Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting

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Tue 23 Oct 2012 22:53
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting - ianmcc

Hi All,

Hoping someone can help with my Focus TDCi, has 150k Km on the clock.

Approx. 1 out of 5 starts are "rough". Engine starts unevenly and sounds rough...after 1-2 seconds engine runs smoothly. Sounds like it only fires on 3 cylinders to begin with. No pattern to this...happens on cold starts and warm starts. Engine runs normally aside from starting, with smooth idling and good acceleration.

Problem started about 1.5 yrs ago. All glow plugs and their leads have been changed but problem still exists. During recent service, garage found one fault code P1200 but did not have time to further diagnose.

In searching this and other forums some people recommend changing the Camshaft Postion sensor. Others point to injectors failing which will be a far more expensive fix.

In the interest of full disclosure, there is another occasional problem which may be related...this one is completely random...whilst driving the glow plug light comes on and after 15 seconds the engine loses all power. I have to pull over, switch off and re-start at which time the engine runs normally again. I have had this problem for 6 years. There is no pattern to this problem other than it never occurs at idle...only when underway at 2-3k rpm. Occurs on 1 out of approx. 50 times I use the car. Occurs no more frequently now than 6 years and 60k Km back. I thought this might be a faultly ECU but maybe it is related to the starting problem?

The car is not used every day and many trips are short - under 10 km. The starting problem was worse, occured 4 times out of 5, when the car was only used for short trips and it did reduce to 1 time out of 5 after a few motorway runs....but it is still there. Diesel filter and air filter have been changed.

I do hope someone on the forum can point me in the right direction..defn a Sherlock Holmes mystery! Do I need to bite the bullet and take it to the very expensive Ford dealer? Will they be able to find any more fault codes? The garage yesterday only found the one....P1200. Cam sensor seems easy to change as a first step...

Sorry for the long post....many thanks in advance!

Ian

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Wed 24 Oct 2012 12:35
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting - BenG

When the cam sensor failed on my car the engine stopped and would not restart until the sensor was replaced, although the starter motor turned the engine over OK. Dos not sound like your issue, but I guess the sensor could be intermittently failing, and it only costs about 20 quid and is a 5 minute job to replace so could be worth trying.

Flashing glow plug light means a fault code is being written. Maybe the loss of power was related to code P1200, but what does that code mean? You might find advice on this and the running issues on The Ford Focus Owners Club: ffoc dot co dot uk.

Incidentally, my car was a poor cold starter when I got it and the local dealer updated the ECU software to a later version (my car was a 2003 model), which improved this noticeably. Might be worth a try and should not cost much.

Also worth checking all of the glow plugs are actually receiving power, assuming wiring and plugs are OK?

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Wed 24 Oct 2012 17:51
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting - MikeTorque

Slightly blocked fuel filter or faulty fuel pump can cause this problem.

Lots of short journeys in a TDCi can cause other issues such as clogging on the EGR valve etc. Using a higher quality fuel such as Shell V-power may help but if it's not available in your area then an additional cleaning additive into the fuel such as Millers Eco Power Max may help.

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Thu 25 Oct 2012 10:22
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting - BenG

I'd say it's worth finding out if you have the latest ECU update, as this made my car a much better starter from cold and it was a later year than yours (2003), so I'm guessing yours might not have had it unless it's been serviced at a main dealer recently.

If the EGR is blocked then it might cause jerky, intermittent loss of power and excessive exhaust smoke, but not total loss of power. This doesn't sound like what the OP is describing

The EGR might well be clogged, though. If so, a proper clean with the valve off the car would be required. I'm not convinced fuel additives like Millers will clean the intake much. After all, it's only the recirculated exhaust gases which will bring the additive into the inlet manifold and then olnly after it has already been burnt in the combusiton chambers. Revive treatment is different in that it is sprayed into the inlet upstream of the EGR valve and claims to remove carbon deposits on contact:

http://www.spdiagnostics.com/index.php/products/workshop/revive-turbo-cleaner

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Fri 26 Oct 2012 14:54
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting - ianmcc

Thanks again BenG.

I think you may well be onto somethinig with a clogged EGR. An occasional blockage could very well cause the kinds of symptoms I am seeing. I do not have time to research now but is it a difficult job to remove it? What kinds of chemicals would be needed to clean it?

All the best,

Ian

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Fri 26 Oct 2012 14:51
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting - ianmcc

Thanks Mike! They only sell one type of Diesel over here. Maybe I should use the additive though as the car is only used on short trips. I will see what's available here. (Norway)

Ian

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Fri 26 Oct 2012 14:49
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting - ianmcc

Hello!

Thanks very much for your reply...sorry I have not responded sooner. I will change the can sensor...there is just one bolt and the electrical connection to unplug yes?

I googled for the meaning of P1200 and someone reported that it means "injection system", but I guess I should ask the Ford Dealer. I will check out the site you mention.

And I will defn get the new ECU s/w. Can you tell me how much that cost you?

The Ford dealer did a complete check on the glow plugs 2 yrs ago - when I was havng a lot of cold start problems. They replaced the plugs, wires and temp sensor and it did marginally improve after that.

Not sure if you can answer a possibly related, but maybe compleley unrelated Q....As part of 150k service the garage wants to change the belt that drives the fuel pump. Nothing wrong with it but it recommended at 150k Km. Do you think it's a good idea to replace the fuel pump at the same time?

Thanks again for your reply to my original question,

Ian

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Fri 26 Oct 2012 17:59
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting - BenG

The cam sensor is a little black plastic thing with a grey electrical plug on it which sits in the cam cover and as far as I recall is just held in place with a single bolt.

ECU would not cost much at a UK garage. Perhaps half an hour labour for their time or maybe a diagnostics / code reading charge. You might as well get it done while you're having the codes read.

I understand the high pressure fuel pump on the 1.8TDCi is driven by a short chain. I don't know what the replacement intervals are for the chain, if indeed there are any, but maybe check the service booklet for the car just to see if it's a service item. Also may be worth registering with the FFOC website to post some questions there as well.

Fuel pump would be a very expensive part (£1k+) so not worth replacing unless it's faulty.

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Sat 27 Oct 2012 12:21
Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi, 2001. - Occasional rough starting - ianmcc

Thanks Ben, I'll change the cam sensor and get the ECU update at the Ford dealer.

Do you think the Ford dealer will be able to read more than the P1200 fault code the other garage read?

I did just post on the FFOC site. Thanks very much for that recommendation.

As you are being so helpful I wonder if you or other posters would have advise on another problem that popped up yesterday...

Driving along and the car suddenly lost all power...the engine stopped. I think the battery warning light came on but I am not certain. I switched off the ignition and re-started the car. It started up fine and I finished my journey. No idea what caused this.

That evening I noticed that the low beams do not work - either in the "auto position" (headlights are on all the time as per Norwegian law - they come on automatically) or when I turn the light switch on. Parking lights and high beams work. Both bulbs are okay and I have checked all the fuses I can find related to lights in the main and secondary fuse boxes. All fuses appear to be okay.

Do you have any idea what might have happened and how I can fix this? Good job it's winter here and I have nothing better to do that work on the car :)

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