Thanks Mike, i've found the phone number now. When starting, the glow plug light doesn't flash, does that mean the glowplugs are ok? Is there another way of testing them individually or do i not need to? (i've not got any specialist tools).

Thanks again.

A flashing glow plug light doesn't necessarily mean the plugs are faulty - it just means a fault code is being written (I believe). My car was an '03 and was poor at cold starting until a dealer updated the ECU software version which improved matters. Might be worth a try if yours hasn't been done, but I guess if the starting problem only developed recently it's more likely to be the glow plugs. Other possible causes - weak starter motor / battery?

Some common faults on the 1.8 TDCI are cam sensors failing (this caused my car to stop completely and would not restart, but perhaps a faulty one could cause the engine to cut out randomly), EGR valve faulty / clogged (can lead to misfiring-type symptoms, rough idle, excessive smoke), DMF failure (causes clanking when trying to start car and pulsating clutch pedal), dirty/failing air mass sensor. A partially-blocked injector could lead to misfiring-type behaviour and jerky/intermittent pick-up. Could the fuel filter be overdue for replacement and partially blocked?

Note also that the ECU will cut fuel to the engine if the engine speed drops too low, to protect the DMF. I found the Focus easy to stall, especially in cold weather, due to this feature.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It's booked in for Saturday so i'll let you know what they come up with.

The garage couldn't find any faults recorded again despite them seeming to have all the diagnostic equipment in the world.

How do you test if glow plugs are working properly? I've seen this on a forum but I can't find it.

Thanks.

You seem to have two faults: i) The car does not start easily, and ii) the car hesitates and loses power when driving.

Possible causes of i) defective glow plugs or lack of power supply to plugs, weak battery, weak starter motor, lack of compression (e.g: due to engine wear)

Possible causes of ii) EGR valve malfunction (they clog up with carbon), fuel supply issues (blocked filter, air leak into system, fuel pump fault, blocked/dirty injector), sticking turbo vanes (they can clog with soot and stick open, causing an overboost condition followed by limp mode), dodgy camshaft or crankshaft sensors (? - my cam sensor caused the engine to stop totally when it failed). There may be other causes but these are all I can think of right now.

Which of the above would trigger a fault code I don't know, but eliminating those which do might help to considerably narrow down possible causes of your running fault. Alternatively, find a local diesel specialist, e.g: one of the Bosch or Delphi centres...

I'm no mechanic - this is just stuff I picked up at the Focus Owner's club while I owned my Focus. Check out FFOC for lots of info. in the technical section for diesels.

Cheers,

Ben

Be interested to hear if you find any faulty glow plugs.

In addition it should be noted the glow plugs light on a Focus mk1 doubles up as an ECU malfunction warning light. If/when the light flashes something is wonky in the engine management system which can result in some power loss. The Focus mk1 doesn't have full fault code data logging so if a fault is generated it isn't available for later interrogation. If a diagnostic tester or data recorder were fitted when the problem occurred there is a good chance an error code could be captured.

There may an issue with a faulty Throttle Position Sensor which is sending faulty and irregular signals to the ECU when is a certain position. The solution is to replace the Accelerator Pedal & Sensor Assy £69+VAT and/or Throttle Position Sensor £46+VAT. Check with a diesel specialist and see what they reckon, if they confirm they will be able to do the work for you, simple job so labour time is fairly low.