Ford Territory: 2.7 TDCi soots up its EGR valve and inlet Y-pipe and drops into limp mode (SZ)

The 2.7 diesel feeds hot exhaust gas back into the inlet. Mixed with oil mist it bakes into a hard tar that narrows the EGR valve and then, further downstream, the plastic Y-shaped pipe that splits the inlet to the two cylinder banks. Airflow falls, the engine management notices and pulls the vehicle back into limp mode, very often lighting a DSC or stability-control warning at the same time - which is why owners think the brakes or the gearbox have failed when the actual problem is soot. Owners of the Land Rover and Jaguar models that share this engine report cleaning the Y piece every second or third service, and the plastic goes brittle with age so it frequently breaks during cleaning and has to be replaced. It is not a recall item, and it comes back if the vehicle only ever does short trips.

• Sudden loss of power, with the engine refusing to rev past around 2,500 rpm
• DSC or stability control warning light coming on at the same time as the power loss
• Power coming back after the engine is switched off and restarted
• Black smoke and a flat throttle response under load
• Rough idle and a heavier diesel rattle when cold

1. 1

   Ask the owner directly whether the vehicle has ever gone into limp mode or shown a DSC warning, and how often - on this engine the honest answer is usually yes at some point, and what matters is what was done about it.

2. 2

   Ask whether the EGR valve or the inlet Y piece has ever been cleaned or replaced, and ask for the invoice.

3. 3

   Take a long test drive that includes a full-throttle run to open-road speed and a decent hill if you can find one, because this fault often only appears once the engine is hot and working, not on a five-minute potter around the block.

4. 4

   Watch the dash the whole way for any warning light, and note whether the vehicle feels like it hits an invisible ceiling.

5. 5

   Ask what sort of driving it has done, because a Territory diesel used for short suburban trips soots up far faster than one that does open-road kilometres.

6. 6

   If a workshop inspection is possible: have a diesel specialist read the stored fault codes and check the inlet tract for soot build-up.

Parts involved: EGR valve.

$450 to $2,000 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That is for this job on its own, not for the car.

An estimate, in NZD, for the repair as normally carried out. What a specific car costs depends on which part has failed and what it damaged on the way — treat this as the floor for a negotiation, not a quote.

• “Has this vehicle ever gone into limp mode or shown a DSC warning light?”
• “Has the EGR valve or the inlet Y pipe ever been cleaned or replaced?”
• “What kind of driving does it mostly do - short trips or open road?”
• “Are there any stored fault codes in it right now?”

The failure described above is documented in the sources below. The inspection instructions and the cost estimate are KickTyres’ own interpretation of them.

• AULRO (Australian Land Rover Owners) 'EGR and turbo issues with the TDV6 2.7 diesel engine'
• ReDriven 'Used Ford Territory review' (SZ diesel: high-pressure fuel pump, turbo and EGR complications)
• Workshop video 'Part 1: Limp mode and DSC fault - 2.7 TDCi and TDV6 Territory, Disco3, XF Jag'