OK.... It's not about a Mercedes.

[mercedes13156]

Hi.

I bought a Ford KUGA 163bhp 2 litre TDCi 4 wheel drive after Scottish Fire and Rescue turned my C Class into a convertible in order to get me out.

It's a really nice car, but the Ford KUGA Forum is about as much use as my old C Class and I need some advice before I take it back for warranty work.

Here goes.... The exhaust pipes are really sooty despite it having a DPF. If I clean out the last 2 inches, they soot up again within a few miles. There is no black or other coloured smoke. There are no Limp Modes, dash lamps or warnings as seems to be common when there are issues with the DPF on this car. What is happening is that when a regen starts, instead of the smoke / fumes exiting via the exhaust pipes at the rear, they come out of the engine compartment, clouds of it. This is accompanied by a really bad smell of unburnt diesel. The first time it happened, my wife was driving and she thought the car had caught fire. I've had some horrified stares from other drivers at roundabouts.

In general, the car is as economical as my C Class (46mpg average), it accelerates well and nothing else appears wrong with it and it only needs a couple of minutes of running above 2000rpm to initiate the regen. I immediately thought it might be a hole in the exhaust / DPF, blocked EGR, blocked pipes to the pressure sensor, faulty pressure sensor or a even a blocked DPF, but these all trigger limp mode, and dash lights, mainly the engine light and I've got nothing like that.

I haven't managed to source a proper FORD diagnostic scanner yet. Any clues? Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[John Laidlaw]

That’s not good.
Blocked DPF was my first thought, but as you say that should trigger a limp
Icarsoft do a Ford Version i920 on Amazon for £104 + delivery
If its as good as the MB one then that should work for you

 

[Wighty]

Has someone removed the Dpf "guts" and rewelded the casing ?

 

[Lord_Lucan]

If you bought from a garage/dealer can you not take it back?

 

[mikestrivens]

DPF removed or dash warning lights removed???

 

[Frontstep]

Why would removing the DPF cause blow back ?
If fumes are in the engine compartment thats where I would start or as it has a warranty thats where I would let the warranty provider start.

 

[ajlsl600]

blockage or system interfered with

 

[mercedes13156]

It’s going back to the seller for fixing. I just wanted to know what I was talking about before I went. I stuck the 980 on it in obd mode and there’s no faults showing but you’ve given some good starters for ten. I can’t see anything obvious that’s been altered or botched and I’ve never had a Ford or a DPF before so although a car is just like any other car I was looking fo some guidance. I’ll let you know how I get on. Thanks!

 

[turbopete]

It’s going back to the seller for fixing. I just wanted to know what I was talking about before I went. I stuck the 980 on it in obd mode and there’s no faults showing but you’ve given some good starters for ten. I can’t see anything obvious that’s been altered or botched and I’ve never had a Ford or a DPF before so although a car is just like any other car I was looking fo some guidance. I’ll let you know how I get on. Thanks!

for Fords, look on ebay at getting a modified ELM 327 cable and FORSCAN programme for a laptop. this is similar to the one I got (elmconfig is for reprogramming the various modules and is a pay for programme but Forscan is free)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELMconfig...904899?hash=item1c97629643:g:p5AAAOSwEK9UI-NU

as far as I can tell on my Mondeo and other cars ive tried it on, its about as close as you can get to the dealer level for diagnostics, especially for a sub £20 cable and free software. I rate mine highly, and I'm not the only one.

as for the blowback, the pipes on the 2.0 from the DPF to the pressure sensor are prone to splitting. also the DPF will only stop soot particles to a certain size. it wont stop smoke so the exhausts will go black.

 

[mercedes13156]

for Fords, look on ebay at getting a modified ELM 327 cable and FORSCAN programme for a laptop. this is similar to the one I got (elmconfig is for reprogramming the various modules and is a pay for programme but Forscan is free)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELMconfig...904899?hash=item1c97629643:g:p5AAAOSwEK9UI-NU

as far as I can tell on my Mondeo and other cars ive tried it on, its about as close as you can get to the dealer level for diagnostics, especially for a sub £20 cable and free software. I rate mine highly, and I'm not the only one.

as for the blowback, the pipes on the 2.0 from the DPF to the pressure sensor are prone to splitting. also the DPF will only stop soot particles to a certain size. it wont stop smoke so the exhausts will go black.

Thanks Pete! That’s fantastic. I’ve already ordered the elm adaptor and I can get a cheap laptop on Fleabay.

 

[mercedes13156]

It was a leaky injector. Thanks everyone for the suggestions and assistance. All sorted now.