[Kris.R]

Hey hey fellas! I'm a newbie to this site and I'm in need of some guidance for an issue I'm having with my gf's car. She has a exhaust leak that I couldn't pinpoint when I gave her car a seafoam treatment. What happened was there was a good amount of the Seaofoam smoke coming out from the exhaust manifold area. Her car hesitates on acceleration, idle drops at stop lights, and sometimes when she's driving I feel like the car is misfiring and bogging down a little. I read on here about the PCV valve, PCV valve hose, and EGR pipe symptoms that might cause some of these issues but nothing that directly related to mine as a lot of these findings related more to Zetec cars. I'm going to attach a video that I found on Youtube of a Focus that is having the same problem as my gf's car to see if anyone can recognize this leak and help me. I have bought some parts that I have yet to install which include: Spark plugs, and a Fuel filter. TIA [wave]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljDs8JOcisQ

 

[Red Jay 918]

exhaust manfiold gasket?? either way i say if you know anyone who owns a lift, get it on there and inspect it. or jack it up, get under it and let it run if you dont mind getting dirty. also welcome to FF!! we're glad to have you with us! ~John Davis voice~

 

[SD_Focus]

Sounds like it shouldn't be too hard to find. I would check all the connections.

 

[Slkfucusdvr]

Check connections and I had the same problem on my 20 duritec. Turned out to be a roasted piston ring in NR1 cylinder. Did you pop a CEL?

 

[Kris.R]

No CEL present. Just an annoying leak lol.

 

[Slkfucusdvr]

I was going to say that If your PCV is clogged it might create pressure insid the crank area of your motor but very doubtful seeing as to how many different oil ports there arein the block that lead to outside source. All the PCV valve does is recirculate shitty gasses from inside your motor back through it to burn them off. Have you done a tune up on it lately?

 

[Kris.R]

Just did the spark plugs and about to do the fuel filter. The car has 108,XXX miles on it and the plugs looked to be the original Motorcrafts!

BTW, Does anyone know if the '05 Focus's have the "push-in" type lines to the fuel filter?

 

[Slkfucusdvr]

Hmmm, not sure about the push in lines. It does have the fuel shutoff right by the passenger food area though. Not sure if thats what your looking for.

 

[Kris.R]

Well I know that the Focus's have 2 different types of lines for the fuel filter pertaining to the year model. I asked because I heard that they're pretty flimsy parts and can crumble when trying to get them out. If that happened, I would just want to have spare clips for the reinstall of the new fuel filter.

 

[Slkfucusdvr]

Yeah, the lines on the car are like a hard plastic material and I busted one of my clips off underneath the hood trying to take it apart. I am sure auto zone or one of the leading auto stores would care a clip that would work. If your planning on taking all the lines apart it might be who of you to get new clips seeing as your car has that many miles on it; parts may be more fragile because of the time they have been there. Also depends a lot on your auto skills and how heavy you work on stuff. Easy going? Pay attention? Gentle with fragile parts? All that fun stuff

 

[st12131]

have you checked the flex pipe for leaks? might be worth a look.

 

[megax36]

First off, the Duratec motors EGR system is pretty much all contained within the head, so there are no pipes to look for. Second, the problems you seem to be experiencing seem to be more related to an intake leak rather than an exhaust leak.

If any unmetered air is getting into the cylinders it can cause the car to nearly stall whenever it idles, and it will also cause sporadic driving behavior as what you described. Check to see if your IM is cracked and make sure that your TB gasket hasn't gone bad.

Exhaust leaks normally don't cause any noticeable changes in the engine and generally go unnoticed until you either get a CEL from one of the O2 sensors or smell/see exhaust coming from anywhere but the tailpipe

 

[warneej]

First off, the Duratec motors EGR system is pretty much all contained within the head, so there are no pipes to look for. Second, the problems you seem to be experiencing seem to be more related to an intake leak rather than an exhaust leak.

If any unmetered air is getting into the cylinders it can cause the car to nearly stall whenever it idles, and it will also cause sporadic driving behavior as what you described. Check to see if your IM is cracked and make sure that your TB gasket hasn't gone bad.

Exhaust leaks normally don't cause any noticeable changes in the engine and generally go unnoticed until you either get a CEL from one of the O2 sensors or smell/see exhaust coming from anywhere but the tailpipe

This.

Also, moving you to technical. Duratec Performance Chat is for discussions related to increasing the performance of your Duratec engine. All maintenance and repair issues should be directed to Technical chat.

 

[Kris.R]

First off, the Duratec motors EGR system is pretty much all contained within the head, so there are no pipes to look for. Second, the problems you seem to be experiencing seem to be more related to an intake leak rather than an exhaust leak.

If any unmetered air is getting into the cylinders it can cause the car to nearly stall whenever it idles, and it will also cause sporadic driving behavior as what you described. Check to see if your IM is cracked and make sure that your TB gasket hasn't gone bad.

Exhaust leaks normally don't cause any noticeable changes in the engine and generally go unnoticed until you either get a CEL from one of the O2 sensors or smell/see exhaust coming from anywhere but the tailpipe

I aprreciate the technical response! When I did Seafoam the car, I checked around the front and rear of the engine while it was running and it would only emit smoke from the exhaust manifold. I inspected the intake manifold and I don't see any major or visible cracks but what I will do is spray some carb cleaner around it while it runs to see if the motor stumbles. Is the Flex pipe gasket a common leak on the 2.0 Duratec's?

 

[Kris.R]

ttt^