2005 focus juddering under acceleration

[Juanco20]

Coming home from work yesterday and I noticed that when accelerating, espeically in 4th gear, the car was bouncing/juddering/suttering (not sure how to best explain it). Not a smooth power delivery at all. Was strange as it has never happened before and it didn't start until 30 minutes in to the journey. Hoped that after a night on the drive that it might have just been a one off and sorted itself out but it was even worse today and doing it every gear but still worst in 4th, to the point where I was physically being moved about by the back and fourth movement.

It is a petrol 1.6 Zetec focus

Any idea what this could be?

[Baryonyx]

Juanco20 said:

Coming home from work yesterday and I noticed that when accelerating, espeically in 4th gear, the car was bouncing/juddering/suttering (not sure how to best explain it). Not a smooth power delivery at all. Was strange as it has never happened before and it didn't start until 30 minutes in to the journey. Hoped that after a night on the drive that it might have just been a one off and sorted itself out but it was even worse today and doing it every gear but still worst in 4th, to the point where I was physically being moved about by the back and fourth movement.

It is a petrol 1.6 Zetec focus

Any idea what this could be?

Sorry, what was juddering? I note you've mentioned the power delivery, would I be correct in thinking it's the engine that's juddering? It could be a misfire or an air flow problem (do these have air flow sensors? IIRC they do have something metering intake). From the sounds of things, I'm leaning towards a possible misfire. Has it ever had the ingition components changed?

Or is the judder elsewhere (ie through the steering wheel)?

[Juanco20]

Baryonyx said:

Sorry, what was juddering? I note you've mentioned the power delivery, would I be correct in thinking it's the engine that's juddering? It could be a misfire or an air flow problem (do these have air flow sensors? IIRC they do have something metering intake). From the sounds of things, I'm leaning towards a possible misfire. Has it ever had the ingition components changed?

Or is the judder elsewhere (ie through the steering wheel)?

Sorry, judder from the engine

[Jimmyarm]

Coil packs go down on those quite a lot, what you are describing is the symptoms of it being on it's last legs.

Worth getting the codes read to double check as coil packs are usually non returnable

[Juanco20]

Jimmyarm said:

Coil packs go down on those quite a lot, what you are describing is the symptoms of it being on it's last legs.

Worth getting the codes read to double check as coil packs are usually non returnable

Any idea of the reason for the cost difference between the different coil packs?

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ignition-coil

[_bryan_]

Sounds like dual mass flywheel failure to me, which would make sense if it is worse in 4th gear...

[13 DJP]

Had exactly this problem this afternoon on my Girlfriends Focus.

It was a split in one of the vacuum hoses, instant cure

[Jimmyarm]

The price differences are mainly down to quality.

Petrol focus's don't have dual mass flywheels afaik.

Could be a vacuum hose but you would normally get some idling issues too.

As above, it's worth getting the codes read just to see what the engine is picking up as being the fault

[vipulsingh]

If the judder occurs at specific combinations of Gear / road speeds, it could be transmission related (CV joint - gearbox side)

[mrtwisty]

_bryan_ said:

Sounds like dual mass flywheel failure to me, which would make sense if it is worse in 4th gear...

I'll give you a clue op, it isn't this ^

As above, its quite likely a coil pack. Couple of simple things to try first though if you know one end of a spanner from another:

Pop the engine cover off and check for any oil in the spark plug gallery - if there is any (even a small amount) it may have tracked up the inside of the ht lead sockets. Bit of kitchen roll will clean them up.

When were your plugs last changed? If its been a while, for the sake of a fiver and a ten minute job, its a good fault finder.

As above, have a look for hose leaks. Bit of tissue paper is handy for this (watch for it fluttering), but it would probably be evident without it.