[UtkarshC]

Thanks to Rajkumar Choudhury for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

Hi,

First of all, I would like to thank this channel for all the discussions on various threads. Those articles, tips and discussions help us a lot. This is the first time I am writing to Team-BHP and I would like to share two incidents that happened on a single long trip. I typed this mail on 21 Oct 21.

I purchased a Ford Aspire Titanium Plus (TDCI) in the last week of Nov 2020 and this is my first car. I had driven more than 17K km and then the first breakdown happened.

I had to travel 1300 km in 2 days so I started at about 4 am on 09 Oct 21 which was Saturday. Just about 3 km after starting my journey in a hilly area, hissing noise and smoke started coming out of the engine bay (speed was about 20 to 25 km/hr). I immediately stopped the car and inspected that something happened in the No 4 injector area.

At the same time, I called Ford RSA and they immediately arranged for towing to Panvel which was about 52 km away. The engine should not be started if exhaust comes out of any other parts.

The tow service reached my location at about 0630 and the car was dropped at Bhavna Ford, Panvel at 0930. I told the service manager about the problem and the long trip. He immediately sent the technician to diagnose and found out that the No 4 injector retainer was broken causing exhaust to come out from the area.

The car is under the warranty period and the service manager told me the repair work may cost nil but I had to wait till Monday for warranty repair or I had to pay an estimated amount of 2K for immediate replacement of the parts. I had no time to wait and I agreed to paid service and they replaced the retainer and the bolt. After the QC test, the car was delivered at about 3 PM and I started my journey.

The very next day (Sunday), before 70 km from Vijayawada on NH65 at about 1230, the same noise came out of the engine bay. I immediately stopped the car and found out that the No 2 injector retainer was broken. Again, I called Ford RSA and they arranged for towing to Laxmi Ford Vijayawada.

The pickup service came at 1630 hrs and then dropped the vehicle at the service centre at 2010 hrs. As it was Sunday, I had to wait till the next morning. So I left Vijayawada by train to Visakhapatnam.

The next morning the service manager from Laxmi Ford Vijayawada called me and I informed him about the problem and the previous incident too. Later he asked for the list of spares replaced at Bhavna Ford and I provided the same. At about 1140 hrs the repair work was done and the same was informed to me.

That day, I reached Vijayawada by train and took the delivery of my car. It cost me about 1300 at Bhavna Ford and 2100 at Laxmi Ford.

I would also like to mention that before starting the trip my car was parked for about 2 months in Khandala in heavy rain and I almost drove 15 km in that period. Every 3-4 days I routinely start the car and keep the engine running for at least 10-15 min. For every journey, I always start the engine and only after 2-3 min I drive the vehicle.

After the incidents, my car has been driven almost 3K km and no issues came up till today. I am quite satisfied with the service of Ford even after the news of the discontinuation of current models.

[GTO]

Mod Note: Thread moved to the Tech Stuff forum!

[VijayAnand1]

Thank you for posting this. The injector clamp or the fork as it's called is a at a tight spot and often accumulates water when washed and if not thoroughly aired off, it tends to react with the engine heat and accumulates rust, which in turn due to the engine's harmonics tends to crack the holders. Replace all four injector holders with a new one and make sure no water accumulation takes place near and behind the injectors.

Good luck.

Cheers!
VJ

[toiingg]

Do you get your engine bay sprayed with water while washing your car ? Insides look way too rusted for a 1 year old car.

[RahulNagaraj]

Thanks to Rajkumar Choudhury for sending this in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

First of all, I would like to thank this channel for all the discussions on various threads. Those articles, tips and discussions help us a lot. This is the first time I am writing to Team-BHP and I would like to share two incidents on a single long trip. I typed this mail on 21 Oct 21.

I purchased a Ford Aspire Titanium Plus (TDCI) in the last week of Nov 2020 and this is my first car. I had driven more than 17K km then the first breakdown happened. I had to travel 1300 km in 2 days so I started at about 4 AM on 09 Oct 21 which was Saturday. Just about 3 km after starting my journey in a hilly area, hissing noise and smoke started coming out of the engine bay (speed was about 20 to 25 km/hr), immediately I stopped the car and inspected that something happened in the No4 injector area. At the same time, I called Ford RSA and they immediately arranged for towing to Panvel which was about 52 km away. The engine should not be started if exhaust comes out of any other parts. However, the tow service reached my location at about 0630 and the car was dropped in Bhavna Ford, Panvel at 0930. I told the service manager about the problem and about the long trip, then immediately sent the technician to diagnose what happened. They found out that the No 4 injector retainer had been broken into two pieces causing exhaust to come out from the area. As the car is on warranty period and the service manager told me the repair work may cost nil but I had to wait till Monday for warranty repair or I had to pay an estimated near 2K for immediate replacement of the parts. I had no time to wait and I agreed to paid service and they replaced the retainer and the bolt. After the QC test, the car was delivered at about 3 PM and I started my journey. The very next day (Sunday), before 70 km from Vijayawada in NH 65 at about 1230 the same noise came out of the engine bay, immediately I stopped the car and found out that the No2 injector retainer had been broken. Again I called Ford RSA and they arranged for towing to Laxmi Ford Vijayawada. The pickup service came at 1630 hrs and then dropped the vehicle in the service centre at 2010 hrs. As it was Sunday I had to wait till the next morning so I left Vijayawada by train to Visakhapatnam. The next morning the service manager from Laxmi Ford Vijayawada called me and I informed him about the problem and the previous incident too. Later he asked for the list of spares replaced in Bhavna Ford and I provided the same. At about 1140 hrs the repair work was done and the same was informed to me. That day I again reached Vijayawada by train and took the delivery of my car. It cost me about Rs 1300 in Bhavna Ford and Rs 2100 in Laxmi Ford. It also mentioned that before starting the trip my car was parked for about 2 months in Khandala in heavy rain and I almost drove 15 km in that time period. Every 3-4 days I routinely start and keep the engine running for at least 10- 15 min. For every journey, I always start the engine and only after 2-3 min I move the vehicle.

After the incidents, my car has been driven almost 3K and no issues came up till today. I am quite satisfied with the service of Ford even after the news of the discontinuation of current models.

Update from Rajkumar Chaudhary on December 22nd, 2021:

Dear Sir,

1. RTM.

2. Both Ford dealers contacted me in the 2nd week of November. They asked me for my bank account details so that they can refund the bill amount of engine repair as per instructions by Ford India. Proactively, they refunded the total repair cost within a week. When I chose Ford India initially after reviewing the valuable feedback of other customers, I expected a healthy customer-company relationship. But now I am extremely proud to say as a customer of Ford India that my expectations became reality in a very professional and efficient manner.

3. It shows how Ford India maintains a rich and rare culture of customer values and care.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Good that the issue was sorted out by Ford and settled under the warranty.

As a precautionary measure, the owner can get the other two injector retainer replaced, even if it is at his own expenses. Though the manufacturer may replace those free of cost in case of failure, the cost of downtime and inconvenience caused in each instance will be much more than the expense of ₹1500 - 2000 for replacing them.

And the owner must take enough precautions for the diesel car in hilly area and humid climate remaining idle for long period. I have read that the informed owners and taxi drivers in Himalayas fill up the diesel tanks to full before overnight stay in cold and humid areas. This is just to avoid condensation of moisture in the air inside the tank. No air left, so no condensation.

[r24x7]

This seems to be a continuation of an existing thread from here (Ford Aspire engine problem on highway | Satisfied with Ford's service); But now with an update about Ford refunding the amount back to customer for the paid repairs carried out at that time which OP paid in interest of time.

Very nice gesture and shows how Ford intends to remain committed despite the brand's local manufacturing exit announcement.

[Quinn]

Dear BHPians,

My cousin has a Ford Aspire TDCi 2018 model and he did not even complete 50K. Recently he got a problem that his car after starting and moving, after few minutes, engine turns off. He showed it in service centre and they said to replace a lot of components and gave him estimate of about a lakh and he felt its a bomb. So he tried a couple of outside options.

He got the OBD inspection done with a known person (he is not a mechanic though) and the report shows "Fuel Rail/System Pressure Too Low" and also "Vehicle Speed Sensor Out of Self Test Range".

The person who ran OBD says to him that 4th injector has some problem with nozzle and this can be a simple change only.

Would like to get your opinion here so that he resolves it right and not ends up paying exorbitant amounts (unless really things have gone that bad).

Any input would be great.