Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sat 18 Aug 2018 12:08
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - Alan Stimson

My Ford 1.4 tdci ran poorly with no power on hills the Powertrain light came on and it was stuck in Limphome mode.

A Diagnostic check showed no fault codes, I used an Elm 327 type device to USB with Easy OBD software. Looking at other forums this is a common fault with Ford taking the opportunity to charge £80 plus for a software update even before they try a diagnostic.

I founda free version of FORScan which read the fault codes.

Is this a sxcam by Ford to make us take the cars to the dealerships and have them install minor software updates?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Aug 2018 13:18
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - hardway

I'd doubt reliable information on a diesel could be pulled with that software.

And if an update is available I'd pay the £80,

that's around what a good diagnostic would charge for a good scan/test.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Aug 2018 15:02
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - RobJP

Hmm, let me get this right.

You have an engine malfunction light.

Your cheapo fault code reader found no faults. "A Diagnostic check showed no fault codes"

Possibly it was cheap because it's useless ?

Have you found out what the fault was, and fixed it ? Or just switched off the light and hoped it would not come back on ?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 18 Aug 2018 17:03
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - Bolt

My Ford 1.4 tdci ran poorly with no power on hills the Powertrain light came on and it was stuck in Limphome mode.

A Diagnostic check showed no fault codes, I used an Elm 327 type device to USB with Easy OBD software. Looking at other forums this is a common fault with Ford taking the opportunity to charge £80 plus for a software update even before they try a diagnostic.

I founda free version of FORScan which read the fault codes.

Is this a sxcam by Ford to make us take the cars to the dealerships and have them install minor software updates?

I think you will find there are some codes that scanner will not pick up, you will be better off having the diagnostic scan done and having the software update, as I doubt you know what the update involves regarding fixing your problems and possibly preventing those problems occuring again

certainly quicker than you tying to sort it yourself

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 24 Aug 2018 12:34
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - Alan Stimson

Hi All,

The fault was a dead injector. Looking at the replies, this may not have been the best forum to post this issue as this Fiesta is an 2007 car and worth less than the Dealership charges.

Just to clarify, yes I used a cheap ELM 327 clone reader with Easy OBD software which saw no codes and the Engine light was NOT on but the powertrain amber warning was. I used the same Elm 327 clone with FORScan and It found injector fault codes but it also clarified that the engine light was off. (see below)

Code: P1202 - Cylinder No. 2 Injector Circuit Open/Shorted

Status:

- DTC Present at Time of Request

- Malfunction Indicator Lamp is Off for this DTC

Module: Powertrain Control Module

Diagnostic Trouble Code details

Cylinder No. 2 Injector Circuit Open/Shorted

This DTC may be caused by :

Wiring Harness Short to Battery or Short to Ground

Injector open/short circuit to ground.

Injector open/short circuit

Module: Powertrain Control Module

My complaint is that a dead injector is a major engine fault and should have triggered the Engine warning light, thereby allowing generic readers to see the problem. Ford has disabled this in their ECU to force a trip to the dealership and high diagnostic costs which suggests foul play to me.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 24 Aug 2018 12:36
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - Alan Stimson

I forgot to add that I bought a £40 injector from ebay and the car runs ok now.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 27 Aug 2018 20:55
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - Railroad.

I forgot to add that I bought a £40 injector from ebay and the car runs ok now.

Common rail diesel fuel injectors are very precisely set up at the point of manufacture, and given a unique code which must be entered into the ECM so that it knows how to correctly operate each injector. With up to four injection phases (pre, main, post and after) each time it operates this code is essential for smooth engine running. The engine will still run without the injector codes correctly entered, but it will not run as good as it should.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 24 Aug 2018 20:10
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - hardway

As I state a higher quality diagnostic unit WOULD have shown up the fault in the injector correction percentage figures.

It's not just a case of plugging in a unit ant it telling you whats wrong

You have to undestand both the diagnostic units and the underlying principals of what your working on.

Still you got these in the end.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 Aug 2018 08:21
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - S40 Man

I rate the Forscan. It's marque specific which a genetic test can't be. The OBD standard will give a good idea what is wrong, but each make will have additional details embedded. This will give main dealer or others with the right tools squish information.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 27 Aug 2018 20:42
Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI - Ford Diagnostics Limphome warning - Railroad.

There are two engine fault code categories. Manufacturer Specific, and EOBD. The latter are for engine emission data ONLY. An EOBD scantool will not pick up manufacturer specific codes or data. For that you need a specialist scantool which is kept updated. Sadly there is not any one piece of equipment available anywhere that will do literally everything. That's probably why garages charge what they do for a diagnostic scan test.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link