Robbbo

Hello all, picked up an 06 Mondeo last week off my uncle after he changed his car. The car had shown the engine management light during a motorway overtake and gone into limp mode. So when is garage said "it’s the injectors mate" and quoted him £1100 to replace, he opted for a new car. Anyway, the car is spotless and with only 105k on the clock it’s too good to scrap, so I thought it was worth a try.

Bringing the car home with the EML was better than expected; no hesitation on start-up (a little noisy maybe but not excessive) and nothing odd when driving the 12 miles back. The car had had a basic service 4 mths earlier and been looked after by a local garage but on inspection the fuel filter was 4yrs old so this was the first thing to change. Having cleared the EML light, I fitted a Mann filter and primed it as per advice on the site, and she started on the first flick of the key. A 25 min test drive up to 3500 revs and nothing other than the odd puff of smoke when pulling away at junctions.

So the next day I pulled the EGR value and manifold. The valve had 1-2mm patches of carbon build-up but nothing major. The manifold was a lot more chocked up with 3-4mm in places, so a couple of cans of brake cleaner later and a quick pressure wash (manifold only) and everything was clean and shiny.

Just before putting things back I pulled the bottom EGR hose and found a 4cm crack. Not a gaping hole but a noticeable crack that was starting to go through and the pipe was as hard as hell, so straight into the bin. This caused me a problem, as I had not planned on replacing the hose and the motor factors was now shut, so I kept the Mondeo on stands and picked one up in the morning.

And its the overnight on stands that might be my problem, as after changing the hose, bolting everything back together and dropping her down, she would not start. 4 attempts and nothing. Left it 5 hrs to watch the football and still no joy.

So, thinking that fuel had drained back when she was on the front stands, today I brimmed the fuel tank (35lts) and checked the fuel filter to find that she needed 200ml to brim the filter. I added another 100ml or so to the fuel line from the tank to the filter and then syringed 50ml of crystal clear diesel into the fuel line to the pump - so imagine my disappointment when she did not start. I primed the pump 5 times via the ignition and then turned it over 4 attempts - nothing.

I wondered if I had pulled a sensor or something when changing the hose but I gave just popped a reader on and no fault codes showing.

So what's next?