Rather than continue with what I was writing up in my other thread (Non-trip, trip report) of the saga of repairing my Ranger I think it best to put something here to warn fellow Ranger/BT50 owners.
A summary: Engine lost power and went in to a "limp home mode", but without the usual dash warning light and no Fault Codes, even on genuine Ford Dealer diagnostic equipment. Loss of power happened very quickly and about the best the car would do with the 2500 Kg van behind was about 40 kph. Car has spent the last 6 weeks as of yesterday in with the Dealer trying to find the cause of the problem. Problem was very much temperature related but depending on ambient temperature and driving conditions this failure would take place anywhere from half an hour to one and a half. Without the van on behind it was possible to get up to around 90 kph but very slowly. I don't know what would happen if the journey was continued and/or the temp rose higher. In consultation with Ford themselves numerous sensors were swapped with known good ones, one at a time then test driven, and various other comparisons were made with a working vehicle. Engine computer was twice swapped with alternates as they weren't sure the first one was a correct same version. All accessories fitted by others or myself were disconnected to eliminate non Ford possibilities. Genuine Limp home mode was initially discarded as they thought that all such situations brought on a dash warning and Fault Codes. Even the injectors were replaced. The one difference noted but also initially discarded was a higher than normal fuel temperature reading on the sensor at the engine mounted pump. Last week they went back to that possibility and it was found that when the sensor was removed and left hanging and measuring ambient air temp no problem existed. Finally the fuel pump was replaced and problem apparently cured.
Today I picked up the car and will now do my own testing to try to verify whether it has fully gone away. Part of the delay has been due to our location and the inevitable delays we experience in getting parts delivered but I believe there has been an issue with Ford itself not taking more interest in the issue and trying to speed things up.
From what I've been told the fuel temperature ranges from about 40 - 60 degC normally but mine was getting in to the 80's. Apparently at about 83 the problem started to develop but at 84 it was going in to reduced power mode but with no notification of the problem. This has been discussed with Ford and is an issue that has to be investigated. I would hope that out of the inconvenience to us that some good will come out of it and a software update will happen to ensure that others don't suffer similar lengthy delays in locating the problem. With the similarities between them this could well be a BT50 possibility as well.
I will still be talking to the Case Manager that was assigned to me in a few days time and most certainly the 6 weeks timeframe will be discussed further and the problems it caused us. The only actual Dealer issue that I have was with whoever there decided that I should have to pay to refill the tank to continue test drives and eliminate a possibility that the fuel pickup was drawing in some air. My paying for it was immediately refused and was thankfully backed up by the Case Manager just as quickly. It should never have been mentioned though.
I'd be really interested to find out if this issue has happened elsewhere as from my Dealer and Ford discussions so far they haven't mentioned any other incident. If it had I would have expected a much quicker resolution. This doesn't mean that we are happy with it all but we finally do have the car back but it will take a while to regain some trust in it. It wasn't very pleasant to have it go in to reduced power mode so quickly with trucks behind us. I would regard this as a safety issue.
If I hear anything more of interest or it fails again I'll update this. There are a couple of other Forums that I'll post this on as well for peoples interest.
Phil
A summary: Engine lost power and went in to a "limp home mode", but without the usual dash warning light and no Fault Codes, even on genuine Ford Dealer diagnostic equipment. Loss of power happened very quickly and about the best the car would do with the 2500 Kg van behind was about 40 kph. Car has spent the last 6 weeks as of yesterday in with the Dealer trying to find the cause of the problem. Problem was very much temperature related but depending on ambient temperature and driving conditions this failure would take place anywhere from half an hour to one and a half. Without the van on behind it was possible to get up to around 90 kph but very slowly. I don't know what would happen if the journey was continued and/or the temp rose higher. In consultation with Ford themselves numerous sensors were swapped with known good ones, one at a time then test driven, and various other comparisons were made with a working vehicle. Engine computer was twice swapped with alternates as they weren't sure the first one was a correct same version. All accessories fitted by others or myself were disconnected to eliminate non Ford possibilities. Genuine Limp home mode was initially discarded as they thought that all such situations brought on a dash warning and Fault Codes. Even the injectors were replaced. The one difference noted but also initially discarded was a higher than normal fuel temperature reading on the sensor at the engine mounted pump. Last week they went back to that possibility and it was found that when the sensor was removed and left hanging and measuring ambient air temp no problem existed. Finally the fuel pump was replaced and problem apparently cured.
Today I picked up the car and will now do my own testing to try to verify whether it has fully gone away. Part of the delay has been due to our location and the inevitable delays we experience in getting parts delivered but I believe there has been an issue with Ford itself not taking more interest in the issue and trying to speed things up.
From what I've been told the fuel temperature ranges from about 40 - 60 degC normally but mine was getting in to the 80's. Apparently at about 83 the problem started to develop but at 84 it was going in to reduced power mode but with no notification of the problem. This has been discussed with Ford and is an issue that has to be investigated. I would hope that out of the inconvenience to us that some good will come out of it and a software update will happen to ensure that others don't suffer similar lengthy delays in locating the problem. With the similarities between them this could well be a BT50 possibility as well.
I will still be talking to the Case Manager that was assigned to me in a few days time and most certainly the 6 weeks timeframe will be discussed further and the problems it caused us. The only actual Dealer issue that I have was with whoever there decided that I should have to pay to refill the tank to continue test drives and eliminate a possibility that the fuel pickup was drawing in some air. My paying for it was immediately refused and was thankfully backed up by the Case Manager just as quickly. It should never have been mentioned though.
I'd be really interested to find out if this issue has happened elsewhere as from my Dealer and Ford discussions so far they haven't mentioned any other incident. If it had I would have expected a much quicker resolution. This doesn't mean that we are happy with it all but we finally do have the car back but it will take a while to regain some trust in it. It wasn't very pleasant to have it go in to reduced power mode so quickly with trucks behind us. I would regard this as a safety issue.
If I hear anything more of interest or it fails again I'll update this. There are a couple of other Forums that I'll post this on as well for peoples interest.
Phil