TDCI Focus - Page 9

T.M · 15-09-2011, 04:23 PM

mate where did you get you XR5 springs from? how much did this lower the car by? considering getting some or alternatively eibach do some for the tdci as the focus sits almost comically high as standard

Franco Cozzo · 15-09-2011, 04:57 PM

I'll give the second thing a go tomorrow when i'm out and about.

Also I picked up the oil for my service, I got "LiquiMoly LEICHTLAUF SPECIAL | 5W-30"

http://www.liqui-moly.com.au/products/motor-oil/

Says on the bottle for EU Fiesta/Focus etc.

I got a 5L and 1L bottle for the service.

Turbodiesel · 15-09-2011, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T.M

mate where did you get you XR5 springs from? how much did this lower the car by? considering getting some or alternatively eibach do some for the tdci as the focus sits almost comically high as standard

I got them from a fordxr5turbo.com forum member. Wasn't sure what was going to happen but it worked out well. It only lowers the car by about 2cm all around, I was after better handling without having to scrape the front end out of every driveway.

Combined with the stock shocks there's a big difference and ride comfort is still great.

T.M · 19-09-2011, 12:49 PM

i reckon these could potentially look quite sharp.
thoughts?

Franco Cozzo · 23-09-2011, 05:18 PM

I've got the parts to get my Focus serviced, genuine parts, I got:

OEM oil filter

Carbon filter (they couldn't find the TDCI pollen filter on the Ford parts catalogue, so he sold me the XR5 one instead), was a bit more expensive, $55 trade price.

sump plug washer

and the oil I listed earlier.

Its going into my mechanic on next Friday.

Franco Cozzo · 30-09-2011, 04:34 PM

Got my Focus serviced today, replaced the gearbox oil with some fully synthetic 75W-90, shift is nice and smooth now, it doesn't resist trying to go into 3rd gear now when cold.

rustyo2000 · 01-10-2011, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T.M

image
i reckon these could potentially look quite sharp.
thoughts?

mate they look sick can ya post a pic of the wheels on the car if ya have one??

reggaeman · 09-10-2011, 12:21 AM

hey guys, been a while since i've been on here. as i posted earlier, got my lt tdci back in march i think it was from subaru in doncaster (was a trade in), recently had it serviced at donny subaru, came back with a violently shakey steeringwheel on the freeway, turns out it wasnt balanced properly and the alignment was out. but got that fixed, the main concern i have is the dpf, it seems that since i got the car, it blows out way too much black smoke up at 2k rpm, i asked the guys at subaru to have a look at it and they said it looks ok to them, but if it's a worry to take it down to ford... any ideas? dont know if im just being too particular myself, but thought being a 2008 diesel and having a dpf it shouldn't b too bad on the smoke... any suggestions/advice would be appreciated.

kevino · 09-10-2011, 10:53 AM

I have a 2008 TDCI and it blows smoke (quite a bit )from around 2500rpm. I sometimes drive it to emit smoke to get tailgaters off my tail as the smoke gets in their air con (qld). As they develop maximum torque before 2500 rpm its a waste of fuel driving over that rev range unless for safety you need a gob full of acceleration.

Some questions for you

Is it blowing smoke at 2000 or over 2500rpm?
Whats your drive -all suburban or freeway?
How many kms has it done?

I have read the best way to get rid of the crap etc is to hold it in third at say 2500 rpm at speed for a couple of minutes.

Franco Cozzo · 09-10-2011, 12:20 PM

Does that have the diesel particulate filter? Is it an LV?

I think thats what it stops, I'm not too sure.

To tell you the truth, I've really never taken the thing over 2000 RPM in daily driving unless I was testing it out once or twice.

My drive is 95% 100km/h highway, the last 5% would be in traffic around Tullamarine.

I've done just over 15,000km

Russ · 09-10-2011, 05:10 PM

As far as I know the DPF was only fitted to the later model Focus (from 2008) if your car has a DPF and you have a heap of smoke coming from it you have a problem. The DPF stops the smoke point blank, I had a 2008 VW Golf GT TDI with DPF and never saw any smoke ever in my 3 years of owning it. A word of advice to anyone with a diesel fitted with a DPF don't baby it, when you get the chance get in on the freeway and give it a good flogging, if you don't it will clog up and then the expense starts as they are not a cheap item to replace :(

Martyvan · 09-10-2011, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

A word of advice to anyone with a diesel fitted with a DPF don't baby it, when you get the chance get in on the freeway and give it a good flogging, if you don't it will clog up and then the expense starts as they are not a cheap item to replace :(

Absolutely Agree. dont necessarily flog it, but, make sure it gets hot enough for long enough to burn off all the particles that done come out the exhaust.

Mine has never had problems, even though, its written about the huge amount of problems diesel pajeros have with DPF's..... I just make sure it has a decent run every so often.... get the temps up... i can occasionally see if driving along at freeway speed, where i know the consumption is generally 9L/100km, it will show 11 or 12 for a while, and then will drop rapidly once it has finished its burn, at 100kph its only about 5-10 mins.

EDIT: Ive also never seen any smoke out of mine....

Russ · 09-10-2011, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martyvan

Absolutely Agree. dont necessarily flog it, but, make sure it gets hot enough for long enough to burn off all the particles that done come out the exhaust.

Mine has never had problems, even though, its written about the huge amount of problems diesel pajeros have with DPF's..... I just make sure it has a decent run every so often.... get the temps up... i can occasionally see if driving along at freeway speed, where i know the consumption is generally 9L/100km, it will show 11 or 12 for a while, and then will drop rapidly once it has finished its burn, at 100kph its only about 5-10 mins.

EDIT: Ive also never seen any smoke out of mine....

When I said flog it I didn't mean redline in every gear just give it a decent rev and don't baby it, and make sure the engine's at normal operating temperature before you give it some stick

reggaeman · 10-10-2011, 09:53 PM

Hey fellas, thanks for the input. Big Damo - it's an lt not lv. Russ- i'm under the impression that it does have a dpf, however there there is a considerable amount of smoke blowing out the rear, so if it does have one, and as you r saying that u dont see any on yours, mine may need some attention. as this is my first diesel, i dont really know where the dpf would b located (havent gotten my hands on a haynes yet). may need to take it down to ford and get them to have a squiz at it. Kevino & Martyvan - i do take it up to 2500rpm from time to time, but seems to still blow as much as it would at 2000rpm.... think the dpf may need a clean or service by the sounds of it (if it's got one in place)

LyleXR8 · 10-10-2011, 10:47 PM

Modern diesels shouldn't smoke at all being efi, only the old mechanical injected used to smoke when you bogged them down or had your foot buried, dpf is just pollution crap, all new diesel trucks, cars, 4 wd barely smoke anymore these days, and as said diesels like and need to be worked, not flogged, low revs, high gear and hold them flat, same as when you get to a good hill do the same, leave it in a higher gear and work it up the hill, they don't need huge revs, the hottest you'll get the turbo/ exhaust etc is when it's wide open at low revs.

Dustproof · 11-10-2011, 07:30 AM

I had an LT TDCi and it used to blow smoke, it only did it when feeding a bit of peddle, my LV doesn't blow smoke at all. I believe the LT doesn't have a DPF, smoke is something you will need to live with if this is the case.

If the smoke is Black, go get some Diesel conditioner and see if that makes a difference. Diesel grow an algie that causes the black smoke, by adding conditioner it kills off the algie. Either that or the injectors could be dirty and need a clean.

Sometimes the type of Diesel causes smoke, I use Caltex Vortex Diesel and the engine seems to run a little better and economy seems better too. I tried Bio-Diesel which was great on smoke, engine clatter and economy, unfortunately Ford say I can't use 20% Bio-Diesel.

Russ · 11-10-2011, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reggaeman

Hey fellas, thanks for the input. Big Damo - it's an lt not lv. Russ- i'm under the impression that it does have a dpf, however there there is a considerable amount of smoke blowing out the rear, so if it does have one, and as you r saying that u dont see any on yours, mine may need some attention. as this is my first diesel, i dont really know where the dpf would b located (havent gotten my hands on a haynes yet). may need to take it down to ford and get them to have a squiz at it. Kevino & Martyvan - i do take it up to 2500rpm from time to time, but seems to still blow as much as it would at 2000rpm.... think the dpf may need a clean or service by the sounds of it (if it's got one in place)

If your car is fitted with a DPF they are usually located within the first metre of the engine pipe as they require the heat to burn out the crap from the filter. I doubt that you have a problem with the DPF (or even have one fitted) as the more I think of it if you have a blocked DPF it is highly unlikely that the car would even be driveable and you should be getting a warning light in the dash similar to one of these

if there was a problem with the DPF. When you turn on the ignition you should be able to see one of these symbols somewhere amongst your dash lights if you do it should go off when you start the car, if you don't then the chances are you don't have a DPF. As someone else just mentioned you may be able to reduce the amount of smoke by trying different diesel fuels as well (ie: Shell, Caltex, BP...) try to avoid the no name servos as the last thing you want is a batch of crap diesel in it

Another option would be to run some diesel injector cleaner through it and if you use a product called Diesel Power (http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/onl...86#Description) you will find it should run much better.

Marlboro2728 · 11-10-2011, 09:13 AM

My LV blows some smoke when you try some rapid acceleration (never rev above 2200rpm). More noticeable at night when you have a vehicle behind, it shows up in their headlights. I don't believe the LV's have the DPF (according to two Ford dealerships). I seen this with late model VW golfs as well. The only downside to diesels IMO.

Turbodiesel · 11-10-2011, 09:26 AM

I have some bad experiences with Shell diesel, a few months ago after I filled it the car wouldn't start until about 5 cranks and some peddle. It was like that until I filled up with Vortex diesel and gave it a thrashing.

Starts first go everytime now, so evidently my advice is to avoid Shell.

reggaeman · 15-10-2011, 10:35 PM

thanks again for the input. a few of you have mentioned that the lt may not have a dpf, just to b on the safe side, i might still take it into ford. google searched the problem also, and one of the other ford focus forums mentioned something about an egr valve sticking, and in turn increasing the smoke output, may need to look into that also - any ideas regarding the egr valve? it's apparently a common problem with diesels. (last night when i took it out for a squizz, it looked to b blowing out smoke from 1500rm, Russ-none of those warning lights do come up, so i guess it isnt that after all - i dont put anything except bp in the tank at the moment, may give the diesel conditioner a squirt and see if that helps.

on another note, thinking of getting a sway bar for the rear and tortion bar up front, dropping it to the lowest legal height, and perhaps changing the springs - wanting to improve the handling when i take it down the winding roads, any advice there would b appreciated too.

thanks heaps for all the input so far yeah, really appreciate it all.

Franco Cozzo · 15-10-2011, 10:41 PM

What an EGR does is recirculates exhaust gasses through the engine to be burnt again, it could be that.

Franco Cozzo · 18-10-2011, 05:45 PM

Alright, I've got:

Eibach Pro-Kit springs
CODE:RED TDCI air intake
Rubber front and rear floor mats
Whiteline adjustable 22mm swaybar
whiteline rear camber kit
whiteline link kit

on the way for my Focus, they've all been paid for.

The next thing on my list is:

Airtec Gen 3 front mount intercooler
High flow cat
cat back exhaust.

Just to clarify, does anyone know for sure if these things have the DPF?

Russ · 18-10-2011, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Alright, I've got:

Eibach Pro-Kit springs
CODE:RED TDCI air intake
Rubber front and rear floor mats
Whiteline adjustable 22mm swaybar
whiteline rear camber kit
whiteline link kit

on the way for my Focus, they've all been paid for.

The next thing on my list is:

Airtec Gen 3 front mount intercooler
High flow cat
cat back exhaust.

Just to clarify, does anyone know for sure if these things have the DPF?

What month and year model is it mate ? Does it blow smoke ? I'm pretty sure if it's 2008 on... it will have a DPF :(

Franco Cozzo · 18-10-2011, 06:55 PM

Its an LV TDCI, 2010 model, it doesn't seem to blow any smoke.

I'm going to look into getting it removed anyways, I'm looking into a full exhaust system, jsut gotta find out if ill trigger any codes, which I know the cat will.

marg99 · 18-10-2011, 08:21 PM

I am told removing the DPF makes the car unroadworthy. You need to at least replace the sensors into the new exhaust or you will get error codes and upset the ECU. I gather getting an exhaust place to do the work is hard cause they are liable if the modification comes to the attention of authorities

DZFord · 18-10-2011, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Alright, I've got:

Eibach Pro-Kit springs
CODE:RED TDCI air intake
Rubber front and rear floor mats
Whiteline adjustable 22mm swaybar
whiteline rear camber kit
whiteline link kit

That's a solid setup. Will handle very well and have a bit more pick up with the intake.

Franco Cozzo · 19-10-2011, 01:58 PM

Good news is that I got an email from DHL telling me its been shipped, the springs and intake anyways.

Ill look into removing the DPF anyways, see how hard it is, I'm not too worried about the legality because its probably not something easy to spot. I'd be in more crrap for the intake because I'm a p player and its considered a performance modification.

Russ · 19-10-2011, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Good news is that I got an email from DHL telling me its been shipped, the springs and intake anyways.

Ill look into removing the DPF anyways, see how hard it is, I'm not too worried about the legality because its probably not something easy to spot. I'd be in more crrap for the intake because I'm a p player and its considered a performance modification.

Not trying to burst the bubble mate but if you remove the DPF the error codes will be the least of your problems, not only is it illegal (as you already know) but removing it will also VOID your warranty and if you do get pulled over by (in your case VIC roads) you could face a huge fine if they run a pollution check on it and it find that it is putting out considerably more than it should :( It's your call but I would advise against it. I'm not sure what you are hoping to achieve by removing it but if you are after an increase in power and even better fuel economy your best bet would be a flash tune (assuning you don't already have one), preferably one you can apply yourself and then remove when it comes to service time or if you need warranty work done

Just as an example these are the sort of gains you can expect from a flash tune on the turbo diesel engine

Franco Cozzo · 19-10-2011, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

Not trying to burst the bubble mate but if you remove the DPF the error codes will be the least of your problems, not only is it illegal (as you already know) but removing it will also VOID your warranty and if you do get pulled over by (in your case VIC roads) you could face a huge fine if they run a pollution check on it and it find that it is putting out considerably more than it should :( It's your call but I would advise against it. I'm not sure what you are hoping to achieve by removing it but if you are after an increase in power and even better fuel economy your best bet would be a flash tune (assuning you don't already have one), preferably one you can apply yourself and then remove when it comes to service time or if you need warranty work done

Just as an example these are the sort of gains you can expect from a flash tune on the turbo diesel engine

I've been talking to a couple of MK2 TDCI Focus owners on a diesel UK car club forum and they say that it starts to become a fire hazard once you start pushing higher power and torque figures and its a restriction along the line.

But what you say is correct, I'll just do a cat back exhaust for now, the intercooler, and a remap or flash tune.

I'm already going to be risking $1100 fine and 3 points for having performance mods on P plates, lol.

ConradP · 19-10-2011, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I've been talking to a couple of MK2 TDCI Focus owners on a diesel UK car club forum and they say that it starts to become a fire hazard once you start pushing higher power and torque figures and its a restriction along the line.

But what you say is correct, I'll just do a cat back exhaust for now, the intercooler, and a remap or flash tune.

I'm already going to be risking $1100 fine and 3 points for having performance mods on P plates, lol.

I'm on my p's I thought that everything was cool as long as it wasn't over a certian power + the whole no v8 or turbo/superchargers rule, as far as I knew a air intake and exhaust was fine D: