Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI issue

tight_arze

Hi

My wifes Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI sometimes hesitates and judders when accelerating. A local mechanic scanned it which gave injector and fuel pump fault codes.

Metal filings were found in the fuel filter and the mechanic advised the fuel pump could be breaking apart and the filings may have damaged one or more injectors. He changed the fuel filter and said to come back in after Christmas so he can diagnose and advise exactly what the issue is and what needs to be done.

The car is 2006 with almost 100k on the clock and has a £1200 private sale value. After researching online the repair cost is likely to exceed the value of the car. We are torn between paying to have the car looked at or just getting a new (used) car (max 4k spend).

We haven't driven the Focus over Christmas to prevent any further damage.

If we do get another car what should we do with the Focus?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

System

Bang it through the local car auctions if you don't want to repair it. The fuel filter will have caught particles big enough to have caused issues with the injectors so any remaining issues are likely to be from a faulty fuel pump.

Personally if replacing the fuel pump isn't going to be too expensive I'd be doing that first and seeing how it goes. Its certainly a lot cheaper than spending £3k or more to get another car.

qwert_yuiop

At an auction, at that age, it’s going to be “sold as seen”, with no guarantees given, and you can always let them know there’s a fault to keep your conscience clear. Someone might like to drive it for a while, then scrap it. You could always do that yourself.

ratrace

op, Ive done this job before yes it is the fuel pump that is causing the problem, what happens is that the fuel pump (delphi i think on a focus) grinds it self, then sends the small metal shavings down the fuel line which the filter does manage to stop the bigger ones but some smaller ones still get through which start to block the injectors up and belive it or not even the fuel tank manges to collect them via the return over time job job it self is not hard to done but on a car of that value its expensive

tank and fuel lines need to be cleaned also new/used fuel pump plus used/recon injectors etc... plus labour to do the job, you get the point its going to a lot

hope this helps

edit: also you need to know if the cam belt has been done if and what the clutch is like, as these have a dmf flywheel which is expensive so if you add all the cost up if they need doing its going to cost heck of a lot more on the whole

tight_arze

Thanks for the replies. An auction is looking like the best option.