Could be the EGR valve jamming open - particularly if it happens when you're trying to accelarate - very hot exhaust gas is pulled back into the front of the engine, so the engine goes into self-preservation mode to avoid something getting fried.
When it happened to me, the engine would continue to idle in neutral, but not rev at all. Stop & restart will provide a temporary fix. Not sure why there is no error code being stored - the flashing engine light says that one is being committed to memory.
This is was a reasonably common issue on 2L TDCi engines, particularly fitted to early C-Max and Focus II (53-05 plates), but I'm sure can still happen on more recent cars.
If this is the cause, it's really a dealer/specialist job as the valve needs to be calibrated by a man with a laptop.
|