Focus Misfire

LEK-89

LEK-89

LEK-89

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Joined
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Leicester
I had just filled up at BP yesterday with my GF with me and then we were heading out for dinner, about 5 minutes after we left the petrol station my car started to struggle to accelerate and there seemed to be a huge loss of power as I could barely get up the hill! Also the engine started to make a noticable abnormal noise as well and by this time the engine sounded a lot like a petrol lawn mower!

Just as we got over the hill, the engine management light started flashing and my GF suggested that we turn around and head back home to see what the problem is and use her car instead. As we were nearly home the engine management light stopped flashing but the engine was still low on power and sounded lumpy. We got home and I turned the engine off and back on again, still exactly the same and from the tone of the engine & exhaust it sounds like the engine is definately misfiring and only running on 2 or 3 cylinders. My Focus is a 2002 1.6 and I know that on these Zetec engines that the coil packs can fail on them and that it is a very common fault.

Before I take the car into a garage to have the ECU scanned/fault code checked do you guys think this definately sounds like a misfire? Is there anything else that should be considered a problem too?

Thanks all.
 
If it is misfiring, the coil pack is the likely cause. Not too expesnive or difficult to replace though. It might also be dodgy HT leads. You could try taking them off one by one and giving them a quick squirt with electrical contact cleaner or WD40 just to see if one of them is making a bad connection?
 
Yeah I have heard that a dodgy or knackered HT Lead could cause this too. From describing the tone of the engine and the exhaust to a family member last night who used to work on cars, he thinks that the car sounds like it is misfiring to him too.

Thanks for your quick reply!
 
Most likey one or two of your spark plugs have gone.

30quid or so at a garage :)

KaHn

/edit :- quick way to check if it is the sparks, open the bonet, start the engine and remove the connection to the plugs using some pliers, if the engine still runs when your removing the plugs (mean connection) then you've found your dead one. The engine will probably sound very clunky.
 
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Conscript said:
Pfft! Its a Ford Focus. Get spark plugs for about £4 each, and it takes all of 5 minutes to change them yourself. Garage? Geddouddahere.
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Yup but for someone who is asking what the problem is on a computer forum might not be the best bet to suggest things like this.

:)

KaHn
 
Good thing that I had already purchased some genuine Ford spark plugs a couple of weeks ago then :)

Liam
 
LEK-89 said:
Good thing that I had already purchased some genuine Ford spark plugs a couple of weeks ago then :)

Liam
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As said above it could be the coil thing but its an easy thing to change before taking it to the dealer :)

KaHn
 
I had exactly the same symptoms on my MkVI Fiesta a few years back and it was the coil. They are a very common failure. The AA replaced it at the roadside for ~£60 iirc, which was probably expensive but I wasn't about to haggle.
 
KaHn said:
Yup but for someone who is asking what the problem is on a computer forum might not be the best bet to suggest things like this.

:)

KaHn
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True enough. But I'd say it's probably one of the easiest jobs to do on a Focus, so if he wants to save some dosh, grab a Haynes manual and have a go.
 
Robbie G said:
I had exactly the same symptoms on my MkVI Fiesta a few years back and it was the coil. They are a very common failure. The AA replaced it at the roadside for ~£60 iirc, which was probably expensive but I wasn't about to haggle.
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I've just had a thought - maybe I could ring my breakdown cover if they do engine diagnostics at the roadside??

Also I changed the coil pack & spark plugs on my old Fiesta 6 month's ago :)

Liam
 
LEK-89 said:
I've just had a thought - maybe I could ring my breakdown cover if they do engine diagnostics at the roadside??

Also I changed the coil pack & spark plugs on my old Fiesta 6 month's ago :)

Liam
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Worth a try, but surely you know whether or not your breakdown cover includes home assist or equivalent?

The good thing about this is that you won't have to stumble to a garage or drive it a mile from home to get seen to. If you don't have home assist and you can't easily stumble to a garage, you may as well try yourself and start with the cheapest components i.e. spark leads, which you can diagnose yourself anyway using methods above.
 
I had a coil pack go on my 55 plate Focus 1.6 Zetec. The symptoms you describe sound familiar to me so it might well be the coil pack.
 
Right, I've decided I'm going to take the car into my local garage tonight to have a scan just to be sure that it is likely to be something like the coil pack/leads/plugs etc. I will report back when I've had the scan done.

Thanks for your replies all!
 
LEK-89 said:
I had just filled up at BP yesterday with my GF with me and then we were heading out for dinner, about 5 minutes after we left the petrol station my car started to struggle to accelerate and there seemed to be a huge loss of power as I could barely get up the hill!
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You didn't use the black nozzle did you. ;) :p


(jk)
 
LEK-89 said:
I had just filled up at BP yesterday with my GF with me and then we were heading out for dinner, about 5 minutes after we left the petrol station my car started to struggle to accelerate and there seemed to be a huge loss of power as I could barely get up the hill!
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Exactly the same thing happened to me once and it turned out that the petrol was contaminated and cost about £550 to repair - I really hope this isn't the case for you!
 
ajstan said:
Exactly the same thing happened to me once and it turned out that the petrol was contaminated and cost about £550 to repair - I really hope this isn't the case for you!
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I definately used unleaded, made sure the fuel pump was green and it also says unleaded on my BP receipt. If the fuel is the unlikely cause then BP will be having a huge bill their way.

Liam
 
LEK-89 said:
I definately used unleaded, made sure the fuel pump was green and it also says unleaded on my BP receipt. If the fuel is the unlikely cause then BP will be having a huge bill their way.

Liam
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Ah if its BP its almost certainly fine, I filled up at a ***** fuel station - something I will never do again! :p
 
Just got back from 2 garages, the engine management light came on again and remained solid while on the way to the first garage. The first which had engine diagnostics reading equipment the bloke was too busy to do it for me but he confirmed it's definately misfiring.

Went to the second garage which is the main loca one I use and he said straight away as well that it's definately misfiring and he disconnected each individual HT Lead and he said that there is nothing coming out of the coil for cylinder 1. He confirmed that the coil pack is most likely the problem without a doubt so I have just ordered a new one so we will how things go with the new one when it arrived :)

Thanks all - Liam
 
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