Ciano35

Hi everyone,

First post here, I hope ye can help me
I have a problem with my 2003 focus tdci (115ps).

Basically it loses power at high rpm. In first gear it revs to redline no problem with plenty of power. In second gear it loses its power at about 4000 rpm, third gear at ~3200 rpm, and so on. It has perfect power to these rpm's, and then it can only slowly creep up to redline.

I can't find anything online that I haven't tried already.

Here are the things that I have done:

-Checked turbo shaft, no play
-Full service last week; air, oil, fuel filters done, oil change
-EGR blanked, made no difference except for quicker throttle response
-Cleaned MAF sensor
-Checked hoses, new silicone hoses put in last week
-Cleaned out air intake hoses and intercooler
-No warning lights ever come on

I really hope someone can help me with this problem, it's driving me nuts

Thanks!

Cian

Cossy Mike

iTrader: (4)

Mines exactly the same and I've never found the fault yet

Sometimes my turbo doesn't boost fully, it feels like it's holding back then all of a sudden it's fine again.

(Focus Mk1 TDci sport 115ps 2004)

Ciano35

Mine never fixes itself, constantly doesn't boost after whatever rpm

Cossy Mike

iTrader: (4)

Nearest solution I've come up with is the turbo solenoid, but they are Ł100 from Ford

Ciano35

Was there a big difference after having it fitted? Is there any way to test this part?

Thanks.

Cossy Mike

iTrader: (4)

No I didn't buy it as it was Ł100 and no return :/

I came across it on a google search after numerous other people were suffering the same symptoms

I don't fancy removing the manifold/turbo as it's a full day job and a right pain in the arse, I can't use my garage as the cossy is in there, so it would be on the street

Ciano35

Ah god that sounds like a tough job
Here's hoping it's something easier!

uruk hai

I had a problem like this and it turned out to be the Turbo actuator control solenoid, the difference was instant and it's been fine since.

Cossy Mike

iTrader: (4)

Exactly what I was reading

Did you buy new, 2nd hand?? How much did it cost etc?

Thanks on advance

Ciano35

And is there any way to test that part? Thanks

uruk hai

A mate of mine got me a known good one and I fitted it which takes less than ten minutes and job done ! I knew as soon as I started the car that it was sorted, can you not find someone close to you who has a working one you could try ? I didn't pay anything for mine but I got a price and they were about Ł70 - Ł80.

I don't mate, there may be but I'm unaware of it and from what I've heard swapping it with the EGR control solenoid wont work.

Here is a description of the symptoms I had (taken from a previous thread)

Ciano35

Ah that sounds exactly like my problem, guess I'll be spending a bit of money then! Cheers for the help

uruk hai

Your welcome mate, good luck.

Ciano35

Ok so I had a go at moving the actuator today, and as hard as I tried I could only move it about half a centimeter at most. I assume it's meant to be able to move further than this?

uruk hai

I would say it should have a few centimetres of movement so I would think your first port of call is to establish why it's sticking and then free it up. Have you given it a good old squirt of anti sieze fluid to see if that helps ?

Ciano35

Ok so I took the solenoid off today... It's absolutely perfect! The arm goes up and down perfectly.

But, the arm on the turbo is solid, and I mean solid. I was trying to lubricate and pry it free, but no use

What the hell do I do now? preferably without removing the turbo from the engine... Try the antifreeze?

Thanks for replying mate

uruk hai

O.k, which arm moves and which one is solid ?

Any chance you could get a few pics up ?

When you say the solenoid is perfect what exactly d'you mean ? When I took mine off it "looked" identical to the good one but obviously was mullered.

Ciano35

Hi mate, sorry I probably could have made that clearer, the solenoid is ok, it was the vanes that were sticking.

So, we spent the day taking the turbo out, stripping it and found that the ring that moves the vanes was stuck rock solid, a huge amount of carbon and rusty stuff had built up and clogged it.

We cleaned it out with egr cleaner and now it's very clean and moves perfectly, so we're now putting it all back together and hoping for the best

uruk hai

Good luck mate, I hope it all works out.

Ciano35

Thanks man. Well after a bloody tiring evening it's all back together now... Took it for a spin and Jesus Christ one of the intercooler pipes blew off, what a bloody fright I got! Thought the turbo had somehow blew itself apart.

I haven't tried bringing it past 3000 rpm because I'm so nervous about it... Might wait for a while and leave everything bed in...

Anyway thanks for the help mate, hopefully it has been sorted

uruk hai

Sounds good mate, if it pushed a pipe off the intercooler it's probably a sign that the boost is back up where it should be and I think taking it steady for a few hundred miles is a good idea.

Ciano35

Ok so I've done 200 miles and the car has no problems revving up to and past 4k rpm

However, the car doesn't seem as powerful as it used to be? Like before it used to force me back into the seat until it hit 3k rpm at which point it stopped, but after I cleaned the turbo it doesn't seem to really force me into the seat anymore? It is still quicker though, since I can now use all the rev range.

Any ideas?

Cossy Mike

iTrader: (4)

How long did it take you to take it off to clean?

I've been having a look at mine and can't honestly see how I can get it out, it's doing my head in now so I'm gonna have to do something......

Can you describe the sticky vanes a bit more or have a pic handy so I know what I'm looking for?

thanks

Ciano35

Hey man, it would take about a day and a half, well it took us from 9am to 11pm in one day to do everything from taking the turbo out, stripping it, cleaning it and putting everything back together so it's tiring enough

Sorry I have no pictures but I think my father took one or two on a camera at home but won't be able to upload them till Friday.

Ok to find out if the vanes were sticking, we took the turbo out and found the the whole actuator arm was stuck solid. We thought it was the solenoid, but after detaching that we found it was perfect, and that the arm piece on the turbo was the part that was stuck, indicating the vanes were stuck, so we stripped the vanes part of the turbo and cleaned it well.

To get the turbo out we had to remove a lot of stuff, like the air inlet with the egr valve, and removed the bolts attaching the turbo to the engine.

Make sure you take pictures of the turbo when you have it apart so you know how to put the bits back together, there's really small pieces that come out so don't lose them

Any other questions let me know

Ciano35

Oh I recommend to just take everything off so you have lots of room to work, we took off the intercooler and all piping, the battery, the air box and snorkel. Actually while you have the snorkel off, check it for tears and gaps, ours was in shocking condition with a 4 inch hole going around the elbow!! Which must have left in a lot of unfiltered air

Cossy Mike

iTrader: (4)

Sounds like a right nightmare, ill have to tackle mine soon.

Last quick question though, did you buy all new gaskets whilst you were on?

Thanks for all the advice

Ciano35

Yeah it is

Nope I didn't replace anything, except for the intake pipe because it was in brutal condition. Oh yeah I used egr cleaner to help clean the vanes.

Good luck and let me know how you get on

GVK.

I had a look at a Connect TDCI 90ps (Lynx engine as per Focus) last week with lack of power, felt like turbo not boosting, this one had a map sensor on the bulkhead and the pipe was disconnected where it goes under the bottom of the EGR valve on the intake.

Simple fix!