I have got a 2004 2ltr 130 BHP TDCi mondeo which over the last few weeks the performance seems to be a little lethargic. For some strange reason I decided to remove the inlet manifold and to my horror found that it was extremely clogged with black oil sludge, to the point whereby I would say the inlet ports were restricted by 50%. I have subsequently cleaned the manifold and ports however on a car which is only 2 years old and done 57,000 miles (mainly motorway) however I am astounded by the buildup. My question is, has anyone come across it before or have any ideas why this might have hapened. Also does anyone have any suggestions to prevent it from happening again? I have the car seviced on time by ford main deler. I would like to add however that I had noticed that after servicing the oil was black, is this normal?
Any thoughts or ideas would be very much apprecated.
Paul
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It is perfectly normal for a diesel engine to "blacken" fresh oil within seconds of being started up.
Every diesel car I've owned (including my current one) has had a very thin "film" of oil coating the inside of the inlet manifold but it's never seemed to cause a problem or built up into a solid.
Hopefully one of the guys here will be able to help with that one.
Cheers
DP
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What brand of diesel has been used ?
If different brands are used the cleaning effectiveness of the fuels detergents get diluted and the inside of an engine starts to get caked up with muck for both diesel and petrol engines.
The best thing to do is to always stick with only one brand of fuel. BP Ultimate Diesel and Shell Diesel Extra do a good job of cleaning up the internals of a diesel engine. How often have you seen smoke pouring out of a diesel engined car exhaust, loads and loads. Were everyone to stick to using one top quality brand of diesel not only would there be a huge reduction of smoke from exhausts but fuel economy and performance would improve, engine noise reduced, fewer engine problems etc.
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Thanks for your comments.
I use mainly Texaco diesel but as I am supplied with a fuel card by my company and they are, shall we say frugal we are not permitted to use the Utimate fuels. Actually we are encouraged to get fuels from supermarket garages.
I spoke to Ford and they suggested, as you have the premium quality fuels but my company stand fast with their decision.
With this in mind, could you suggest a regular good quality fuel? Also, are there any additives that could be used or are all aditives just a waste of money?
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we are not permitted to use the Utimate fuels.
That is pretty standard in my experience. It's certainly been true of the three companies I've worked for where I've been supplied with a fuel card.
As for being encouraged to use supermarket fuels, we were just told to "make a reasonable effort to obtain fuel from the lowest priced local source". In practice, everyone ignored this, because unless the company were paying someone in accounts to sit and monitor all local fuel prices across the country on each day of the month, and then tallyg this against 600 employees fuel receipts from literally all over the country, it wasn't possible to enforce it.
I put Ultimate diesel in my Focus once when I was on fumes and it was all that was available at the garage I stopped at. Got the Spanish Inquisition off the FD when I sent my receipts back that month, and at one point they were threatening to deduct the extra £1.50 it cost out of my salary "on principle". I had to point out that at the £70 per hour they were charging my time out to customers at, half an hour of my time finding an alternative filling station, and then getting back onto my route would have cost them a lot more.
Got a "humph" and he hung up, and no more was said. Trying to save £1.50 in order to lose £35! How do some of these directors justify their salaries??
DP
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I think you work for the same company as me!!!
I think I mentioned in a previous post that I spoke to ford about a lack of performance and they suggested that I should use the premium fuels if possible. So I did it once and as the tank emptied I can honestly say that the engine started to perform smoother and with a little more performance.
I am now waiting for my boss to haul me over the coals but as I was suggested to do so my the manufacturer what can he say?
I have just checked the manifold this morning and noticed that my sludge is coming back. It looks like the pipe from the ERG valve just contains soot and dust. The oil is coming from the air feed leading from the intercooler. Checked the intercooler and that is coated internally with oil. I can only assume that the oil is coming from the pipe that runs from the head (rocker cover) and joins the air intake just before the turbo.
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>> we are not permitted to use the Utimate fuels. That is pretty standard in my experience. >>
I had a company Vectra V6 that did 10% more MPG on Optimax than regular, the co were more than happy for me to use it on that basis.
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I'm not very familiar with the TDCi Ford engines, however I do understand that a lot of the crud buildup in diesel inlet manifolds is often the fault of the EGR valve, and ironically can be caused by driving long periods "on boost" ie high speed motorway work. Where the EGR valve never gets the chance to open and let red-hot exhaust gasses 'burn off' the residue. I agree that a car that is used for prolonged motorway journies still shouldn't have all of this crud, but I would recommend making a habit of letting the car overun occasionally for a reasonable period at high motorway speeds, which may possibly help.
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Miller's Diesel Plus is recommended by HJ and others; it probably does some good and certainly does no harm!
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Do you give your car a regular 'Italian tune up'? If not, doing so might help!
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Does the garage use the right grade and quality of oil, or does the lease co. skimp on that too? Possibly a combination of basic, unadditised fuel, and oil from the CCV.
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I don't know what oil the garage uses. It goes in for a service every 12,500 miles and they do what they do. I use a ford main dealer although I have recently become rather worried about their quality of work after a number of repairs carried out by them under warranty have not been completed correctly.
I have been tempted to change the oil myself as well but have not done so as of yet. What would be a good oil to use? I am actually scared to touch too much on the car in case anything else goes wrong. I will start a new thread listing the faults I have experienced so far!.
As for fuel additives, I used to use miller oils a few years ago and know of their quality products but did not know they did fuel additives too. I will give it a go and see how I get on.
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I always use Millers Diesel Plus additive in my diesel, it highers the cetane level and lubricates the pump as well as cleaning the injectors, apparentely.
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Just goes to show how much accountants know about economics ! It's false economy to use ordinary fuels when there are much better alternatives available.
Shell boldly show their test results of their previous diesel verses their Energy Diesel, the difference is staggering.
In my personal experience I've found BP Ultimate for both petrol and diesel to show noticable improvements in all the areas BP state it will help. The engine definately runs smoother and quieter, progressively so as the miles build. Diesel rattle is noticably reduced and engines (petrol & diesel) sound and run smoother, acceleration improves, MOT emissions data reduces etc.
Driving within national speed limits will help keep an engine cleaner. Excessive speeds & revving can and do cause problems for diesel engines in the long term, let along the increase in pollution & fuel caused by such actions.
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"Driving within national speed limits will help keep an engine cleaner." So the same car can remain sound in the UK, but will be a basket case early in Germany, where there are unrestricted Autobahns in some places? From what I gather, a good workout, without thrashing, is beneficial to diesels. I think our Mway NSL is low from the engine endurance point of view, but safety is another matter:)
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It sounds to me as though blanking off the EGR valve would be a worth a try. Loads of discussion on this elsewhere.
Steve
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Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
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