D40 Limp mode .... mornings only

[Brenton]

Hey everyone

New to this . Having an issue with my 2011 D40 stx . I’ve read through the forum and read as many threads as I could find concerning my issue and in the process made some enquires , checked some things , purchased and replaced parts etc etc but I can’t seem to put my finger on why ?
It goes into limp mode with no engine light or codes coming up . As I said I’ve read threads about this and how it could be the scv , boost valve , air intake , rail sensors , ecu reboot etc but my car is selective about when it goes into limp mode ....

Only in the morning. I drive to work in limp ( I’m in WA) , I warm it up for 5-10 mins and doesn’t help , pull over and restart etc but nothing . But once I’m at work (15 min drive ) and let it sit for 10/15 mins then my car runs fine and every day after work it runs fine .

Ive spoken with the mechanics and auto electricians where I work and everyone is a little stumped at the moment

Any ideas to guide me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Old.Tony]

It really does seem like an odd problem. There's a couple of things to try (inexpensive).

1) First thing in the morning, pop the bonnet prior to starting and prime the fuel system. It should only take 4-5 squeezes at the most before it gets fir,. If it takes more than that, keep going after it does firm up so you can overpressurise the system in that area and see where the leak is. It could be hoses, it might just be the water sensor not mounted properly.

2) Crack the fuel cap so that it sits loose. Usually this resolves a failing SCV which does tend to show slightly different symptoms but it's free to try.

3) Check the vac hoses. Try turning them on their connections - they should be stuck fast, and not allow you to turn them easily. If they turn easily, the rubber's gone hard and may be allowing vac to escape, which inhibits control of the turbocharger and makes the car run very poorly. This sort of problem shouldn't just be evident when the air is cold though - I'd suspect the fuel system.

It would be interesting to see how it starts and runs at 9pm tonight, and again at 2am.

 

[Brenton]

It really does seem like an odd problem. There's a couple of things to try (inexpensive).

1) First thing in the morning, pop the bonnet prior to starting and prime the fuel system. It should only take 4-5 squeezes at the most before it gets fir,. If it takes more than that, keep going after it does firm up so you can overpressurise the system in that area and see where the leak is. It could be hoses, it might just be the water sensor not mounted properly.

2) Crack the fuel cap so that it sits loose. Usually this resolves a failing SCV which does tend to show slightly different symptoms but it's free to try.

3) Check the vac hoses. Try turning them on their connections - they should be stuck fast, and not allow you to turn them easily. If they turn easily, the rubber's gone hard and may be allowing vac to escape, which inhibits control of the turbocharger and makes the car run very poorly. This sort of problem shouldn't just be evident when the air is cold though - I'd suspect the fuel system.

It would be interesting to see how it starts and runs at 9pm tonight, and again at 2am.

It really does seem like an odd problem. There's a couple of things to try (inexpensive).

1) First thing in the morning, pop the bonnet prior to starting and prime the fuel system. It should only take 4-5 squeezes at the most before it gets fir,. If it takes more than that, keep going after it does firm up so you can overpressurise the system in that area and see where the leak is. It could be hoses, it might just be the water sensor not mounted properly.

2) Crack the fuel cap so that it sits loose. Usually this resolves a failing SCV which does tend to show slightly different symptoms but it's free to try.

3) Check the vac hoses. Try turning them on their connections - they should be stuck fast, and not allow you to turn them easily. If they turn easily, the rubber's gone hard and may be allowing vac to escape, which inhibits control of the turbocharger and makes the car run very poorly. This sort of problem shouldn't just be evident when the air is cold though - I'd suspect the fuel system.

It would be interesting to see how it starts and runs at 9pm tonight, and again at 2am.

Cheers Tony

Will check the sensors out further .

I’m purchasing a SCV anyway , can’t be any worse .

Mechanics and I have checked all hoses ,can’t find anything as of yet .

I’ll take it for a drive at 9pm
2am ?? Ha !! I can do 4am .

thank you

 

[Brenton]

It really does seem like an odd problem. There's a couple of things to try (inexpensive).

1) First thing in the morning, pop the bonnet prior to starting and prime the fuel system. It should only take 4-5 squeezes at the most before it gets fir,. If it takes more than that, keep going after it does firm up so you can overpressurise the system in that area and see where the leak is. It could be hoses, it might just be the water sensor not mounted properly.

2) Crack the fuel cap so that it sits loose. Usually this resolves a failing SCV which does tend to show slightly different symptoms but it's free to try.

3) Check the vac hoses. Try turning them on their connections - they should be stuck fast, and not allow you to turn them easily. If they turn easily, the rubber's gone hard and may be allowing vac to escape, which inhibits control of the turbocharger and makes the car run very poorly. This sort of problem shouldn't just be evident when the air is cold though - I'd suspect the fuel system.

It would be interesting to see how it starts and runs at 9pm tonight, and again at 2am.

One thing I forgot to mention
The cruise control doesn’t work once in limp mode
I read about the clock spring etc , do you think this is part of the issue even though it’s only mornings ?

Thanks again

 

[Old.Tony]

The cruise not working will be something else, it's unlikely the clock spring will break when the car is cold and fix itself once it warms up. Now there might be something in the clock spring if you notice it failing/working on a change of steering input - I had that problem myself (had to turn the wheel slightly to the left to use the horn). The cruise control might be failing through some other gremlin that's snuck in. I did notice when I had my Tillix valve open too far that I'd overboost and the car would go into an artificial limp mode, which was especially annoying when it kept happening as I climbed hills towing 2.5T. Do you have any boost figures? It's possible that the BCS is allowing too much boost when it's cold. Otherwise, cruise is primarily governed by the brake switch and clutch switch (in a manual).

The idea behind checking it at 9pm is that the car is most likely to have been parked for about 3-4 hours by then, and if there were a small air leak in the fuel system it's possible that it would still start. Overpriming the system will figure that out anyway, so I'd try that. Just be aware it's going to spill diesel so hopefully you aren't parked inside!

 

[Brenton]

Still limping .
But only when I switch my headlights on now .
otherwise it runs perfect. Ideas ?
Going into the auto electricians next week for a full scan

 

[Old.Tony]

I can't fathom what might cause that, except either a battery that's heading south or bad battery terminal connections or an alternator that's on the fritz.

 

[user 10312]

except either a battery that's heading south or bad battery

I think you may be on the right track. A crook battery can cause all sorts of weird problems with CANBUS electrical systems. You know, maybe that big current draw in the morning along with headlights on?? Dunno.

Bit off subject but for example when I plug in my Canopy (I have setup where I can put on and take off fast) It throws the air bag warning light. How that happens I have no idea but I reset and it's all good.

 

[Old.Tony]

It's entirely possible that there's enough current draw to knock out a sensor temporarily. One that is required when the engine is cold, and not so much when the coolant temp is high enough ... won't be the EGR, when it's cold it basically doesn't operate. It shouldn't be MAFS, or boost pressure sensor. It's a 2011 car, so not much different to mine in sensor layout, so there's no EGT sensor or anything like that. DPF? Now that might do it. Knock the power out on one of the DPF sensors and see what happens when you crank the car ...

Okay, here's something to try. Under the car (assuming yours is an auto) under the front passenger footwell is a large expansion in the exhaust system. There will be TWO electrical sensors in this, and TWO metal tubes that head up into the engine bay (actually, this might also be an issue - we'll get to that in a sec). Unclip BOTH electrical sensors, then remove the sensors, clean the threads etc and reinstall. Oh, earth to the exhaust ... might have to do some magic there to achieve that if the gaskets are insulating it. Sorry, thinking about things as I'm typing.

Reinstall the sensors. Let's hope the exhaust earth is ok.

The two tubes run up into the engine bay to a small black sensor that sits between the ABS unit and the left hand inner wheel guard. Pull the electrical connector off this and reinstall. I've never heard of this failing but electrical connectors can fail with a single swipe of a pressure washer.

Try that, see how it goes. You might need to add an earth to the exhaust system somehow, so the sensors in the exhaust have a good earth - but only if the above has failed.

 

[Apdnarg]

Interesting reading this post. My wife has a 2012 ford Kuga, which is doing the exact same thing your vehicle is doing except, it doesn't matter what time of the day it is. She can drive about 150m before it goes into limp mode, once she turn the vehicle off and back on, she can do another 150m or so before it goes back into limp mode. At one point she went to turn it off and it wouldn't turn off, we had to disconnect the battery, once we did that it ran just fine for another 150m. Curious to see how you fix your issues.

 

[[email protected]]

engine not turning off , faulty ignition relay?? earth ?? i think that happened to me once on an older engine , but its that long ago that i cant remember the cause, these modern cars have got me a little confused ,my ex 2007 ssangnon would go into limp mode .once threw about 10 codes ,i replaced one sensor and the codes disappeard. some of the things i replaced that caused limp mode 2 throttle bodies 1 boost solonoid(i think thats what its called) ,, leaking injector then wouldnt start....... occasionaly in my np300 using both feet, on take off, if i have foot on brake and touch eccelerator at same time, it goes into limp mode immediately. it fixes itself after about 10 seconds of foot off eccelerater and brake.

 

[Apdnarg]

The not shutting off only happened the one time, but we finally gave up on trying to figure it out and had the vehicle towed to the ford mechanics in Musewellbrook. Once it's fixed it going, nothing but problems since we've had it. And I agree these new vehicle with all the electronic control is mind boggling.

 

[[email protected]]

i have found RACV very helpfull they will read codes ,or if no codes but you have a problem,they may still able to offer a solution,
with my commodore they fitted a battery when they started the car and saw the engine light on they did a code check and come up with 3 codes

 

[[email protected]]

automatic transmission , some problems will cause limp modes untill they warm up

 

[Apdnarg]

Well it turns out the limp mode, along with the faulty computer in Ford Kuga, the Ford Mechanic said that the vehicle had extensive rat damage, yep I said rat damage, extensive, so it turns out it's covered under our insurance and now being towed to a auto electrician, somewhere

 

[[email protected]]

i just put a rat block in all my cars

 

[Old.Tony]

I guess the first question we should then ask is "are there any teeth marks in the wiring?"!

 

[user 10312]

along with the faulty computer in Ford Kuga, the Ford Mechanic said that the vehicle had extensive rat damage, yep I said rat damage, extensive,

Mate of mine had white tail rats eat into the loom of his rather lovely Golf GTD. Luckily for him, he to had his insurance company cover it. Was a pretty expensive repair to. Bloody rodents.

 

[Billy54]

Fire crews found a rats nest in the engine bay of a burnt out car in the news. If there are rats and mice about leave the bonnet up over night they wont nest.

 

[[email protected]]

1 put bait in engine bays in my 3 cars 4 days ago , lifted the bonnet on stationary one yesterday and the block was half eaten .. walked across to pick up a piece of plastic that the wind had taken and found 4 mice scurring out. took a walk around to check blocks in buildings and they were all eaten , damn things breading like MICE. it gets cold up here in the nth east ranges , i think we are going to need lots of frosts and rain to freeze them out.