Driving back from the Lakes today, notice a curious symptom on my Tdci Focus. When I’m at higher revs, you can hear the fan on the heater accelerating too.

Also a hint of smoke out the back when pushing on hard as well.

It’s due a cambelt change, so I’m going to get on with that ASAP, but any ideas on the weird revs/fan thing?

When I’m at higher revs, you can hear the fan on the heater accelerating too.

You mean the fan blowing air into the heater? I suspect that’s not what you’re hearing. Is more or less air coming out of the vents when this happens?

A hint of snoke when pushing hard is not unusual with a diesel, but if it hasn’t done it before, you could be looking at some kind of turbo issue which might also be what you’re hearing.

Sounds like a split turbo/induction pipe.

Cheers

Sounds like the flow of air is speeding up, as if you’ve turned the fan up a setting.

Haven’t noticed any loss in acceleration, though.

Stab in the dark… Check the voltage when running, should be around 14.4v. Above 15v and the alternator may be packing up, excessive voltage could cause things like the fan to speed up, and kill the battery.

I agree with spence, sounds exactly like a split turbo pipe. I’ve had both go on my tdci focus with the same sound you describe and I didn’t notice much loss of power. You may be able to find the split visually and there may also be a small amount of oil leakage from the pipe which will help you find it. Replacements are around £60 I think.

Do your lights brighten up too? Could be the voltage regulator on your alternator malfunctioning – its delivering more volts at higher RPM. I had similar symptoms on a previous car – not necessarily engine rev related but sometimes all the electrics would go hyper, the fan would go crazy, any lights that were on would go very bright.

Thanks all. Could be an expensive week!

Does it happen with the fan switched off? Sounds cheeky but is useful diagnostics.

Sounds identical to mine (1.8 tdci mk2). It had a split intercooler hose, as suggested above. Interestingly, the one that split was 4 years old (to the week) and it had been fitted 4 years (to the month) after the car left the factory, so I’m expecting the one I fitted to be knackered in another 4 years.

It hissed when I put my foot down. I duct taped it to get me home then bought the part and fitted it myself in about 30 minutes. Genuinely easy thing to do, two bolts and two jubilee clips iirc.

It was this part: http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/151029209983?fits=Model%3AFocus and was under £40 from my local Ford dealership. You can take the airflow sensor out of the old pipe so no need for a new one of those.

Might be useful: http://www.avforums.com/threads/turbo-hose-split-easy-home-job-focus-1-8-tdci.1825785/

Sounds like a split turbo/induction pipe.

+1
Have you bumped the front air dam against a curb? Well at least not too dear to fix.

Does it happen with the fan switched off? Sounds cheeky but is useful diagnostics.

Will check tomorrow. Not sure I can DIY, if my bodges on bikes are anything to go by.

I’ve not done a turbo hose on a focus, but on a mondeo it’s simple enough, as long as you’re good at regrowing skin afterwards. But it should be pretty easy to track that down, if it’s the case, with an assistant to rev it and the bonnet up

(nb it is recommended to do this stationary 😉 )

This is the bit with about an inch-long split in it. On this section (not my pic).

Congrats to anyone who said split turbo hose!

Is it just a case of taking the jubilee clips off, replacing that section of hose and doing them up again? I still fear my innate ability to bodge even the simplest job. 🙂

Yes, it really is that simple.
Just don’t drop anything down the open ends of the pipes while you’ve got the hose off.

Just don’t drop anything down the open ends of the pipes while you’ve got the hose off.

Worth repeating on account of importance!

Worth repeating on account of importance!

Trouble is, it’s like thinking ‘don’t hit that rock’ when you’re heading down the trail towards it. Target fixation! 🙂

Worth shopping around for the parts too- I ended up getting a tarty blue silicon one for mine as it was cheaper than the official Ford one. Maxxin!

sounds like a split turbo pipe to me too

Nice man at the garage is swapping it out for free tomorrow as he has to take it off to get at the timing belt anyhow.

(Watch this space for Molgrippian style developing car horror thread).