Glowplug light and loss of power

hi Lisa.

can't really comment on the ford electrics the mondeo I had ran faultlessly for all the 2years I had it.

however as a bye and bye and in general the glowplug light on most diesels doubles  up as an electrical fault warning light, so if a component goes down like say a sensor or the ERG valve (exhaust recycling valve) it puts the dash light on and sends a signal to the ECU that a fault as occured this in turn triggers the ECU engine management system to switch to safe mode to protect the engine.

the engine should still run but without the extra bits so it will run but the revs will be reduced the turbo will NOT kick in so reduced power, the auto advance will also be switched off so it may run lumpy.

on a restart the system will have effectivley rebooted its self to normal running untill the fault reoccures and the light comes on again this triggers the whole thing over again. like your home computer the system has a memory chip embeded in the system this can be read by the diagnostic equipment you speak of and a fault code displayed that tells technician where the trouble lies.

this happened on the megane and was traced to a sticking EGR valve which I cleaned thoughly and sorted the problem although it cost £35  to plug it into the equipment.

good luck tomorrow lisa hope it not too expensive to fix, lets us know what the problem was.

colin

Aw thanks Colin for the explanation, now I understand better how it works.

I was due to go on a trip tomorrow but obviously I've cancelled that so it can go in the garage to be looked at.   I'm going up to the lakes in three weeks, so I can't afford for the car to be faulty.

I'll let you know tomorrow night what the outcome was.

Thanks again. 

Lisa

Lisa,

My money too would be on the EGR valve. They are an absolute pain in the wotsit on most vehicles. They're supposed to cut emmissions, but with the number that fail (or get clogged up), the manufacturers will kick out more rubbish into the atmosphere than the things will ever save. Fortunately on the Mondeo they're not a big job.

Nigel.

Hi Thanks for the replies.  I took it to my local garage.  They hitched it up to the computer, I can't remember the exact words but he said its showing as fuel rail sensor??.  They reset it and said I need to take it to Ford, or an 'expert' who they suggested. 

I went to the 'expert' garage and by the time I left, I felt like hanging myself.  He said the findings of the first garage didn't mean anything.  It could be one of numerous problems.  He said he doesn't touch Ford diesel's big problem with mondeos, he had one himself, they always have problems with fuel related things, cost him £2000 to fix his which he promptly sold.  He said Ford would probably just download the latest software, then the problem would occur again after a few months, he's got friends with the same model as mine, all have had problems with them and all had got rid.  As I said, pass me the paracetamols. 

I've rang Ford and the earliest they can fit it in is next Friday, so I've booked it in.   £50 for the diagnostic test..

Lisa 

Sadly Lisa, this sort of thing is the norm for most modern vehicles! Even my 18 year old Range Rover suffers from "electronic trickery", though fortunately not to the same extent as modern stuff. Don't worry too much about the doom and gloom merchant - there are too many well-satisfied Mondeo drivers out there for them to be that troublesome.

We're off on our 3 month Eurojaunt next week, so my RR is going in for an inspection on Monday to check all the bits that I can't do myself. I've got fingers crossed that there's nothing wrong!

Good luck with yours.

Enjoy Appleby.

Emmerson x

Hi Emmerson

Thanks for your reasurring words, greatly appreciated.

Hope your RR is ok when its checked.  Have an absolutely great time on your Eurojoint.

Really looking forward to Appleby this year as things  will be quite different for me.     Meeting a VIP  but there's only a couple of people who know about it and I'm keeping it that way.   (How I've managed to keep it to myself and Phil, I'll never know).  LOL!

Might see you next year in Cumbria.  LOL!

Lisa

Hi Lisa,

It sounds like your "expert" really is an "ex" (has been) "spurt" (drip under pressure) if they don't know what a fuel rail pressure sensor is! Hopefully a proper diagnosis will sort the problem. If it is the sensor, I wouldn't think that it will be too much. When the light came on, did you notice if the car was smoking more than usual? If so, I still wouldn't rule out the EGR valve (which is quite a common issue). Sometimes they can just be thoroughly cleaned, but again a new one wouldn't need a second mortgage.

I wish you luck and hope that the problem is sorted both quickly and inexpensively for you.

Oh, and by the way, the Mondeo is one of the most underrated cars on the market in my opinion (and it seems, much of the motoring press!).

Nigel.

hi Lisa, just pick up on your reply and it was not what I expected ? however if I may refer to a comment i made before ie " so if a component goes down like say a sensor or the ERG valve (exhaust recycling valve) it puts the dash light on and sends a signal to the ECU that a fault as occured this in turn triggers the ECU engine management system to switch to safe mode to protect the engine.

so it sounds like it could be a faulty sensor although I fuly expected it to be the EGR valve BURP, all is not lost yet though because if the fault code has come up with rail sensor at least the mechanic will have a starting point to aim at please ignore the so called expert he does not know his ar$e from his elbow. for a start there are probably (not sure exactly on the mondeo) about 8 or 10 sensors connected to the ECU and range from simple temp controllers to metering gauges like the mass air flow sensor and ERG valve. without getting too technical each component will have a different fault code relating to its operation so a temp sensor for example could have a code say ET102 reading from the fault code list the diagnostic man had ET102 would be for a specific sensor relating to the engine temp.and so on.

a RAIL sensor referes to the sensor connected to the common rail diesel injection system that monitors the fuel balance and flow rate of the fuel going into the engine and THATS ALL the sensor its self could have developed a fault or some other component like a dirty or weak injector causing an inbalance in the system making the sensor trigger an abnormal reading putting the warning light on.

I suspect the so called expert did not want to get involved as he did not get the £50 for testing the car and was just making excuses to fob you off, good luck with the ford dealer on friday hope its just a faulty sensor easy repair and not too dear.

colin 

Hi LMH,what the mechanic has done has give you a good starting point.What he has failed to do is give you the FMI status of the fault code.This relates to"fault mass index"and for example the code that has been retrieved out of the EDC control unit may have 10 different meanings for the same code.This would narrow the problem down somewhat.I would think with this fault code you could have maybe 1 of 3 problems-

A faulty fuel pressure sensor,rarely do these play up.

An injector with excessive static leak back to tank,easily tested in situ.

A wiring issue between the fuel pressure sensor and the EDC control unit.

If it does turn out to be an injector,for gods sake dont be pushed in to buying genuine Delphi replacements,they/we can remanufacture the old units without the need for injector classification on fitment.Saving a lot of money.

See how you go on.

hi Lisa

how did you get on at the fords dealership??