Diesel 03 Mondeo - Flashing Glowplug Light

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by poona

Hi guys,

Have any of you got this sorted as I have since last weekend been experiencing the same problems.

I rang Ford and they said it may be the CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR but I have been investigating on the internet and have noticed there's also a camshaft position sensor aswell.

Which is it and can I fit it myself?

Diagnostics by Ford is gonna cost me £55+vat - i'm thinking NAH!!

extracted from a website...

Camshaft Position Sensor (CMP)

The CMP scans a reference cam on the camshaft. The CMP sends an alternating voltage signal to the PCM. This indicates the firing position of No1 cylinder. This is only used when starting starting. after that the (PIP) signal takes over to control the injectors.
Crankshaft Position Sensor (CKP)

The CKP sensor is also an inductive pulse generator, like the CMP which scans 36 minus 1 cast protrusions on the flywheel. Minus one means that one of the protrusions is missing. This missing protrusion is located at 90º before top dead center and is used by the powertrain control module as a reference mark for the crankshaft position. The crankshaft position sensor sends an alternating voltage signal to the powertrain control module, which is used to determine engine speed and ignition timing.

The description above would tend to point to it not being the CKP sensor.

This is used for ignition timing - we are talking about Diesels here folks - there is no ignition to time

[LESTALAD]

Originally Posted by JMio

Just been quoted from the dealer for £195.09 for a replacement Camshaft Position Sensor, plus wiring & a recalibration of the injectors...



Ouch.! Ya bugger - I've only had the car a week!!! (Private Sale!)

i yhink i hav the same problem i to have 51 plate mondeo do you know what your engine codes were so ican check with mine

[Patcow]

Yes Same problem 03 Diesel Mondeo Flashing glow plug Light. Stuck in traffic lane 3 M6 no engine! Moving to hard shoulder on starter motor when engine fired. Next time at a roundabout,no engine! Moved on starter motor to safe place, called AA. Engine started again just before AA arrived. Explained situation AA followed me home and plugged diagnostic computer into socket under dash drivers side.There it was cam shaft sensor fault recorded twice. Looked in haynes manuel found where the sensor was (front of engine just below injectors.Went to local Ford Dealer bought a new sensor for £14 . It took about 10 minutes to fit it (one 8mm socket,wiring plug is a bit difficult to remove because of locking dimple on underside ) Problem solved car is running very smoothly.

[lofty1931]

Just for the record:- same car, 53 plate,59000 miles, same symptoms,no fault codes,nightmare for 12days & then I decided to not drive it any more as my nerves were shattered.Booked in to main dealer & got myself green flagged up there.Dealers drove it & luckily it broke down 5 miles from base so they were able to get fault code P0340 come up---camshaft position sensor. Costs were £170-- Diagnosis £69,Labour 1 hr £69,Sensor & wiring/plugs £32. She flies like a bird again !!!

[MilkTrayMan]

Hi Everyone!

I have a 53 Focus TDCi 115...Got it 3yrs ago when only 16K on the clock...now is 142K (...mainly motorway cruising).
Have had it serviced religiously @ Main Dealers roughly every 12.5K as per the manual.
At the 100K service (...had 104K on the clock @ the time!) I was told that it was overdue to have a new Cam Belt.

Unfortunately I couldn't afford it at the time, (...was quoted £200+) as was the start of the month, so decided to postpone having a new one fitted until next payday.

Within the next 1K I had the usual problem stated by others on this thread...i.e. loss of engine power, not starting, mis-firing etc etc.
I had it looked at by the RAC mechanic who said he couldn't do anything other than to take it to a Main Dealers.
The mechanic there told me that the car's ECU was programmed to "remind" the car owner to have it looked over by a Main Dealer at certain intervals???...

Last night on my way to work the infamous "Flashing Glow Plug Light" syndrome re-occured!!!

I was hoping to put off having the 137.5K service until after Xmas cos my MOT is due in Jan as well.
Some Xmas I'm going to have if I can't get my car booked into a garage asap before the holiday period as much long distance family visiting to do.

Methinks FORD wants this problem and is quite happy about it, as it
appears to be extremely common!!!

It spoils for me what is an otherwise great car to drive and will make me think twice about replacing it with an updated version when that time comes eventually.

[dreaddan]

I was under the impression that the mk3s all had cam chains not belts.
You may want to find a decent diesel specalest as they will be cheaper than ford direct. Some things they wont be able to do with the ECU but are alot better.

Dan

[MilkTrayMan]

Hi dreaddan,

Am not sure re: Belt Vs Chain?

Although cost is always a factor, it's the convenience that I've plumped for mainly.
I need my car to get to work and I can't afford to have it off the road, even for a day cos I work long unsociable shifts when there is no alternative public transport.

My main point was that FORD seem to be creating a captive market for their Dealers by perhaps designing into their product an over-zealous component that they surely know has caused lots of their customers heart/wallet ache.

If the component IS faulty or liable to failure surely they are party to knowingly selling defective goods?

If they become aware "after" selling of their products (...which they would be by studying Service Reports from their Dealers), then why don't they design the problem away and in the meantime provide free rectification?!

[syrill-sneer]

"The mechanic there told me that the car's ECU was programmed to "remind" the car owner to have it looked over by a Main Dealer at certain intervals???..."

I'm a senior technician at a Ford main dealer and can confirm this is NOT true. Who ever said this lying! The common problem where a simple ECU recalibration can cure the fault is the ECU 'losing' the injector values, and this is a genuine fault, which has since been cured.
There are many other faults which can bring on the glow plug light and in your case it may be a worn out/damaged injector which, after being reprogrammed may have extended its life for a short time, the same as tapping a blown light bulb and it works for a short period afterwards, but eventually blows again. Another common fault which can cause the symtons you describe is a failed EGR valve, but only retrieving the fault codes retrieved will tell the exact cause.
The only thing Ford use to remind owners that their cars need looking over are the service schdules. To think a mechanic actually thinks that the ECU would cause the engine to misfire, create excesive smoke, have poor starting etc. makes me wonder whether this guy actually knows anything about modern vehicles.

[24476247]

My 02 Mondeo TDCI Zetec brokdown last week in Northern France when on the A28 doing about 80MPH the glow plug waring lamp started to flash and the engine compleatly cut out?
I was towed to a local garage and the french mechanics told the AA that I need new injectors and pump without loking at the car, As this was to take them more than two weeks to lift the bonnet the AA arranged for the car to be returned to the UK. Once in the UK my local Garage pluged in their dionostics and found that the Crankshalft position sensor was faulty.
replaced sensor (£12.65) and all is well again!

[Bear77]

I also have the same problem of flashing glow plug light - first appeared in Feb 05 only 4 months after I bought the car! Then again in April 05. Cured it initially by having one of the injectors reprogrammed at a cost of £70. Now it's returned again - 1 week ago.

This time Ford want to replace the injector - a whopping £400 including fitting for just one injector.

If this cures it for good I'd be happy - but I'm not sure I want to take the chance that the other 3 injectors will follow suit!!!

[amd550]

Hi Wonder if anyone can help
Got a 53 zetec s 130 tdci. only got the car 7 months ago. since i got it i don't think it ran right. Me mam how drives it on some ocations told me the she was at a junction tryed to pull out and the car just din't want to got. Me dad who also drives it was sitting still putting his belt on when it just cut out he started it back up and away it went.
The is no faul showing but some day the car can run fine and other day it can run bad where it just doens't want to pull away.
I was drining it myself about a week back got to a junction to pull out. I did everything as i normaly do but tried to pull away and it died the reves went for 1700 to stalling.
My fuel consumption is also bad it onlt gets 40 MPG.
am i missing something or does it not sound right.
The car only has 40000 miles on it and i do a oil and filter change a 6000 as what the book says.
can someone help because its starting to happen more and more.
Ow another thing when the sengine is cold there is a loud ticking noise coming from the engine.
when you listen to it, is coming from the injectors.
If someone can help it would be great thanx

[chiefengineer]

Originally Posted by amd550

Hi Wonder if anyone can help
Got a 53 zetec s 130 tdci. only got the car 7 months ago. since i got it i don't think it ran right. Me mam how drives it on some ocations told me the she was at a junction tryed to pull out and the car just din't want to got. Me dad who also drives it was sitting still putting his belt on when it just cut out he started it back up and away it went.
The is no faul showing but some day the car can run fine and other day it can run bad where it just doens't want to pull away.
I was drining it myself about a week back got to a junction to pull out. I did everything as i normaly do but tried to pull away and it died the reves went for 1700 to stalling.
My fuel consumption is also bad it onlt gets 40 MPG.
am i missing something or does it not sound right.
The car only has 40000 miles on it and i do a oil and filter change a 6000 as what the book says.
can someone help because its starting to happen more and more.
Ow another thing when the sengine is cold there is a loud ticking noise coming from the engine.
when you listen to it, is coming from the injectors.
If someone can help it would be great thanx

I'd give Ford a call. I think there is a customer assistance number in the handbook. I found them very helpful. Also, check when the car was registered - it may still be under warranty. If so, take it to a Ford Dealer and get them to run diagnostics on it.

Jeremy

[Sparkie1723]

Just a quickie on this site I've been an auto spark for over 45 years ( I.m 70 now well nearly I'm 69 really)
I can safely say that the symtom of the glow plug light glowing can be caused by a 100 different causes that is why when some say this cured the fault on mine and some say that this cured it on mine the main problem with todays electrics and electronics, ther are so many electronic components monitoring what each other is doing, in some cases one component can be a little "iffy" another tells "itself" that its the one to blame, you replace that and it doesnt cure it the the other one still throws up the fault. .....In other words dont become a spark or you'll end up a "nutter" like me, thats what auto elec faults do to you



Saprkie1723

[Nitronick]

Not saying this is the cause of all flashing glow plug lights lack of power blah blah blah BUT

Remove the battery and battery tray.

You will then find 2 earth leads held in place by 10mm bolts ( if memory serves me well). Remove them and clean them.

Trust me its worth a try

[jackthom]

Originally Posted by syrill-sneer

"The mechanic there told me that the car's ECU was programmed to "remind" the car owner to have it looked over by a Main Dealer at certain intervals???..."

I'm a senior technician at a Ford main dealer and can confirm this is NOT true. Who ever said this lying! The common problem where a simple ECU recalibration can cure the fault is the ECU 'losing' the injector values, and this is a genuine fault, which has since been cured.

That's very interesting, I've been trying for some time to find out why injectors require re-calibrating with the original data. If this had been required due to wear and tear you would expect different calibration values to be required.
Can you be more specific about what sort of fault has caused the ecu to 'forget' these values and can I do anything with my '52 reg TDCI to avoid any more memory lapses?

[Chunwai]

Hi all I have been following your post with interest due to a simaler problem I am having, I have an 03 TDCI and every couple of days I get the flashing glow plug light then loss of power till the engine cuts out. Once the car as stoped I can restart fine and the car drive fine for another couple of days. I have also notice my fuel comp has dropped on the same journy from 50mpg to 47.7 mpg, I have had a friend of mine run dianostics which came back with 2 faults the break light switch which was a perm fault and I had this replaced and a fuel pump fault which I'm having to save up for. Hopefully replacing the fuel pump will resolve this problem I'll also ask for the fuel system to be flushed out just in case after reading some of the probs above. Ill post back and let you know how I get on.

[jackthom]

Originally Posted by Chunwai

.......... I have had a friend of mine run dianostics which came back with 2 faults the break light switch which was a perm fault and I had this replaced and a fuel pump fault which I'm having to save up for. Hopefully replacing the fuel pump will resolve this problem I'll also ask for the fuel system to be flushed out just in case after reading some of the probs above. Ill post back and let you know how I get on.

If the fuel system is showing low pressure it's possible that only the pressure sensor on the fuel pump needs replacing. Much cheaper than a new pump.