[Shep12]

Hi, I am having an intermittent issue insofar that my car will drop from 70mph to 50mph and go into Limpmode. This has happened a few times at different speeds. A garage has replaced Fuel injectors and repaired part of the fuel line. This time around they are going to quote for replacement Fuel Pump but say they cannot guarantee it will solve the issue. Is it possible I could use an airline to blow out/ clear the line? Silly suggestion I know, but I truly believe the issue is a Blockage as the car ( Ford Kuga) runs fine for weeks at a time and for the last 18 months since purchased has been fine. Any suggestions appreciated . It is not under any Warranty

[NMNeil]

I had much the same issue with a Ford Taurus.
It has a fuel pressure sensor that tells the PCM to reduce or increase the PWM signal to the pump as needed to keep the pressure around 60 PSI. Mine was telling the PCM that the pressure was fine even though it was very, very low.
Your Ford is sold here as the Ford Escape so plenty of videos on checking and replacing the sensor.

[olduser]

Your garage is obviously playing, 'parts darts' (throwing parts at the car in the hope it will clear a fault) which suggests they are not using the diagnostics.

I would go to another garage, unless your garage are prepared to remove the unnecessary new parts free of charge, and only charge for the part that actually solves the problem, and labour for fitting that.

They may well argue, that because the fault is intermittent, the diagnostics will not be able to show any fault but the computer will have stored the fault code in it's memory.

[Rolebama]

Just a thought, but I came across a few with similar problems. Water accumulated in the fuel filter freezing causing restrictions. Some vehicles more prone than others depending on placement of filter.

[NMNeil]

@olduser We call it loading up the parts cannon.
I worked at an auto parts store, sort of a US Halfords, and the number of times someone would buy an electrical part then bring it back for a refund saying it did'nt fix the problem and they wanted to try another part.
Lots of heated arguments when we refused the refund.

[olduser]

Originally Posted by NMNeil

@olduser We call it loading up the parts cannon.
I worked at an auto parts store, sort of a US Halfords, and the number of times someone would buy an electrical part then bring it back for a refund saying it did'nt fix the problem and they wanted to try another part.
Lots of heated arguments when we refused the refund.

I can understand DIY mechanics doing this but in a garage supposed to be staffed by professionals armed with modern diagnostic kit (not that I have ever used any in anger).

I remember looking at early code readers, as a software problem, they were not very practical.
Read the code then lookup in a booklet to find what the code meant.
This was not very practical, and the codes at that stage were not very refined.

From what I gather (looking over a mechanics shoulder) todays equipment, shows code, interprets code, and makes suggestions of what to check, and the codes are more focused.
Say the old code for fuelling fault, now will show pump function, pressure regulator, fuel rail pressure, injector function, and O2 sensor separately, there also appears to be more codes stored in memory to help with intermittent faults.

This was in a dealership, and I don't know what the cost for the kit was.

[Rolebama]

I have been in too many garages where they have all the equipment, but don't know how to use it.
I went to one garage where they had laser tracking equipment. They had taped upright pieces of metal, and were using string to check alignment.
Not being allowed to change screens was always a favourite, because noone knew how to change it back 'to the one they always use'.
Programming the computer for the wrong model of car was another favourite.

[olduser]

I find most software written for technical use is very badly written making it unnecessarily difficult to use.
For example, medical equipment - much of it has poor software, this gave rise to the degree course for nurses, which is a waste of time money and effort, problem is the software on the tools of their trade is rubbish.
Say an ECG machine, there are several electrodes positioned over the chest area, each collects different signals and these are graphed each graph will have a characteristic shape for that position on the chest, with well designed software the electrodes can be positioned in any order and the software can sort out where the electrode is where, making sure that signal is assigned to the appropriate graph.
Yet, I have seen machines that produced nonsense ECG's, others, when the electrodes were in the wrong order just did nothing, or machines that did produce an error message ("Input Error") and one machine that recognised the error, and simply redirected the signal to the correct graph.

The interesting bit of writing software, is solving the core problem, recover the fault code, interpret it, expand the implications or possible causes but the human interface (presenting the information, making the whole thing work in an intuitive way) is not sexy, it's just hard work, so that part is rushed at best or ignored at worst.

Most software works in series, each task has to broken down into many single steps, (Parallel processing is mainly dealt with by the CPU's operating system) this makes it relatively easy to know what caused an error, (a missing input or an unrecognised input or an unexpected result)
therefore it is not difficult to explain (on screen) to the user, what is wrong, and suggest a solution but it doe's add to the programming task.

In the past, it could be argued, to do this would slow down the task or there was not enough memory/hard disk space to store the information, but these arguments are not valid now.
Computer speeds are much faster than we can keep up with, and memory and disk sizes have grown tremendously, and the cost have fallen.

Sorry, rant over!

[NMNeil]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

I have been in too many garages where they have all the equipment, but don't know how to use it.

When I bought my $4,000 Snap On MT2500 scanner it included a 2 day training course. Great course and I leaned most of the intricacies of the scanner.
The problems began on day one when I got the first "Can I use your scanner" from another mechanic. I even overheard the owner, who point blank refused to buy a scanner for the shop, say to another mechanic, "Go and borrow the scanner from Neil"
I point blank refused citing the cost, that it belonged to me not the shop, and the mechanic would have no idea how to use it.
I even came back from lunch one day to someone helping themselves to the scanner from my toolbox because a 'really important customer' had a check engine light and needed it sorted while they waited.
Started locking my toolbox at lunchtime and taking the scanner home each night after the "I thought you were a team player" speech from the owner.

[Rolebama]

I had a similar experience when I worked in a motorcycle workshop in the 70s. I bought an AVO meter with the Db attachment. It didn't take long before the 'workshop equipment' attitude took over. I took it home and left it there.

[olduser]

Originally Posted by NMNeil

When I bought my $4,000 Snap On MT2500 scanner it included a 2 day training course. Great course and I leaned most of the intricacies of the scanner.
The problems began on day one when I got the first "Can I use your scanner" from another mechanic. I even overheard the owner, who point blank refused to buy a scanner for the shop, say to another mechanic, "Go and borrow the scanner from Neil"
I point blank refused citing the cost, that it belonged to me not the shop, and the mechanic would have no idea how to use it.
I even came back from lunch one day to someone helping themselves to the scanner from my toolbox because a 'really important customer' had a check engine light and needed it sorted while they waited.
Started locking my toolbox at lunchtime and taking the scanner home each night after the "I thought you were a team player" speech from the owner.

I might be a team player but not with $4000 of kit.

I suppose the owner was showing his entrepreneurial skills, trying to bluff you into lending the kit out without him paying anything.

[NMNeil]

Originally Posted by olduser

I might be a team player but not with $4000 of kit.

I suppose the owner was showing his entrepreneurial skills, trying to bluff you into lending the kit out without him paying anything.

I paid a lot of money for the scanner expecting to recoup the cost due to faster and more accurate diagnosis, as the other techs relied mainly on guesswork.
Lending it to others and the shop owner saying "Just hook up your scanner and tell (the other tech) what's wrong" was never part of the plan so I always declined.