Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 53 total)
  • Spluttering Diesel
  • Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    My S Max (1.8 CDTi – 5 year old – 50k miles) has developed a splutter at around the 2000 – 2500 rpm mark. Usually when hard accelerating in 5th or 6th gear at motorway speeds. If I knock it into 4th it will pull and rev up to 4000+ rpm. I’ve not tried it any higher as I could do without the points on my licence.

    It is going in next week to have it checked out, but I was wondering is anyone on here had any ideas

    craigxxl
    Free Member

    Have you replaced the fuel filter recently. If not do so for a quality item.

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    Sticking variable turbo vanes or vacuum actuator leak on small pipe.
    Or dirty/ cheap fuel issue.
    Or something much more expensive…..
    Any dash lights/ fault codes? Try and find someone friendly near you with a reader is probably best advice.

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    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    No dash lights and it doesn’t happen if i accelerate gently.

    Fuel in from Tesco.

    It was serviced 8 weeks ago.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    Not the same engine but I had similar symptoms from a dud crank shaft sensor

    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    Interesting. The rev counter does “bounce” when it happens.

    john_drummer
    Free Member

    EGR valve?

    I just read a similar problem on Honset John, that was his suggestion, I know nothing. Apart from my Saab 9-3 would occasionally do it while cruising at 70 on the motorway. someone else’s problem now

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    Mine was on a isusu 1.7 dti. Its fairly common behaviour on them, compounded by off-brand replacement sensors being as good as broken when new. So i’d replaced mine as the most obvious suspect but the symptoms persisted for a year while I wondered what other things to try, but in fact the solution was to replace the replacement.

    Might be worth a google specific to your engine though

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    Hmmmm sounds like a sensor then that’s fubarred then particularly if your speedo is electrical signal driven as opposed to an old fashioned cable.

    felixdamouse
    Free Member

    possibly crap in the fuel, change fuel filter and possibly worth getting an engine flush from the likes of Halfords to clean the system out.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    It’s a ford so I’ll blame a sensor. I don’t know how similiar your engine is to mine but those symptoms are close to what I got with a dodgy MAF sensor, on a TDCI mondeo. Diagnosis was unplugging the MAF and seeing what happened.

    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    I only get it under heavy acceleration though… hmmm…

    We’ll see when they plug the diagnostic thingy in to it. From a financial perspective I hope it is a sensor.

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    Throttle sensor even on the pedal….really worth a plug in first before punting on random sensors. I would have thought. MAF fault would put it into limp home and put up a dash light.

    redstripe
    Free Member

    Even if it turns out to be a sensor, change the fuel filter and run it on BP Ultimate or Shell V Power diesel, you’ll notice the difference after a tankful and it’s worth the extra few pence a litre for the cleaner running, power and economy. I changed 18 months ago, big difference.

    project
    Free Member

    Try Shell, texaco or Bp, premium grade fuels,drive a few miles to get it into filter,injectors, find a up hill motorway slip road and acelereate to 3500 plus rpm in 3rd and see the crap flyout the back, best done on a quiet road.

    duncancallum
    Full Member

    I’d be aware plugging it in and just scanning it will probably not show anything. It needs road testing with a live data tool.

    I’d personally unplug battery. Plug n unplug the Maf, boost solionds etc.

    if you can see the turbo actuator try and make sure it moves. Plug battery back on n try it

    stevious
    Full Member

    like Northwind, I just had my MAF sensor changed for a similar problem. Are you getting smoky exhaust too?

    brassneck
    Full Member

    Had exactly the same issue in my S Max, a full service (around £200 ) sorted it. Nothing unusual in the ECU, the consensus was it was a clogged fuel filter.

    It did get a fuel system flush in the service too though. and oil flush and filter change – doubt it was related but might have helped the turbo out?

    Don’t use Tesco fuel. I had the problem for some time, and supermarket fuel made it noticeably worse, Optimax seemed to clear it up a bit (so I filled it with that every so often and stuck to garage forecourts).

    I think these new diesels are a bit temperamental.

    EDIT: Same 1.8 diesel engine, mines a Titanium which just makes it heavier and makes the problem worse!

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Suggsey – Member

    Throttle sensor even on the pedal….really worth a plug in first before punting on random sensors. I would have thought. MAF fault would put it into limp home and put up a dash light.

    Not necessarily- the problem with bad sensors is that it needs to know it has a fault which with my 2 Fords, never happened- it was getting bad readings but took them at face value which presumably was causing terrible fuelling, but no codes. (unplugging it entirely generates a code but still no limp mode or a dash light) Which is why diagnosing these things can be a bollocks.

    gearsrgood
    Full Member

    Had a similar problem with our 1.8tdci mondeo . Engine management had ‘”lost” the codes for the injectors , re entered codes & all sorted .

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    Northwind, from reading g this I’m glad I never had a Ford Tdci 😆 at least my VWs would throw up a code for everything and anything……but never got a code for the tiny hole in the low pressure side of the over fuel valve pipe….took bloody ages to find it.
    I must admit I avoid cheap fuel like the plague and even in my van every fifth tank will fill with Shell Nitro+ diesel stuff….it gives about another 100 miles out a tank but mainly keeps the injectors etc in nice clean condition.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I think it’s just the nature of the beast with sensors, unless it does something totally wacky- fail to respond, send out of parameters signals- the car can’t really tell whether it’s working or not. So it could be sending totally wrong, but convincing, data.

    My Focus had a proper pain in the arse- the crank sensor failed in such a way that every so often, it’d send a panic code and cut the engine out completely (and power steering). But there didn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong with it, it ran perfectly normally except when it was coding. So the fault code ended up creating a potentially dangerous situation that was much worse than whatever was actually wrong!

    eskay
    Full Member

    Had a similar thing on my 1.8tdci ford diesel, the first point of call was the EGR valve (from several Ford forums). Halfords sell a cleaner that requires you to remove the air filter and spray in small bursts until the whole can is used (takes about 10 mins). It should cure a sticky valve.

    In my case it seemed to improve matters but I would still get the odd stutter.

    I had then fuel filter changed and the cured it completely.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    EGRs (and associated, clogged up intake manifolds) are pretty straightforward to clean generally. Horrible job mind, you end up looking like you’ve been down the mine.

    Sui
    Free Member

    Do not put that shit engine cleaner through a car, if you’ve been using shit fuel it will dislodge everything in one go and block and damage everything. Just change the fuel over to a V-Power for a few tanks and let it gently clean it, then stick to a branded fuel! That said could be sensor, but sensors are also damaged by poor fuel..

    toppers3933
    Free Member

    My skoda was doing exactly the same before Christmas. I’d been using sainsburys fuel for as long as I can remember. I ran the fuel as low as I could and started using non supermarket fuel and the problem cleared up with a day or so. Been perfect since. Shortly after I changed the fuel filter too which was totally black.

    Sui
    Free Member

    +1 what toppers did, if you do go the route of changing the fuel, change the filter as well. Also, when i say V-Power, this also go’s for Total, BP, and Esso’s “super” fuels, they have a “get clean” detergent treat rate in them..

    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    Just been to the garage that are looking at it next week and had a chat.

    Was told to try an additive between now and then as they suspect that it is “just full of crap”.

    Also…. they run their fleet on Tesco fuel.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    Ill take 50pence on a maf sensor 🙂 let us know what it is next week.

    highlandman
    Free Member

    Harry, the fuel in their fleet is a cost decision and easy to make- they’ll have sold the vehicles on long before it becomes a problem and the customer will come back eventually needing a service, sensors and filters that they can charge lots for!
    Branded diesel only for me, supermarket fuel is poor quality and a false economy. Once or twice a year, run through a tank of premium and a bottle of Forte engine flush. It feels like you just got an extra 10bhp.

    brassneck
    Full Member

    It’s usually like 2p a litre max difference from a competing ‘real’ garage and thats well worth it in my book. Unleaded is a different story, but diesel go branded.

    Another thing worth checking – my Mrs runs the car generally, and she is of the opinion that running it till the diesel warning light comes on is the right way to do it. I reckon this drags more detritus from the tank through and makes things worse. Keep it above 1/4 tank in general, doesn’t actually cost you anything (OK bit of weight carrying it).

    brassneck
    Full Member

    EGRs (and associated, clogged up intake manifolds) are pretty straightforward to clean generally. Horrible job mind, you end up looking like you’ve been down the mine.

    EGR was my next port of call actually after the filters/service. Can block it off on most engines to prove the pon the point, even if you don’t want to leave it like that, but anecdotaly the engines run better without it – not sure of the downside. Think it was something to do with initial emissions being lower, so got through testing at a lower CO2 bracket?

    Daffy
    Full Member

    Rather than listening to a load of people who are aiming educated(?) guesses at the problem, why not buy a bluetooth diagnostic plug in from ebay and see what the car has to say about it?

    craigxxl
    Free Member

    Probably because as Northwind has pointed out not all problems create a fault code.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    I reckon this drags more detritus from the tank through and makes things worse.

    you know they draw from the bottom of the tank right?

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    And they are filtered in the tank …..

    How ever they have a small drop area/sump in the tank. My 27year old fuel tank had detrius all round the tank but not much around the sump area , id expect that running it to the dregs would pull more of this detrius along the bottom of the tank to the intank filter –

    Its probably more wate content you need to be worried about by running the dregs of a tank.

    brassneck
    Full Member

    Rather than listening to a load of people who are aiming educated(?) guesses at the problem, why not buy a bluetooth diagnostic plug in from ebay and see what the car has to say about it?

    Because some people have had exactly the same issue on exactly the same engine, with no fault codes and seem to have cured it with a filter change. Which is cheap enough to be worth ruling out straight away.

    And they are filtered in the tank …..

    How ever they have a small drop area/sump in the tank. My 27year old fuel tank had detrius all round the tank but not much around the sump area , id expect that running it to the dregs would pull more of this detrius along the bottom of the tank to the intank filter –

    Put better than I could. I think running a little fuller keeps that sump cleaner, maybe just by suspension if nothing else

    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    Well… 50 ml of Miller’s additive at 15 motorway miles in 4th gear seams to have blown a lot of crap out of it. Still juddering a bit but it is a lot better. I’ve got 150 odd more miles of the same before it is in the garage, so hopefully a new fuel filter will sort it.

    moreupsthandownz
    Free Member

    My T5 hates any supermarket fuels, exactly the same symptoms with your ford. Tescos is the worst then Sainsburys. It runs really well on the premium fuels, but I use the normal non supermarket flavour and add millers additive to each tank.
    Interested to see how yours goes after a few more days with the additive running through as its shown improvement so far.

    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    Update.

    45 miles on treated fuel and it only “burped” once on the motorway. Hopefully I’ve sorted it.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 53 total)

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