Morris Minor Owners Club

I know this is not moggie related but its the only place I know that one can get sensible answers. My son has a diesel 1.8 tdi ford focus estate (2004) it has developed a rattle on trying to start from cold, he took it to a local garage (to him in Nantwich) who told him that the heat plugs were the fault, so he booked it in for a service and mot.the problem return this time they said they thought it was the flywheel, they change it along with the clutch plate. Againg the problem returned this time on his way home from picking it up from the garage and stopping for fuel the fault returned. He is fast running out of money ( working as a kennel assistant with the RSPCA he does not earn much but hes happy in is work ) , does anyone have any ideas. How does one test that the correct power is in fact getting to the heater plugs,the relay. When I first heard it I thought that the starter was sticking and told him to take it to a garage because that what it sounds like when you try to start up the car from cold but now it happens had hoc. I was told that it might be one of the injectors faulty!!

I can't really give any advice to sort your rattle but your son should try a diffrent garage or there is probably a ford forum that might give you a better answer. If the rattle goes after the garage has done some work then they must be doing something to stop the rattle but unfortunately like most garages they will just keep changing parts (at your expense) until they get lucky.

Have you done the basics like checking nothing has worked loose on the stater motor, I don't think heat plugs are that hard to change/swap then you could see if the noise moves with the heater plug but again it's clutching at straws.

thanks Jeff, I have already said that the garage has changed h/pluggs & f/w.

" My son has a diesel 1.8 tdi ford focus estate (2004) it has developed a rattle on trying to start from cold, "

does the rattle occur when the engine is running or just when starting??

Does the rattle dissapear. or get quieter once the engine has warmed up?? Without hearing it is hard to tell but could be something like a big end wearing out, or sometimes an odd rattle/tick can be due to a cracked exhaust manifold, or exhaust manifold gasket. But being a diesel, you would expect this to be accompanied by a drop in power.

Hi CJ, it only happens when trying to start from cold, once started its like s**t off a shovel. I thought it might be down to a few things , heater plugs, (which he had changed) perhaps the relay for the plugs , weak battery, dirt from the DMF Flywheel got onto the starter motor drive!! the DMF F/W has just been change but not sure if the sm was cleaned, some one has told him it could be one of the injectors or the fuel pump!! the list is endless and also costly. No body these days seem to know how to do diagnostic faulting these days they just want to change it (what we in BT use to call poke & hope merchants).Did your son get the problem solved.

So does the sound go away once it's warm then?
If it does it could be glow plug related as they only do anything when you start from cold.

I've heard talk of injectors "nailing" which involves a nasty noise, but as I've never heard it so can't suggest quite what it sounds like.

A Ford forum would be a better place to look. I bet the same engine is fitted to half their range.

Hi MB yes like I said, once its started (after a few turns its perfect)its getting it started from cold that the problem is

You can test glow plugs with a meter to see what resistance they are.
Not sure what number to look dor but compare them.
Any that are open circuit are duff.

I could suggest the timing chain tensioners are on the way out. However im not an expert on the later 1.8 TD engines. (is it a TDDi or a TDCi?) What mileage?

There is a focus owners club - http://www.ffoc.co.uk

Latest update so far, during my sons lunch break today he just happen to mention his saga with his car to the works maintenance man who asked him had the garage tested the electrics on the car and he said i presume so!!!!. The mtce man said lests go and check, the first thing he did was watch how long it took the glow plug warning light to go off (2 seconds is all it was on for)glow plugs ok,relay ok, battery iffy!! alternator ok. It would seem that the battery is not holding its charge. He told him to get it confirmed with someone like kwik fit. So much for the garage that checked it out during the service and mot. They changed the glow plugs and then said that the DMF Flywheel was the cause which they changed.

the DMF will either be failed or fine! They do not cause problems that 'go away' - they will rattle badly or completely destroy themselves.

If the garage decided to change the DMF just because of a noise at start up then you should ask trading standards about it - as they are taking the mickey or just no idea how a car works

If the glow plugs all get hot - has your son been waiting for the light to go out? It's a bad habit which is easy to get on modern diesels, as most will start straight on the key. Stsarting before the glow plugs are hot can mean that they are not hot enough.
I've had one car where you had to gamble - up to 10 seconds to heat the plugs, but too long and the battery wouldn't crank the engine, and too short and it wouldn't fire (It needed a new battery, but funds were short at the time and a battery for a Landy with a 3 litre Perkins Diesel is not cheap!)

New Battery fitted all now ok

I've a Peugeot diesel. A few years ago, Winter starting involved extended cranking because one pre-heater had failed. That in itself seemed odd as I would have expected it to start but be 'rough and smokey' until pure compression gets the air in the failed cylinder to over 600° C and the fuel then ignites. Anyway, whilst cranking the engine will vibrate on its mounts and a noisy rattle ensued. I put up with this for quite a while and at an MOT/Service, raised it with the dealer. They said 'Oh, a new set of engine mounts/damper will fix it' but I didn't like that answer, since there were no other symptoms when driving of an insecure engine. A later thought from elsewhere was that it was an internal sound from a 'broken' Catalytic Converter. A new one was fitted and was the cure..