"Paul Giverin" <paul@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:hkseINDVcPkHFwxO@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> My Focus 2.0 TDCi had a problem in last spring where sometimes when you
> started the engine, it didn't quite reach idle and didn't respond to
> throttle inputs. The main dealer replaced the EGR valve but a month or
so
> later, it did it again. The dealer said there was no fault codes and
they
> couldn't reproduce the fault so nothing was done.
>
> The car has been fine throughout the summer but over the past few weeks
> the problem has reappeared. Today it took about 8 attempts to get the
> engine running properly. I drove to my dealer and booked it in for
> investigation next week. As I got into the car at the dealer..... a
lucky
> break. The engine didn't start correctly. The exhaust was belching out
> black smoke and it wouldn't respond to throttle.
>
> I dashed back into the dealer and said, "quick, the fault is present
> now... get someone to have a look". The service receptionist said, sorry
> our diagnostic technician isn't here at the moment. I pointed to the
other
> Ford technicians working in the workshop and she said they were not
> trained to operate the equipment. I said that it was im****tant that
> someone witnessed the fault because I knew that it was unlikely to
> reproduce the fault when it is booked in next week.
>
> The receptionist came out and witnessed the defect. I told her
(politely)
> that I would not accept any "unable to reproduce fault" excuse when it
> goes in next week. She said that Ford will not authorise any part
> replacement without a fault code present. I tried to keep calm because
the
> girl was quite young and I don't like to appear to be threatening but I
> tried to make it clear that my warranty conditions overrode Ford's
> instructions to its dealers.
>
> I left feeling quite shocked that these modern, well paid vehicle
> technicians can't do anything without a fault code. I'm an aircraft
> engineer working on modern aircraft. As you can imagine, we make high
use
> of built in test equipment and external diagnostic equipment but if the
> equipment fails to show up a fault and the pilot insists that there is a
> fault, we don't just give up. We go back to basics, troubleshoot on
paper
> and start replacing bits.
>
> Sorry, rant over. If Tim or anyone else has any idea what the problem
is,
> I'm sure my dealer will be very appreciative :)
As others have suggested and as a good dealer****p should do, updating the
ECU software ought to be done anyway when the car is in the dealer for any
work, diagnostics or not.
On a similar note, part of the issue is the dealer. A good dealer can
really help the customer when a car isn't quite right, but stubbornly
refuses to demonstrate the fault when you take it to the dealer.
When Kermy's TMAP sensor died, I had a pretty good idea what the problem
was
(mostly because the ECU re****ted that the TMAP had died, I'd followed
through various flow charts to check other issues such as vacuum leaks,
which can cause the same error).
The lad was close to undriveable so driving the 100 miles to my preferred
Ford dealer****p wasn't an option. The closest Ford dealer in York were
moderately useful but refused to accept that the customer could possibly
have read the fault code, so wanted the diagnostic charge to tell me what
I'd already told them.
Instead, I took the Ka to a slightly further dealer, where they had a much
more pragmatic approach to diagnostics. Shoot, even the Honda dealer in
York will rebate the diagnostic fee if you have the work done there.
The long and the short of the above... change the dealer?
--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com
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