Ford Focus Mk2 1.8 TDCi Power Loss

Ford Focus Mk2 1.8 TDCi Power Loss

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Marky Mark88

Original Poster:

694 posts

202 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Hi all,

We have just purchased a 2006 Ford Focus Mk2 on the cheap from eBay. We bought the car knowing we were taking a chance for the price and have encountered a couple of problems. The first is that the car loses power when the engine is under relatively high loads, in the range of 70-80 mph. Around these speeds the car 'pulls back' and goes into a kind of 'limp mode' where the power is limited to around 2800 rpm. No error messages or warning lights appear and if the ignition is turned off and back on the car goes back to normal until it is driven at 70-80 mph then it will happen again.

We managed to get the car into limp mode and drive it to a local garage where it was diagnosed and the message P2263 - Turbo Boost System Performance appeared. We unplugged the MAF Sensor and took it for a spin, this made no difference at all, the car still lost power. The EGR has been blanked off (with a small 10mm hole in the plate to stop the EML coming on) and the car has just been serviced. The mechanic said that this model has a variable vane turbo where the angle of the vane changes at higher loads to give more boost to the engine. He thought maybe this wasn't working properly? Can the turbo be removed, cleaned, serviced and replaced? I don't really want to fork out £350-400 for a recon turbo! Any ideas on what else this problem could be?

The other issue is that sometimes when the car is started there is a noticeable vibration present, which after a 30 second period will disappear. I've spoken to a few people and they say this could be the Dual Mass Flywheel needing replacement, does this sound feasible? The car has done 107,000 miles so I'm guessing this might be the case.

Many thanks for any help anybody can give.

Cheers,

Mark


Edited by Marky Mark88 on Wednesday 30th July 12:02

Marky Mark88

Original Poster:

694 posts

202 months

Wednesday 6th August 2014
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Shadow R1 said:
Your fault sounds like glow plugs, even though logic says they only work at startup, no end of threads about the fault point to the same thing.
Glow plugs changed last night but unfortunately to no avail. Everything at the moment seems to be pointing to the variable vane on the turbo.

Marky Mark88

Original Poster:

694 posts

202 months

Tuesday 26th August 2014
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Update:

Solid EGR blanking plate fitted, car seems to be a bit smoother now but the power loss still exists. One thing that I find strange is that the car needs to use the glow plugs, even in this relatively warm weather. I thought with Common rail systems you just turn the key and that's it, no waiting around? With this car the glow plug light comes on when first starting in the morning and If you just turn the key without waiting for it to go out it really struggles to start, is this normal? We are also getting a red LED coming up on the dash with the message 'Engine System Fault' appearing at random intervals. It seems to have no effect on the running of the car and if you turn the ignition on and off it goes away until the next random occurrence. When I hold down the mode button on the indicator stalk to see if there are any DTC codes stored nothing appears.


Marky Mark88

Original Poster:

694 posts

202 months

Tuesday 26th August 2014
quotequote all
The only fault code we've managed to have read is P2263 - Turbo Boost System Performance, which we managed to get when the car was in 'limp mode' from the loss of power that occurs when travelling at roughly above 70mph. Car's becoming a bit of an enigma to be honest.

Marky Mark88

Original Poster:

694 posts

202 months

Thursday 4th September 2014
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P924 said:
Saw something similar in my 07 1.8 TDCI on Monday. As soon as I hit 160 KMH I got the engine system fault message. Slow down and it would disappear. Then 29 minutes later it would appear at 150...

Checked the hoses and there was a split in the hose from the turbo to the intercooler. Follow the hose from the back of the engine down the left hand side to the intercooler. The split was in the lower part. Replaced the upper Jose 2 years ago.
I think I've removed and checked the hose that you're making reference to and there was no problems with it. Maybe there are other hoses that I need to check but they are in quite an awkward position on the back of the engine where the Turbo is situated.

Marky Mark88

Original Poster:

694 posts

202 months

Thursday 4th September 2014
quotequote all
2 stage turbo cleaner arrived from eBay yesterday (Diesel Turbo Cleaner Kit) Thought I'd give this a go before thinking about buying a 2nd hand/recon turbo. The question I have is am I better off trying to spray the cleaner into the turbo in situ or would it be worth removing the turbo completely to do it? The turbo is on the back of the engine so is in quite an awkward place. How big a job is it to remove the unit completely?

Cheers,

Mark