2005 Ford Mondeo Injector trouble - advice needed.

ablelocks

flashing coil warning light, loss of power and then car not starting. Sent to Ford garage and the initial diagnosis was to replace the fuel meter, as well as give it a full service (was nearly due anyway). Then they also needed to replace the fuel filters but 2 hours later the mechanic discovered that all the injectors, pump and pipes need to be replaced - problem caused by contaminated diesel, he says it cannot be traced back to any one garage as it could have built up over time - but most recent fill was only last saturday, but not from my normal station.

€2700 to have the job done by the Ford Garage, €2000 quote from a specialist diesel repair garage - does that sound about right? I could do without this bill now - is there any chance this is covered by the car insurance?

Anybody have any issues like this before? Any recommendations of what to do next?

thanks.

edit - 2.0l TDCI engine

Damien360

The 2.oTDCI mondeos have a very well known issue with injectors. I am suprised that the Ford dealer did anything other than look at injectors. I was told that it could be dirty fuel on mine also but a quick search will show you how many of these mondeos have the exact same problem in the UK and Ireland.

They will likely offer 2 choices.

1. replace all injectors for new ones. Don't bother just doing one or 2 as it is a waste of time and they will tell you it was'nt the new ones when they re-block. How are you going to check.

or

2. recondition the existing injectors which never worked for me. I was back 3 months later.

yop

That price seems ridiculously expensive no? I have been told more like 1200 for the injectors.

Have you priced around?

ablelocks

yeah, ford mechanic told me to replace all 4. as far as i know, it's not just the injectors that have to be replaced, but pump and piping too. I've asked my local mechanic to see if he can do any better, but he was talking of reconditioned injectors to bring the price down.

As an aside, he got in a toyota hilux yesterday with similar problems and that driver had filled up at the same station as i had on Tuesday. Is it worthwile pursuing the filling station - I'm assuming it would be difficult and expensive process to prove it was their diesel that caused the problem?

do ye think this is covered by insurance?

yop

Insurance won't touch it, maybe try the fuel station but it will be hard.

Do you want to tell us where it is in case anyone else gets nailed?

ablelocks

it's not just injectors that have to be replaced - the whole fuel system - pump, injectors, rail and pipes - is contaminated with dirt and metal particles. mechanic says this can't be pinpointed to the specific garage as it could be a build up over time, but i remain suspicious on the garage in question following some comments from people over the weekend.

not sure about naming here - i'd have no problem blacklisting them but don't want any legal actions arising from something that is very difficult to prove?

Piri

ablelocks wrote: »

it's not just injectors that have to be replaced - the whole fuel system - pump, injectors, rail and pipes - is contaminated with dirt and metal particles. mechanic says this can't be pinpointed to the specific garage as it could be a build up over time, but i remain suspicious on the garage in question following some comments from people over the weekend.

not sure about naming here - i'd have no problem blacklisting them but don't want any legal actions arising from something that is very difficult to prove?

Dou you have the till receipt for the last tanking?
What is you motor code? (D6BA
HJBA
HJBB
HJBC

??

MidlandsM

Looks like you got a fill up of NASTY FILTHY Fuel op.

tred

MidlandsM wrote: »

Looks like you got a fill up of NASTY FILTHY Fuel op.

OP have you being using any fuel additive of late / Redex or millers etc???

Ask them to recode the injectors and see what happens, I had the same issue with mine 3 years ago, i asked him to recode, but he said "it probably come back, but hasnt........
keep your fuel filter changed.

shamwari

OP, the problem you have unfortunately encountered is not new. Ropey diesel causes cavitation inside the high pressure pump, and this in turns pumps swarf around fuel system, which takes out the injectors.

Any time I service a common railer, I decant as much fuel as I can out of the original diesel filter and I check it for signs of metal contamination. It appears as small iron filings in the fuel. If your mechanic did this and found contamination, then this coupled with any fuel system fault codes found would be indicative of the need to replace the HP pump, injectors, and a complete flush of the system (tank, pipes etc). The €2000 you were quoted is not bad going considering the cost of parts and labour, and I would have thought you would have been lucky getting away with €500 more than that!

Getting back to this issue of the garage, I don't know which, if any, of the state agencies (Customs, Weights and measures in the local authorities) are responsible for monitoring the quality of the fuel. If you and the Hilux owner can obtain fuel samples from your vehicles which both contain the same contaminant(s) then I think you may have a case.

Incidentally, my brother recently purchased fuel when low at a "hillybilly" garage on Dublin's northside recently. The car ran tractor-like for a while and logged a fault code for one injector. A new diesel filter and a refill with fresh fuel cured that. A drive-by of the said garage later showed that the operators seem to have fitted some sort of inline filter device in the hose between the fuel pumps and the nozzles on all of their pumps. I suspect they know something about the quality of their fuel which others may not.......

MidlandsM

Washed diesel in this country is also an issue, especially round border counties but in any county to be honest.