Soldato
- Joined
- 29 Jun 2004
- Posts
- 12,957
Bit of Background
I love my Focus the same way you love your BMW, Audi or what ever you drive. It's not the best car in the world, and it's not my first car. It has its faults but I still love it.
It's getting old now being 9 years old. A few things need changing here and there which I happily change.
BUT, today I realised that my speedometer sensor needs replacing. Not a big deal, right? It is when speedometer looses power at 50 mph in the middle lane and causes an engine cut out and power steering loss!
The Event
So I come off the Greenman roundabout slip road in Leytonstone onto the A12 where it becomes 50mph. So far everything is fine. So I'm in the left lane and a driver in front of me is doing 40 so a quick look later the middle lane is free to use to overtake the driver and then I can head back into the left lane.
As I begin to overtake and I'm in the middle lane the speedometer rapidly falls from a 50mph reading to 0mph!
So I press the gas some more but it's not going anywhere. The engine has cut out! The power steering has also cut out! I'm slowing down...FAST! The guy who I was overtaking has now undertaken me on the left, I can't however go behind him onto the hard shoulder because there is another car behind him. There are also cars to my right and a big lorry approaching behind me! Quick reaction hazards on.
I had no where to go and in a matter of seconds I was at 20 mph whilst everyone was zooming past 50mph, and the lorry behind me was closing in!
Whilst all this is going on I get out of gear into neutral and then into gear again. It will clutch but it will not rev! So as soon as the left lane is clear I do a quick check and gently ease the car into the left lane. But guess what? No hard shoulder or anywhere to break down in!
So I've come to a stop on the left lane of the A12. Hazards on and cars swerving around me. I switched the engine on, off and then on. Hey presto! Speedometer is back up, power steering is online and the engine is running!
I quickly get out of hazards, take the next exit and park up to assess the situation.
Conclusions
<- That was my face during the whole event. It was my first real brown pants moment I will never forget.
I love my Focus the same way you love your BMW, Audi or what ever you drive. It's not the best car in the world, and it's not my first car. It has its faults but I still love it.
It's getting old now being 9 years old. A few things need changing here and there which I happily change.
BUT, today I realised that my speedometer sensor needs replacing. Not a big deal, right? It is when speedometer looses power at 50 mph in the middle lane and causes an engine cut out and power steering loss!
The Event
So I come off the Greenman roundabout slip road in Leytonstone onto the A12 where it becomes 50mph. So far everything is fine. So I'm in the left lane and a driver in front of me is doing 40 so a quick look later the middle lane is free to use to overtake the driver and then I can head back into the left lane.
As I begin to overtake and I'm in the middle lane the speedometer rapidly falls from a 50mph reading to 0mph!
So I press the gas some more but it's not going anywhere. The engine has cut out! The power steering has also cut out! I'm slowing down...FAST! The guy who I was overtaking has now undertaken me on the left, I can't however go behind him onto the hard shoulder because there is another car behind him. There are also cars to my right and a big lorry approaching behind me! Quick reaction hazards on.
I had no where to go and in a matter of seconds I was at 20 mph whilst everyone was zooming past 50mph, and the lorry behind me was closing in!
Whilst all this is going on I get out of gear into neutral and then into gear again. It will clutch but it will not rev! So as soon as the left lane is clear I do a quick check and gently ease the car into the left lane. But guess what? No hard shoulder or anywhere to break down in!
So I've come to a stop on the left lane of the A12. Hazards on and cars swerving around me. I switched the engine on, off and then on. Hey presto! Speedometer is back up, power steering is online and the engine is running!
I quickly get out of hazards, take the next exit and park up to assess the situation.
Conclusions
<- That was my face during the whole event. It was my first real brown pants moment I will never forget.