Hi
I have had my O2 plate Focus 1.8 TDCI Ghia for neartly 2 months now. But have a couple of problems
I leave for work at 6.30am every morning. The past few weeks it has been really frosty this time of the morning. When I try to start the engine it doesn?t work first time. Its not until I try turning the key the second time and it works. The other thing I noticed is the glow light only comes on for a split second. Is it supposed to stay on for a while until it warms up. I have wait a few minutes to start the engine because the glow light does not indicate but its still the same
This only happens when the temperature is about 6 degrees or lower. If there is no frost the car seems to start fine.
Also the car has stalled about 5 times while driving along. This is normally within about 15 mins after starting on my journey, when I am changing down gears but it has also happened when the car has been running for an hour. This is the main thing I am worried about since it a dangerous thing to happen in the middle of a busy junction.
My other concern is that there is water leaking beneath the glove box. I can not confirm if it only happens when it rains but there seems to be a puddle on the passenger mat when I head home of the evening. After reading on various forums it seems its the pollen filter thats at fault. Will Ford change the housing FOC since its a common problem?
I took the car into a garage a week ago and they found an error code of P1608 but were unable to diagnose what the fault meant. So I have now taken it back to the dealer who has had it for a few days but the they say the error code is no longer there and they are yet to see the problem occuring.
Can anyone please help because I love my Focus apart from the stalling/starting problem.
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P1608 is 'signal monitoring malfunction' the cause being 'wiring, injection control/ECM fault' - in other words an 'incorrect or out of range' signal is being received - could be due to a broken wire, faulty sensor or something more serious. The is a wide range of possibilities - which is probably why your Ford dealer couldn't be more specific.
Really you need to get some proper diagnostics done on it. Sounds like temp sensor check would be a good starting point. I would let the supplying dealer take 'ownership' of the fault.....
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Thanks for the reply. Does it need to go into a ford dealership so they can properly diagnose it?
I have a problem in that the dealer (not a ford dealer) that sold me the car is a 100 mile round trip from me. I have a courtesy car at the moment.
I presume even if the 2 months is up on the car next week because I have indicated the problem the dealer will be obliged to try and find the fault. Or can he give me the car back not fixed?
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I think having notified the fault to the dealer then he is obliged to take ownership of that fault until it is fixed. Certainly you should not accept the car back until the fault is fixed. Ideally the dealer should get a Ford agent to diagnose it - but it all depends on their in-house technical ability.
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Hi, I have an 03 TDCi Focus and love it. I would say although not related to your problem, TDCi's are very easy to stall, more so when cold on mine. The reason is I think because the ECU cuts the engine if it falls below a certain RPM to protect the daul mass flywheel.
With regard to the leak in the footwell, this is likely to be from the black plastic cowel at the bottom of the windscreen not sealing properly with the glass. It is removed to replace the pollen filter underneath it and some garages fail to reseal it. I took mine back to a ford dealer and new exactly what the problem and replaced it as part of the service. Leak stopped.
Hope that helps with the leak.
Al.
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I would add that if I don't wait for the glow plug light to go out on frosty mornings (i.e start it straight away) then the engine turns over several times, fires, turns over a bit more and then fires and runs on sub zero morning. You need to wait for the light to go out. Mine takes about a second. Perhaps your glow plugs are shot? How many miles has it done?
Al.
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He says that his stalls when driving along whilst changing gear - that's not normal. I agree that they are easy to stall when pulling off or at low speed, but that's a different matter.
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Agreed. Perhaps just putting forward some advice generall since purpleparrot is new to the TDCi world.
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TDCi's are very easy to stall, more so when cold on mine. The reason is I think because the ECU cuts the engine if it falls below a certain RPM to protect the daul mass flywheel.
So something else to add to my list of reasons for me not buying a diesel!
--
L\'escargot.
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I can vouch for that - it has taken me 2 weeks to get used to mine - mainly it's going from high speed running to 30/20mph - you just learn to slip the clutch a bit & it's fine. Worth it for making overtaking at normal speeds a lot safer - don't think the chap in a 205gti I drove behind could believe that i really was rather quicker than him this morning !
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When I drive the Focus TDCI it often stalls when pulling away at low revs. When I drive the Passat TDI 130 it never stalls and pulls away easily at low revs. So Monsieur Snail get a VW diesel, you'll love it!
When the Focus was new it was worse, stalling all the time. On the first service they did a chip upgrade which improved it a little, has your car had an upgrade?
When I first looked at this post I wondered what Uncle Joe had to do with motoring.
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Thanks for the replies guys. I pick the car up tomorrow as the garage has found no error code and it hasnt been frosty this week at all so it starts every time!
Re the glow light. They only stay on for a split second so I cannot wait for them to go out because they never stay on! I still wait about 2 minutes though and it still doesnt start when freezing.
I have missed my baby for a week and cant wait to have it back, even though its a little unreliable.
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Unless it is well below feezing the glowplug light wont be on for long on a TDCI (second or so) - so don't worry about that. If the light flashes on and off repeatedly then that's a fault indication.
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