If it was an older model the problem would be the LHM is either the EGR or the turbo actuator the second being very expensive but this is a newish car still under warranty unless its a very high miler,the garage is telling you a fairy tale of enormous proportions.

Edited by Collos25 on 13/03/2013 at 10:36

Thanks for everyones comments which I want to respond to:

Cris-on-the -gas, the vehicle is a lease car & I believe the repairs were done under warranty. Also the garage has said this has come from Ford themselves, which I am asking them directly & if I get any sort of answer I can share it with you.

Simon, the first time it was repaired by a main dealer near where I live & this time by a main dealer near where I work - both delaers diagnosing the same fault.

Collos25, I do about 600miles a week or approx 1 tank full. The car is 18months old & has done 34,000 miles.

Craig-pd 130, the fuel does meet EN590 but mixing supermarket fuel with big brand fuel causes a reaction in the winter additives they add this time of year which in turn clogs the filters on 1.6 engines which have a finer filter. They're not saying do not use one or the other only don't mix them.

elekie&a/c doctor, the fuel filter has been replaced, twice, which is the problem.

Once again thanks everyone

I've been doing a fare bit of research on this & so far have some opinions I would like to share with you.

My 2011 mondeo has the new Ford Euro V emission standard engine. To meet strict Stage V emission regulations, the Duratorq TDCi engine has been comprehensively revised including new solenoid fuel injectors, now with eight smaller holes, work with a maximum injection pressure of 2,000 bar for improved fuel atomisation, compared with the former six-hole injectors and lower 1,800 bar pressure.

The above bit was not my own words, but interesting about the smaller injector nozzles which would be more prone to blocking.

The next point: Supermarkets add more bio-diesel to the mix than main brands, to lower the sulphur content.

Low sulphur diesel has an increased wax content, the result of this increase could include higher cloud point (where first wax crystals form) & greater winter wax gelation, which is also likely to increase fuel filter plugging. Low sulphur diesel with more than 5% biodiesel has a high wax content, which increases wax gelling = premature filter plugging.

Both of my breakdowns happened during sudden drop in temperature to -4 / -5degC. Maybe the garages were caught out as the additive is added at the station & I had a tank full of fuel which had no additive.

unless you can put forward anything to counter - then it remains plausible.

This weeks weather was a sudden change from the prevailing south westerly's to easterly's which gave us snow on the M25 on Monday with temperatures of -5degC - in mid march.

The minimum amount of biodiesel I believe is 5%, morrisons are pushing this limit to 10 & beyond. As I said above the greater proportion of biodiesel in the mix the greater the wax content & so on.

So adding all the pieces together, smaller nozzles, sudden cold snap, diesel mix & it's likely that this is what caused the problem.

To answer your final point the RAC patrolman said he had seen many instances of this.

I nearly always fill up at Tesco in the south, but recently I filled up at a northern Morrisons when half empty, so I had a 50/50 mix of the two. I guess that could be a cause of the problem or just coincidence?

Just coincidence.

In my opinion the fault is with the car period.

I have used supermarket fuels from the day they appeared and never had a fuel problem. Supermarkets do use different additives to the majors, which all have their own secret blends, the the base fuel is the same, and the only benefit with the slightly superior blends is long term, over a large mileage.

Any car should run on any fuel if its to the correct en rating, if it doesnt the car is not designed correctly, maybe Ford should be replacing the fuel filter with one that works.

If it needs to be finer due to the smaller injectors, then the filter should be made a lot larger, as the pressure is increased anyway, according to a earlier post, then a blockage is no more likely than previously.

If i was having the fuel filter changed due to this issue, then i would be cutting it open to attempt to find the reason for the blockage.

Finally if Ford are saying supermarket fuel is the problem, then it should be clearly stated in the hand book?

Edited by xtrailman on 01/01/2014 at 10:54