Recently had a new fuel filter and housing fitted at same time as cambelt changed at regulation interval. Now I have, at 1500 approx revs the car going into some kangaroo hopping.juddering routine in gears 2 through 4 when crusing at those revs, say in traffic or slow cornering etc.
Dealer says cambelt fitting not at fault, maybe fuel pump now faulty but it is odd that it ionly appeared after the filter and housing (which was cracked) were changed.
HJ suspects the Turbo may be playing up. Does anyone have any ideas to help me out, I am stuck as to what to do next since it may be the dealers fault and I have paid already so I dont want more blind alleys investigated and them charging me more and so on...
Any feedback appreciated. Thanks
Andy
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Could this be a case of air being drawn into the fuel pump and causing temporary air-locks thus starving the mota of fuel? Not sure why higher revs would cause this to stop. Did the fuel pump run dry due to cracked filter housing?
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I couldnt answer that, sorry, all that I knew was that it was not starting properly, sometimes not at all until I left it a while, so in it went (I am a car dunce as you can see) and they informed me the housing was cracked and the filter needed replacing too.
On a subsequent return visit where I tried to get them to re-create the problem by driving around (which they failed to do) the mechanic said he had re-primed the fuel pump to see if that helped, but not so.
They also suggested a missing "clip" on the throttle cable might have cuased it but that was a fake lead too. All they suggest is the fuel pump, but I am feel I am just going to be forking out on random guesses here
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I referred Andy to the Backroom and, just in case anyone is confused, his engine is, of course the 1.8 turbodiesel.
HJ
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Andy,
First of all, I doubt the Turbocharger is at fault. If it was you would hear wheezing noises and lots of smoke coupled with no/loss of power.
I would suspect air entering the fuel system, perhaps at a disturbed fuel union.
Were new banjo sealing washers used upon reassembly? I'm not altogether sure about the layout of the filter assembly on the Mondeo - banjo unions may ot be used.
A length of clear pipe between the filter and the fuel injection pump is one simple way to see if air is present in the fuel. This has identified many air leaks for us in the past. In fact, many VAG models are fitted with clear fuel pipes in the engine bay for this purpose.
Secondly, I have had a customer return their car which was kangarooing after we had fitted a cambelt. It was some years ago when Rover used the 1769cc XUD Turbo-diesel engine in the 200/400 range.
The engine would kangaroo at 1500 rpm when in a slow moving traffic jam.
It was eventually traced to the crankshaft timing belt gear being slightly loose on the nose of the crank, causing it to move slightly inducing a vibration into the springs within the fuel injection pump, causing a fuelling deviation.
A new crankshaft gear was fitted and all was well. We had one other instance of this after belt replacement - so we inspected the crank gear on every car on which we replaced the cambelt on and replaced it if any fretting was evident.
A badly tensioned cambelt could also have the same effect, I guess.
Rgds
David
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The Turbo (unless my imagination is messing with me) is slightly more noisy than before (not much) and idling and starting it is smokier than before too (still not by much I think). Now I am adding that to the rest fo the things you have said and maybe muddying the waters about what it is... cars, damn cars..
I have no idea what was fitted in terms of washers at re-assembly, sorry.
The main Ford dealer has stripped it down and double checked everything to do with the timing belt ( or so they say). I was thinkng of asking them to check again with your advice in front of them but this time mark something they have to move and see if they actually do it. Apart from standing over them watching it happen I have to trust them. Since all this happened straight after the belt change and fuel work I feel sure they have messed something up somewhere. I am not into the idea t all that it is a totally new problem that occurred miraculously as I left the workshop on the day of the belt and fuel work.
I will take your advice to them and see what they think. Thanks very much, appreciated.
Another idea is to take is somewhere else, explain the work done, get them to assess it and fix it and if it is a problem caused by the Ford Dealer, chase then for the money with threats od sueing them. How does that sound, stupid or what?
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Also, I forgot to mention the dealer said that if the timing belt was out it would cause smoking problems and would therefore most likely fail the emissions test on the MOT, but it passed the MOT at the time they were taking a look for the juddering fault (yes, all these things came round at once forcing me to spend way too much money on motoring aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh)
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Andy,
Only last week my son in law was telling me of the problems he had a while ago with his Mondeo 1.8 diesel the same model as yours.
I may not have the details exactly right on what was wrong but here goes.
He took his car in for service to one of the big outfits in Derby.
Afterwards he had exactly the same problems as yourself.
He went back to the service station and they attempted to put it right but with no success.
The boss then said we aren't really up to this take it to Beeston Diesels and tell them we sent you.
He did this and as far as I recall they diagnosed it quickly and said the service station had dislodged or crushed a sealing ring at the fuel filter.
I think they had to replace the filter housing but it completely cured the problem. And the bill of £120 or so quid was paid for by the origional service station which I thought was very good.
His story of the problems he was having was an exact replica of yours so I imagine the problems still lies with your fuel filter.
Alvin
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Alvin. What more can I say... armed with that I will be back to see the Ford mechanics as soon as possible. Thanks so much to everyone for this advice, free and detailed and generously given. I think it a long way to taking the pain out of feeling liek you are being shafted by the car-knowledgeable people of this world.
Once again thanks everyone.
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Andy,
I would be hopeful the diesel filter is at fault because it is the easiest to resolve. The clear fuel pipe is a top idea and has enabled me to trace obscure air ingress problems before.
Also the Mondeo filter is a pig to get at. You either need to unbolt he housing and bend the semi rigid plastic feed pipes (I'm sure I remember that's what they are) pulling it up to get the filter out.....or you need to take out the air filter box for good access. In either case there is scope for short cuts and damage.
Last an extra thought (sorry!).....I think your Mondeo will have an ECU controlled diesel injector pump. Have they disturbed anything electrical/electronic to causes an on/off driving effect.
David
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mondeos suffer from breaks in the power steering pressure switch, if you are unlucky & the break is intermittant it seems to get the ecu confused, if the break is full time then the ecu won't increase the idle rpm when the steering is operated & the engine may stall
re turbos, it is possible for leaking oil from the turbos compressor side shaft seal to enter the engine inlet manifold and provide extra*fuel* , but the leak would have to be terrible!
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