Right i have a 2005 focus tdci 2 litre as my daily drive and recently its become a pain in the arse to start from cold, first thoughts were a fubared injector as ive heard there common on this engine for goin tits up. Had a nosey around the engine bay nothing obvious then noticed i had air coming out of the fuel filter to hi pressure pump line. as i crank the engine it clears and eventually starts but is still pulling air in somewhere. If i go for a drive then stop it it'll fire up streight away with no problems. I was thinking they could be a one way valve thats knackered somewhere? theres no leaks anywhere so wot u guys think as im clueless now and a mechanic myself for land rover so abit of help/input would be great as ive never touched one of these engines before, many thanks nick.

 

a little bit of air i wouldnt say was a problem.

have you checked glow plugs?

 

there's a few common problems with tdci's

if your battery is not good, this can give the problems you describe

Also, i've heard of the DMF breaking up and filling the starter motor with crap.

lastly, any evidence of your car has had the dreaded injector problem?

 

Hi there I have a diesel daily with an o ring knXXkered on the fuel system and if you park it facing up hill over night it is a pig to start as it causes the fuel to drain back into the tank. IMO if you had an injector issue you would get a knock randomly whilst running. I have experience three TDCi fuel related issues.

Mik

 

How would I no if it has injector problems it has missed a few times and spluttered would I beable to test them with leak off bottles? If I took the starter out would I see any evidence of the dmf breaking up? Sori for all the q's but its doin my head in.

 

if the starter engages and turns over the engine, i wouldnt worry about the Duel Mass Flywheel.
Its only when it spins but doesnt turn the engin ove the DMF is starting to break up and put crap in to the starter, if the DMF IS breaking up you will see iron filings in the starter.

Have you any fault codes if so get then read, its the quickest way sometimes, if you dont have fault codes then check for a leaks or somewhere where there may be a pressure drop in the fuel system.

 

the focus 2ltr tdci isn't the duratorque from the mondeo(its actualy a peugeot engine),
so it doesn't suffer from the injector and flywheel problems mentioned,
it sounds to me like its drawing air and the fuel is running back to the tank,
filter heads are a common problem on these so good chance it could be that

 

That would make sense then ad it is running back to the tank. If I put a filter bleed tool on the filter head and it draws air then this would confirm it wouldn't it? This is a common problem with the freelander 2 and that's the same style filter.

 

alright mate
the dual mass flywheel is fine. IF ....... it was breaking up you would know about it, the chunks of metal flying about in the bellhousing!

i have never heard of this happening
the clogging of the starter is caused by the clutch braking down and fucking up which is what happened to 2 of our transits.

also with the regards to the air leak.
if a diesel engine has a air leak in the fuel system it will be an absolute fucker to start everytime.
i've rescued 3 52 plate transits at work by wrapping cling film tightly around the whole filter housing then it started. these have the duratorq di engines and was due to a cracked/split fuel filter housing. it got them back to the yard then we changed the housings and filter.
with the injectors you cant do the leak off trick like petrols.

luke

 

it defo does sound like its drawing air, as i said the filter head is the most common but it could be drawing air somewhere else, they can be a bloody nightmare to bleed up after a service as well

 

Hi there mate you sound like you no what your talking about so is there any other common places for them to draw air? There doesn't seem to be any leaks fuel wise that I can see. Would it be possible for the pump to draw air in. Think I'm guna try a filter head and see where that gets me. Thanks for your input everyone.

 

Like Jamie and i said mate .most probably filter head

 

i've never known 1 to draw air from anywhere else on these but would never rule it out,
i've had problems with these filter heads before so if it was mine this is where i'd start

 

Ive never heard of the starters clogging because of the clutch everytime ive had them clogged its when the flywheel wears and the metal filings get jammed in the starter.
If you take the starter off and gently tap it on the floor if the flywheel is worn you will see metal filings on the floor.

Also we have leak off pipes that we use on diesel injectors all the time especially the 2.0 mondeos and transits.

 

Sorry mate my bad was jus going on personal experience as the lads drove like Cunts and smashed the clutches to bits. Ahhh didnt know that thought they were for the older injectors. Learn something new everyday