Focus out of action for a while

Franco Cozzo · 15-09-2012, 12:28 AM

Hey guys, had a diesel smell coming through the car, so I decided to pop the bonnet and take the plastic cover off for a quick snoop around this morning:

Doesn't look bad in that photo, dodgy camera shot but it looks like all 4 of my injectors are ****ing out fuel and its filling the top of the injectors and leaking down the side of the engine.

I picked up a mate at Ford today and he got his forewoman to come out and check it out for me, I'd driven it about 20km from work to pick him up and it started smoking under the bonnet by the time I got there, popped the hood and she said not to drive it as its a fire risk and that eventually I'm going to get an air lock in the system and its going to bring me to a halt on the side of the road.

If you start getting a strong diesel smell through the car, rip off the cover and check the injectors.

At $920 an injector they better be covered under warranty, I hope Ford doesn't try squeeze their way out of this one by blaming my CAI or my lowered springs.

Nolz · 15-09-2012, 08:09 AM

oh boy! That's no good. Hopefully it's an easy fix, and an inexpensive one. I can't imagine they'd use your mods as an excuse to not warrant the claim. It'd have to be the direct cause for the failure for it to be denied. So the springs definitely not.
Your CAI, well they'd have to be very creative to lay blame on that.

Yellow_Festiva · 15-09-2012, 09:41 AM

Bugger. Keep us posted Damo.

Franco Cozzo · 15-09-2012, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nolz

oh boy! That's no good. Hopefully it's an easy fix, and an inexpensive one. I can't imagine they'd use your mods as an excuse to not warrant the claim. It'd have to be the direct cause for the failure for it to be denied. So the springs definitely not.
Your CAI, well they'd have to be very creative to lay blame on that.

That's what I was thinking about the CAI but it would be a long shot, thinking about changing the factory airbox back in.

Forewoman has already seen it though and she didn't mention anything.

Lucky we've got 5 cars between three of us here at home lol.

Yellow_Festiva · 15-09-2012, 12:14 PM

To be honest, I would be changing the box if you still have it and have the time.... If it is as costly a repair as you state they could look for any out they can find. The springs are a very long shot, as for how the engine breathes.....

Franco Cozzo · 15-09-2012, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

To be honest, I would be changing the box if you still have it and have the time.... If it is as costly a repair as you state they could look for any out they can find. The springs are a very long shot, as for how the engine breathes.....

Yeah, I better do that, I'll do it this afternoon.

marg99 · 15-09-2012, 05:03 PM

With luck it will be the seals around the injectors and not the injectors themselves.

Russ · 15-09-2012, 05:38 PM

They're not the Siemens injectors by any chance are they Damo ? The VW's and a lot of other makes of diesel had some issues with them, part of the reason why I sold my GT TDI before it was out of warranty. Not sure if the issue was to do with leaking or not, the main issue with the VW's was to do with electronics and the wiring harness to the injectors AFAIK. Hope you get it sorted ok

Franco Cozzo · 15-09-2012, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

They're not the Siemens injectors by any chance are they Damo ? The VW's and a lot of other makes of diesel had some issues with them, part of the reason why I sold my GT TDI before it was out of warranty. Not sure if the issue was to do with leaking or not, the main issue with the VW's was to do with electronics and the wiring harness to the injectors AFAIK. Hope you get it sorted ok

Certainly are, Siemens piezo-electric ones which seem to have the bad rap on the UK forums haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by marg99

With luck it will be the seals around the injectors and not the injectors themselves.

Chances are it will be, but instead I assume rather than ordering seals they would probably just order the whole injectors.

Franco Cozzo · 15-09-2012, 08:21 PM

Wow I'm having some bad luck this week, lost both headlights on the old mans 323 now.

Down 2 cars now, what's next? Bunch of GM fanboys set my Falcon alight in my driveway?

prydey · 15-09-2012, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

popped the hood and she said not to drive it as its a fire risk

doesn't diesel only ignite under pressure?

**Mechan1k** · 15-09-2012, 08:40 PM

Thank your luck stars you don't have a runaway diesel issue.
My work mate has a MkV Golf TDI ... turbo suffered bearing failure and cracked the housing ... oil everywhere.

He came to a holt ... and the vehicle started revving it's guts out ... and dumping smoke out the exhaust like no tomorrow .... luckily he had seen clips on youtbue about it .... he managed to stall it (6-speed manual) before it consumed all of the engine oil and seized the engine.

marg99 · 15-09-2012, 09:00 PM

The flashpoint for diesel fuel is from 100 to 130 deg F depending upon the grade.ie it will ignite when it hits a hot exhaust manifold.
Petrol just has a lower flashpoint temperature so is easier to ignite.

Russ · 15-09-2012, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Wow I'm having some bad luck this week, lost both headlights on the old mans 323 now.

Down 2 cars now, what's next? Bunch of GM fanboys set my Falcon alight in my driveway?

Hopefully there's no GM fanboys browsing the forum tonight

Maybe you should move the Falcon in and park the Focus in the driveway tonight

Franco Cozzo · 16-09-2012, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Thank your luck stars you don't have a runaway diesel issue.
My work mate has a MkV Golf TDI ... turbo suffered bearing failure and cracked the housing ... oil everywhere.

He came to a holt ... and the vehicle started revving it's guts out ... and dumping smoke out the exhaust like no tomorrow .... luckily he had seen clips on youtbue about it .... he managed to stall it (6-speed manual) before it consumed all of the engine oil and seized the engine.

The friend I picked up from Ford was saying they had an issue like that from an LW Focus diesel, it just started revving out for no reason and they couldn't find what caused it, it screwed everything.

Unfortunately we've got none of our 5 cars in the garage lol, they're all out in the driveway because we can't fit anything in there.

I've also left my tools at work so I need to buy another test light and get to diagnosing the old mans car. Funny we were mentioning that how much its been abused that the old mans 323 has been a good car not giving us any troubles, then no headlights.

**Mechan1k** · 16-09-2012, 07:54 PM

yeah runaway diesel syndrome is not good ... if you have a manual ... stall the thing before it kills itself.

It's like the old carby run-on issues with older cars ... you could turn it off and take the key out ... and it keeps running on.

Franco Cozzo · 16-09-2012, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

yeah runaway diesel syndrome is not good ... if you have a manual ... stall the thing before it kills itself.

It's like the old carby run-on issues with older cars ... you could turn it off and take the key out ... and it keeps running on.

Hmm, I'll have to keep that one in mind, didn't end up replacing the factory airbox as I spent time diagnosing the old mans car, blown 20A fuse on my wiring, replaced the fuse, one headlight out, checked power and earth at the ballast, no problems tested the globe on the other ballast, works fine, put the globe back in its assembly and plugged it back in and it starts working fine again.

Electrical gremlins give me the *****, it blew after I washed his car haha, which is interesting in itself as fuses don't just blow for the sake of blowing so there must have been an intermittant short there or something.

kevino · 18-09-2012, 05:54 PM

Whats the latest on the injectors?

fonfe · 18-09-2012, 08:01 PM

ONLY way to stop a runaway diesel is to cut a boost pipe FAST. (you have about 10 seconds. It's normally caused by a worn turbo that is leaking oil into the intercooler, once it fills up it gets carried into the inlet manifold then the engine starts revving up and up and up untill something gives (normally a rod out the side) this is why most land rover mechanics carry knives in their pockets whilst at work, take the boost out of the equation early enough and it stops the oil bing sucked in.
seen a few in my time including an Audi that was going flat out down the road towards a town centre cz the guy didn't think to put it into neutral

Quite rare for diesel to catch light in an engine bay, seen cars covered in diesel that never caught but also had a range rover sport brought into the workshop before because it caught light on the motorway! So have a fire extinguisher in TE car mate!

Franco Cozzo · 18-09-2012, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevino

Whats the latest on the injectors?

Car goes in on Friday at Sunbury Ford.

Not related but at work today I had a customer ring me up and ask if we were the ones to come to for electrical problems (auto electricians), I said yes and she explained me her problem:

Its a 2009 Ford Territory:

- Blows headlight globes all the time, usually every week.
- Rear driver side window motor dead, fixed by another workshop.
- Now rear passenger side window motor dead, its getting booked in for us to investigate next Thursday for the windows and lights issue.

She got pulled over by police for the headlights and she mentioned her problems to the officer, who said he also has the same problem with his Territory

and that Ford recalled the car.

She rung up Kyneton Ford and they said there is no recall for the car, so they won't look at it without charge.

I said to ring up Essendon Ford as they're usually a bit more forgiving with warranty issues, the car was out of warranty, 122,000km on the clock but at Honda we used to warrant things and meet customer half way with costs if it was over by a bit like this.

She gets back to me about 5 minutes later, saying they won't look at the car without charge because its out of warranty, and, get this:

The reason the globes keep blowing is because they aren't Ford globes.

I never laughed so hard in my life, I literally told her that its a load of ****.

We're putting money on alternator issue, maybe overcharging if its killing off electrical components in the car.

**Ratmick** · 18-09-2012, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

She gets back to me about 5 minutes later, saying they won't look at the car without charge because its out of warranty, and, get this:

The reason the globes keep blowing is because they aren't Ford globes.

I never laughed so hard in my life, I literally told her that its a load of ****.

I would have told her to get Ford globes and then take them back when they blow under warranty for free replacement.

In a similar vein I had my ISP explain to me on the weekend that the reason they couldn't bundle a 100Gb/month internet plan with my home phone to save me $20/month (like my current bundled 60Gb plan) was that the equipment in the local Exchange wouldn't handle it. All I say to that is that if you're going to bullpoop to an IT guy that's not under contract then be prepared to churn me to another provider that gives me a bundled 100Gb peak/100Gb off-reak plan for the same cost...seriously

.

Mick

Franco Cozzo · 21-09-2012, 08:07 PM

Drove it to Sunbury Ford this morning, diesel smell all through out the car, and you can even smell it 10m away from it.

Went into reception, they asked for my number, said it'll be ready by 2:30pm and how am I going to pick the car up?

(Lol 2:30pm, yeah right unless they have TDCI injector seals in stock)

Said I'll be at work, so I'll pick it up Saturday morning.

Don't know anything yet as they didn't ring me. Not too fussed though, I told my mate who works there if they don't cover it under warranty I'm not coming back for the car LOL.

I quickly swapped the airbox back over this morning to the factory setup, dissapointing can no longer hear the loud induction noise and its no way near as loud as it was in the cab anymore :(

Franco Cozzo · 22-09-2012, 05:19 PM

Update:

This morning I ring up Sunbury Ford to ask about my car, they said they can't tell me anything as the service department is closed. I said they were supposed to ring me Friday to tell me about my car, and they reckon they did, but I don't have any missed calls on my phone and there were no messages on the home phone.

They tell me the car is ready to pick up so I go over in the morning and go to the counter, they get me my keys and tell me they fixed it, I popped the bonnet, looks around the injectors, they had pressure washed the whole area so no more diesel puddles, they reckon they changed the fuel lines, I asked for the paper work but they said there was none because it was a warranty job (WTF?). Last warranty job I had done on the car at Essendon Ford they gave me paper work which listed they tested, tried to charge the battery but replaced it under warranty.

I started the car, and blue smoke starts coming out of around injector 3, if I bring the revs up, more smoke comes out.

I pointed it out to them and they reckon its just water drying up, but its giving off this odd smell.

I'm thinking they gave it the old karcher service, pressure wash the engine and **** the car off because there was no paper work which seems a bit sus.

I'm at trade school next week, I'm going to get the old man to drive my car all next week and see if it still does it.

FOCUSonTHIS · 22-09-2012, 06:57 PM

There could be some diesel around and just burning off. Hopefully it is and burnt away soon

Franco Cozzo · 22-09-2012, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FOCUSonTHIS

There could be some diesel around and just burning off. Hopefully it is and burnt away soon

I was also thinking that but just around that particular injector?

Franco Cozzo · 23-09-2012, 09:32 PM

Update:

I've done 120km since I picked up the car, its still smoking from injector 3 and I'm getting a strong smell of diesel fumes in the car when at low speeds or stopped.

**Ratmick** · 24-09-2012, 10:33 PM

Were you at Gisborne Station this evening Damo?

Thought I saw a white Focus with spotlights on the front waiting for the Express I was on.

Mick

Franco Cozzo · 24-09-2012, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratmick

Were you at Gisborne Station this evening Damo?

Thought I saw a white Focus with spotlights on the front waiting for the Express I was on.

Mick

Yep, that was my old man driving my car, I was on that train too LOL.

I was in the blue pants, blue/yellow shirt and a SBR jacket on with safety glasses on my head if you got onto the train at Southern Cross you probably would have noticed me if you walked by.

I had my old man do another 120km in it today, but its still filling the car with diesel fumes at low speeds and idle, he can't handle it so he is going to drive his car tomorrow.

Not only that but tonight I noticed that its coming out of the top grille since I put the cover on, I could see it in the head lights.

Car is booked in this Friday at Essendon Ford, they tell me if its Sunbury Ford's dodgy workmanship, it won't be covered under warranty.

Anything to get out of it, right?

**Ratmick** · 24-09-2012, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Car is booked in this Friday at Essendon Ford, they tell me if its Sunbury Ford's dodgy workmanship, it won't be covered under warranty.

Anything to get out of it, right?

Wtf? So if it's Sunbury Ford's dodgy work you have to pay for it yourself?

What recourse do you have if this is the case? Personally I'd be lubing the car up and driving it up the nearest service manager. That's a load of horse excrement.

Have to admit I didn't spot you. I arrived at Southern Cross with five minutes to go and found one of the available seats...and typically there weren't that many.

Mick

Franco Cozzo · 24-09-2012, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratmick

Wtf? So if it's Sunbury Ford's dodgy work you have to pay for it yourself?

What recourse do you have if this is the case? Personally I'd be lubing the car up and driving it up the nearest service manager. That's a load of horse excrement.

Have to admit I didn't spot you. I arrived at Southern Cross with five minutes to go and found one of the available seats...and typically there weren't that many.

Mick

Yeah, they reckon thats Sunbury Ford's issue and not covered under warranty if its the cause. I've tried to make it as clear as possible that they replaced the fuel lines and that its one of the injectors smoking, I heard him typing it out on his service sheet thingo while I was on the phone, so hopefully this goes smoothly.

No idea about recourse, there is no paperwork handed to me from Sunbury Ford so they could probably deny working on the car if it "disappears" from their computer system.