Focus Inlet air leak?
Chris Bartram
I've just had a look at a neighbour's 1998/9 Focus 1.6. It's running
badly- the idle is a bit shaky and it's down on power. I did try to get
some fault codes out of it with VAG-COM in ODB-II mode, but it complains
and says the car isn't ODB-II compliant. Is this to be expected?
Anyway, a bit of hands-on investigation gave the sound of an air leak
around the passenger end of the engine- in the vicinity of the pressure
regulator. You can hear it with the engine running, and it's very clear
when you turn it off- there's a hiss for a few seconds. The way the car
idles and drives supports the air leak idea too.
We've wiggled hoses to no avail, and even tried the old 'spray it with
wd-40' trick (no plus-gas to hand!) to see if anything changes. Nothing.
Is there a common thing to look for? I did wonder about the manifold
itslef- it's plastic- but that looks a bit fiddly to get off to just
look at. The inlet trunking *looks* ok too, but we didn't remove it.
Thanks
Chris
Jason 2
"Chris Bartram" <ne...@delete.me.piglet-net.net> wrote in message
news:s%Hqi.5808$By5....@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
Leave it well alone if you don't know much about cars - or your neighbour
will be blaming you next. Anything that goes wrong will be as a result of
what you did in his mind. Tell him to take it to the Ford garage and get it
fixed. If you can't fault find and diagnose then I would doubt your ability
to fix it for him. You will end up ordering the wrong parts and be stuck
with them or break it and end up paying for the repair yourself. God knows
what you told your neighbour, but having someone that doesn't have a clue
and just sprays WD40 over the engine is a liability.
Don't be putting WD40 near anything rubber or near seals, pumps, aircon
parts or starter motors and alternators. READ what it says on the can. It
strips varnish and causes rubber to perish in no time.
It would be interesting to see the plastic inlet manifold!
Tell your neighbour to come to this group and I can ask him some direct
questions, then tell him what info to give the Ford garage to get it fixed
properly.
Chris Bartram
> "Chris Bartram" <ne...@delete.me.piglet-net.net> wrote in message
> news:s%Hqi.5808$By5....@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>> Hi Chaps
>>
>> I've just had a look at a neighbour's 1998/9 Focus 1.6. It's running
>> badly- the idle is a bit shaky and it's down on power. I did try to get
>> some fault codes out of it with VAG-COM in ODB-II mode, but it complains
>> and says the car isn't ODB-II compliant. Is this to be expected?
>>
>> Anyway, a bit of hands-on investigation gave the sound of an air leak
>> around the passenger end of the engine- in the vicinity of the pressure
>> regulator. You can hear it with the engine running, and it's very clear
>> when you turn it off- there's a hiss for a few seconds. The way the car
>> idles and drives supports the air leak idea too.
>>
>> We've wiggled hoses to no avail, and even tried the old 'spray it with
>> wd-40' trick (no plus-gas to hand!) to see if anything changes. Nothing.
>>
>> Is there a common thing to look for? I did wonder about the manifold
>> itslef- it's plastic- but that looks a bit fiddly to get off to just look
>> at. The inlet trunking *looks* ok too, but we didn't remove it.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Chris
>
> Leave it well alone if you don't know much about cars - or your neighbour
> will be blaming you next. Anything that goes wrong will be as a result of
> what you did in his mind.
That's a very suspicious mind you have ;-). Really, my neighbour isn't
that kind of guy. He'll be grateful of any help I can offer.
I do know enough about cars to get by. Not very much about the Focus, or
any ford really though. VAG floats my boat. A few years ago I did pretty
much everything myself- these days I don't have the time or the
inclination to fetch cars to bits too much.
> Tell him to take it to the Ford garage and get it
> fixed.
Not really a good option on a 3/4 kanckered, accident damaged (at the
back), 9 year old Focus worth three fifths of cock all. If he could
afford dealer daignostics, or indeed, independent garage diagnostics,
trust me, we wouldn't be looking at it. The pubs are open.
> If you can't fault find and diagnose
But I have. It has an air leak on the inlet side. I was hoping for a
pointer as to any common troubles to look at, as I'm not familiar with
Focii. It may have other problems too, but the air leak needs fixing.
> then I would doubt your ability
> to fix it for him.
I'm not going to. He'll fix it *if* we can be sure what's leaking. If we
can't find the leak, or we do find it and it's still running badly,
he'll have to take it to a garage. Anyway, how have you reached that
conclusion?
> You will end up ordering the wrong parts and be stuck
> with them or break it and end up paying for the repair yourself.
We're not intending to order anything yet, if at all. After all, it
could just be a split pipe that we can't see.
> God knows
> what you told your neighbour, but having someone that doesn't have a clue
> and just sprays WD40 over the engine is a liability.
In what way? I didn't spray it over the engine- just over the suspected
leak area. More conventionally plus gas was used for this. If you hit
the leak, the engine note changes slightly as it gets sucked in and
burnt instead of fuel. I wasn't doing what so many people do- blindly
spray WD over the engine in the face of any running problem- though
perhaps my original post was misleading if you've never heard of that
method if detecting an inlet air leak. It's a reasonable diagnostic
step, given that I had neither the time, energy, or inclination to
blindly start fetching the damn thing to pieces without knowing where
the leak was.
> Don't be putting WD40 near anything rubber or near seals, pumps, aircon
> parts or starter motors and alternators. READ what it says on the can. It
> strips varnish and causes rubber to perish in no time.
OK. I've *never* read the can, in over 20 years of working on cars. So,
following your advice, I did. It says nothing about plastic or rubber.
So I went and looked at the website.
[quote]
WD-40 can be used on just about everything. It is safe for metal,
rubber, wood and plastic. WD-40 can be applied to painted metal surfaces
without harming the paint. Polycarbonate and clear polystyrene plastic
are among the few surfaces on which to avoid using a petroleum-based
product like WD-40.
[end quote]
I'd be pretty amazed if there's a load of seals on the inlet manifold
area that get wrecked by a petroleum based product. don't you think the
manifold would have dissolved from the (petroleum based) fuel by now?
> It would be interesting to see the plastic inlet manifold!
> Tell your neighbour to come to this group and I can ask him some direct
> questions, then tell him what info to give the Ford garage to get it fixed
> properly.
>
>
If you do have some valuable knowledge I'd be very glad to hear it. The
neighbour doesn't have 'net access. What do you need to know?
Here's the facts so far:
The car has been running badly. It falters under accelleration, and the
idle is a little rough. The plugs & air filter have been changed, with a
slight improvement. I have a look, try the diagnostic software, with no
success. Looking under the bonnet, there's the sound of an air leak,
that I cannot see the location of. Is there a common failure point on
1.6 Focus cars that merits closer investigation, so I can *try* to save
this guy some cash, and he can run his clapped out Focus for a bit
longer? The car isn't worth much more than a few hours of professional
diagnosis- someone drove a 4x4 into the back of it and drove off, so
it's now a case of try and keep it running for a year or so.
mrcheerful .
"Chris Bartram" <ne...@delete.me.piglet-net.net> wrote in message
news:s%Hqi.5808$By5....@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
mondeo with similar engine suffers from a little breather pipe that holes
itself, it is where you describe, for easy access the coil pack has to come
off.
Chris Bartram
>
> mondeo with similar engine suffers from a little breather pipe that holes
> itself, it is where you describe, for easy access the coil pack has to come
> off.
>
>
Thanks- that sounds worth a look.
Wasnt Me
> and even tried the old 'spray it with
> wd-40' trick
That bloody stuff should be banned. You obviously haven't a clue!
Duncan Wood
wrote:
> Chris Bartram wrote:
>
>> and even tried the old 'spray it with wd-40' trick
>
> That bloody stuff should be banned. You obviously haven't a clue!
>
>
Give in trolling, it's obvious you have no idea why one would do that.
Dan
wrote:
Try unplugging the MAF, and see if that makes a difference. If it
improves things, then you can suspect an intake-side problem and
either the MAF has gone or there is indeed a vacuum leak.
If so, you will have to trace the source of that hissing somehow...
PS ignore twits. WD-40 is indeed perfectly safe.
Dan
Try unplugging the MAF, and see if that makes a difference. If it
Sandy Nuts
"mrcheerful ." <nbk...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:xNOqi.6069$By5....@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
The Mondeo doesn't have a similar engine, or anything like it TBH.
The problem with the Mondeo is on the Zetec E engines, there is a vacuum
pipe T-piece under the coil pack bracket that goes wrong.
The Focus 1.6 engine is a Zetec-S Sigma engine, inlet at the front jobby.
Derek Hornby
> PS ignore twits. WD-40 is indeed perfectly safe.
>
LOL Have you ever seen these idiots sitting there
sparing it over an engine thinking it will somehow
get it to start?