Ford Transit is a very popular commercial vehicle. However, there is not much information about the reliability of its engines. In this article we will try to tell you about 2.0 DI Duratorq engine (and a little about 2.4 DI Duratorq, these engines have a lot in common: block, cylinder piston group, timing mechanism and so on). You can watch a video about this engine on our YouTube channel.
These engines were installed on the Ford Transit of the 6th generation (2000-2006 (although according to some reports this generation is considered the 4th or even the 5th). They belong to the purely Ford Puma family, commonly known as Duratorq DI (they are also sometimes called TDI, but that’s not a Ford acronym). These engines are in-house developed. Ford later built its diesels in conjunction with PSA.
The 2-liter Duratorq versions of the 75 hp to 100 hp 2-liter motor are much the same. The motors differ in the turbos. In addition, 75-horsepower version (D3FA) is without intercooler, 86-horsepower version (F3FA) with intercooler, and 100-horsepower version (ABFA) with liquid cooling EGR. On 86 and 100 hp motors, the turbines are the same, they are one piece with the exhaust manifold.
By the way, passenger versions of these 2-liter engines were installed on Ford Mondeo 3 (c 2000 to 2007, 90 and 115 hp).
Fuel system of the Ford 2.0 DI Duratorq motor
The fuel system on these motors, with the exception of the 125 hp version (it has Delphi’s Common Rail, as does the Mondeo 115 and 130 hp), with a Bosch VP30 electronic plunger distributor fuel pump. The pump is the same on the 2.0 and 2.4-liter Ford Transit motors from 75 to 100 hp. On the 2.4 DI with power from 115 to 125 hp was put VP44. These pumps were created by Bosch as universal: their complex mechanical and electronic parts are “typical”, and the control program can be configured very flexibly, adjusting it to the needs of a particular engine or manufacturer.
The VP30 and VP44 differ in the design of the plunger part. The VP30 has an axial plunger, while the VP44 has a radial plunger. In simple terms, in the VP30 pump fuel pressure is formed by a single piston, which is located in the axial direction. The VP44 pump is more complicated – it has several pistons, which are arranged radially. Fuel metering and injection is controlled by an electromagnetic distribution valve.
The heyday of these pumps was in the second half of the 1990s and early 2000s. They were installed on hundreds of engines, and were widely used on Audi/Volkswagen, Opel, Nissan, and Rover engines. Then they were abandoned in favor of the Common Rail system (or injector pumps).
In the period from the end of 1996 to 2005, the same control unit – PSG5 – was installed on these fuel injectors. This unit is a separate “working unit” and controls only the fuel injector and is installed on the fuel injector itself. The pump ECU controls the injection and monitors the combustion/ignition of the fuel. Of course, these motors also have a separate control unit. In the next generation of these pumps, the engine and pump ECU (PSG16 unit) were combined into one unit.
In spite of the fact that the fuel injector here is from Bosch, fuel injectors are used from Delphi. And the more powerful the 2.0-2.4 DI engine, the more powerful the injectors are and the more difficult they are to repair. Relatively simple injectors are used on motors from 75, 86 and 90 hp. On more powerful ones, the injectors are double-spring injectors, are expensive to repair, and require coding (“binding”) when installed.
Fuel System Problems
The mechanics of the VP30 pump is considered quite reliable, but when using low-quality fuel, fuel with impurities, wear occurs – that is, workings in the housing of the fuel injector. The engine will start badly or the pump will suck fuel from the tank badly. In any case, the VP30 pump is perfectly diagnosed by electronics – all errors can be read out, so you don’t have to guess on coffee grounds.
The VP30 pump is generally reliable, well diagnosed and repairable. It can have mechanical and electronic failures, repair of which requires either replacement of the ECU or a creative approach with soldering.
Individual fuel system faults with the VP30 pump concern its clever electrical part. Malfunctions can be both external (such as failure of the mass fuel flow sensor) and internal, related to the PSG-5 unit. Again, due to low-quality fuel, the needle of the distributor valve may hang up. And in this case, the control transistor on the control board burns out. After that, the car with diesel will not start. By the way, some skillful people re-solder the transistor even despite its exclusivity (it was specially developed by Bosch) and complex film technology of the circuit board. You can put and used pump, but it will have to be specially tied to the electronic part, as the immobilizer is tied to the control unit of the fuel pump.
Ford diesel engines were equipped with both fuel system with VP30 and VP44 pumps with Delphi injectors, and Common Rail fuel system from Delphi.
Mechanical problems and reliability of the Ford Transit 2.0 DI Duratorq engine
The Ford 2.0 DI Duratorq engine has two sore spots. The first place is the connecting rods, in which the head for the piston pin bushing is broken. When this happens, the motor starts to knock. In addition, the connecting rod of this engine can simply break off on the lower head. In this case, it knocks hard and not for a long time.
Powerful looking connecting rods of Ford Transit 2.0 and 2.4 can break off on the lower head. Also often breaks the upper head of the connecting rod.
The camshaft beds are also subject to wear. The timing chain of DI Duratorq motors is two-row, it looks powerful and eternal, but in fact it is not too enduring and stretches. When running cold, it starts to make a characteristic noise. You can estimate its stretching by the protrusion of the tensioner. When the chain breaks, the head of the engine block of 2.0 DI gets strong damage.
The double-row chain can be stretched every 150,000 km.