2005 Ford TDCI.

[Ecosseven]

Morning all,

I have a 2005 Mondeo TDCI 130 with 82k on the clock. About 4 weeks ago the car has started running rough between 1500 and 2000rpm. It is only detectable on a steady throttle and appears worse in 4th, 5th, and 6th although this could be because I am generally accelerating when in 1st, 2nd and 3rd and therefore not driving at a constant speed in the lower gears. It feels like a slight misfire. The car pulls strongly and cleanly when accelerating – the problem only appears to be on a steady throttle. Fuel economy is fine at around 48-50MPG.

The turbo is boosting normally and there is no more black smoke than usual comin out the exhaust under hard acceleration.

There are no engine management warning lights illuminated on the dash.

Car was serviced around 5000 miles ago and the problem only started in the last 1000 miles.

Any thoughts on what could be wrong?

Glowplugs, injectors, DMF, something else?

My initial thoughts were that the EGR was clogged but apparently if the valve is stuck open the car will be hard / impossible to start and this is isn't the case. the car starts fine and idles smoothly once warm.

Thanks in advance.

[Nick1point9]

Sounds like DMF.

[Ecosseven]

I've removed and cleaned the EGR valve and checked the intercooler pipe for splits. Everything looks fine.

You could be right and it's the DMF breaking up.

Any thoughts on how much to fix?

[HustleRussell]

DMF failure is accompanied by nasty rattling sounds and vibration through the clutch pedal.
I had a simular flat spot on my Mondeo TDCI and I always attributed it to the EGR valve opening and sneezing a load of particulates into my intake manifold (I always used to get a puff of black smoke from the exhaust at the same time). Indeed, the flat spot went away when I blanked the EGR valve off.

[Ecosseven]

NEW UPDATE ON PROBLEM.

The car is suffering from what feels like a misfire / judder between 1500rpm and 2000rpm. The problem is worst at between 1500rpm and approx. 1800rpm. The problem only really occurs when the car is fully warmed up after around 20 minutes driving

The misfire / judder only occurs under a very light, steady throttle. The is no misfire / judder under acceleration – the car pulls cleanly and strongly under acceleration. There is no more smoke than normal from the exhaust under hard acceleration which suggests that there are no splits in the turbo hoses.

The problem appears worse in 4th, 5th and 6th gear although this could be because I am generally accelerating in the lower gears. It is probably most noticeable in 5th gear between 45 and 50mph after about 20 minutes driving. If anything the problem seems to be getting slightly worse over time.

The car starts first time, every time and idles relatively smoothly. I have occasionally noticed a slightly lumpy idle but this clears once the car has warmed up. Would a DMF beaking up be noticable at all revs? I only get this judder / misfire between 1500rpm and 2000rpm and I can't detect any vibration through the clutch pedal.

The car passed its MOT recently with no advisories.

I have cleaned out the EGR valve which did have some carbon build-up but this made no difference to the problem. I have not checked if the EGR valve is operating smoothly so perhaps the EGR valve is sticking during normal driving? I have not checked to see if the inlet manifold is suffering from excessive carbon deposits.

My local Ford dealer has run a diagnostic check and found nothing wrong. There are no warning lights on the dashboard.

I have tried using Redex but this has made no difference.

Could it be a sticking throttle linkage?

What effect would a sticking EGV valve have?

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[colindavies]

if your car is still playing up,just check that all your lights are working,my son had the same fault and i noticed a bulb had gone @ the back,put a new one in and he said the car was better,so i took the bulb out and the fault reappeared,put the bulb back,all is well,i know its hard to work out,but,try it.its a free chack,quick and simple.

[HustleRussell]

It's the EGR vavlve. My 2.0 TDCI had exactly these symptoms until I blanked it off. It's not DMF.

[Ecosseven]

Thanks all,

I'll order a blanking plate for the EGR valve and let you know what happens.

[flyer999]

Hi, I know this was a while back, but did you fix the problem?

I have something similar. Starting is fine. No extra smoke. Got the injectors done last summer, so unlikely to cause it, and use diaphane fuel additive.

When I'm accelerating normally or keeping steady speed, the car judders/runs roughly (similar to if you was driving in too low rpm and it was threatening cutting out). I have no problems when decelerating or if I accelerate aggressively (I was trying to give it an Italian tune up to see if it made any difference - no). It is happening in the 2-3000rpm range only, mostly 2nd/3rd/4th gears.

Any ideas. Thanks.

[Ecosseven]

The car ran slightly better with the EGR blanking plate installed but just this week it's been running really rough - cutting out or juddering violently at higher revs / boost pressure with the car going into limp home mode once after the glow plug light starts flashing. I'll take it to a garage and get them to read the error codes. Could be anything from injectors, fuel pump, clogged fuel filter, knackered turbo and/or actuator.

Car has now done 112k miles

[ch427]

The wastegate actuators can also cause problems on these engines so worth reading up on them.