Ford C-Max: 3-Month Parking - Questions & Answers

Hello fellow diesel mechanics,

I will likely need to temporarily deactivate my C-Max TDCi for 3 months soon (possibly even next month, so over the winter).

What should I be aware of? The reason for my inquiry is that when I bought the car in March of this year, the dealer had to install a new fuel injection system because solidified diesel, which had frozen due to the DPF additive ELOYS (or something similar), had damaged the fuel injection system (according to the dealer). Therefore, I cannot say exactly what and why happened.
In any case, the dealer's explanation for how this could happen was that it occurs when the car is parked for an extended period. He said that 8 weeks of inactivity is enough, because the additive and the diesel fuel are not compatible.

Since I'm already worried about expensive repairs, I'm too afraid to just leave the car on the parking lot and let it sit there for 3 months.

Therefore, here are some questions for you:
1. Should I fill up the diesel tank completely, or not?
"Is there a 'countermeasure' to prevent this from happening, because I can't imagine that every used car dealer who has these cars on their lot always installs new parts just because something broke."
3. Would it be sufficient to occasionally let the car idle?
Should the oil change be done before or after? The oil (ARAL Supertronic 0W40) has been in use for approximately 10,000 km.

Or should you rather keep the car registered and drive it once a week? It would be a shame because you could save on taxes and insurance by deregistering it.

What else should I be aware of? Should I disconnect the battery, etc.?


Best regards,
Kevin.

Hello,

Unfortunately, I can't give you a definitive answer, but I can tell you the following.

The additive used by Ford is called Eolys DPX-9 (manufactured by Rhodia). It is a suspension of cerium oxide in an organic solvent.

Since it is a suspension, it is possible for the Eolys to decompose, causing the cerium oxide to settle due to gravity / particle agglomeration.

In contrast to this, the few additive-based filters used within the VAG group utilize an additive called Satacen, which contains ferrocene. This is a complex iron ion (and not an oxide) and should remain dissolved in the diesel fuel much better and for a longer period than cerium oxide.

The workshop's statement that the additive won't remain in solution forever cannot be simply dismissed as utter nonsense. However, I would be very surprised if three months is already too long. After all, a newly produced Ford can sometimes sit in storage for that long.

Best regards, Georg.