tight caliper etc. As you said it drives again after a few hours only because the heat/expansion has left the brakes.

The_Chap

Sounds the exact same symptoms my 1.8 had, that was the dmf on the way out

beefburrito

I wouldn't take it outside a garage until it's sorted,nothing worse than a clutch or power going on a motorway or dual carriegeway....

My clutch went at 120 kph changing into 6th gear.....i had a nearly catostrophic mish mash, luckily I free wheeled onto the verge on the left, a few mins earlier, it would have been horrific,there was an Artic behind me....

You could end up in a pile up.....

extra-ordinary_

Sounds like limp mode to me.

Bring it to a different garage.

jca

Wiring harness chafing where it passes over the gearbox putting it into limp home mode is a common failure point on those.

colm_mcm

The_Chap wrote: »

Sounds the exact same symptoms my 1.8 had, that was the dmf on the way out

Can’t see how the DMF would stop it from accelerating properly.

punisher5112

Smell of burning could well be brakes, clutch/dmf, dpf.

I have a 2005 2.0 tdci and the fuel pump is on its way out.

If you accelerate hard it will just die or when on motorway driving at say 90-100 and you want to increase speed if you don't do it very gently it will die.

The_Chap

colm_mcm wrote: »

Can’t see how the DMF would stop it from accelerating properly.

If it was the only symptom I’d agree, either way until garage takes a look we are all speculating

IvoryTower

I also noticed the temperature gage was maxed yesterday. Could be over heating? Weird it first give any errors

I've dropped it in the garage again and mentioned all the suggestions, and the heating gage

He didn't seem to know what a dmf stood For, what is it?

Alun

IvoryTower wrote: »

He didn't seem to know what a dmf stood For, what is it?

Then you need to find a new garage!

DMF is a Dual Mass Flywheel

grogi

IvoryTower wrote: »

He didn't seem to know what a dmf stood For, what is it?

I think it is time for a different garage...

DMF stands for Dual Mass Flywheel.

-- edit

Ninjaed.

_Brian

Yea.
I think it’s definitely the end of the road for your mechanic.

These are definite symptoms that should be easily identified by a competent mechanic.

Mc Love

would it not be the turbo? Facing something similar in my 05 3 series.

ems_12

A bad Catayltic Convertor ?  I'm not an expert, but similar happened an old peugeot of mine, no power from the accelerator, stopped pulling/lost power on even the slightest incline, no burning smell but a different smell from the car (sulphur).......C.Convertor needed replaced.

trellheim

speculation - that was likely because the cat was giving a dicky reading so the ECU kept the fuel mix and injection off to try and counter it

check_six

IvoryTower wrote: »

I also noticed the temperature gage was maxed yesterday. Could be over heating? Weird it first give any errors

I've dropped it in the garage again and mentioned all the suggestions, and the heating gage

He didn't seem to know what a dmf stood For, what is it?

I had an overheating problem caused by a faulty water pump. Car would overheat then lose power. No burning odour though, and upon inspection I could see that the the pump was leaking coolant. This is something a mechanic would spot very fast though.

Spook_ie

Couple of suggestions

Inter-cooler pipe split/leaking
EGR valve Sticking

Are there no fault codes available?

IvoryTower

Spook_ie wrote: »

Couple of suggestions

Inter-cooler pipe split/leaking
EGR valve Sticking

Are there no fault codes available?

nope no fault codes

IvoryTower

looks like it was leaking coolant and going into limp mode, havent given it a decent drive yet but it felt normal for first time in weeks. Thanks everyone for the suggestions it really helped.