Focus PCM update - to cure a cutting out problem
Discussion
I have a 2011 1.6 petrol Focus, its serviced by a local indie garage and has been out of the Ford dealer network for about 7 years.
Over the past few months its developed a habit of stuttering at tick over after deceleration and often cutting out. It will restsart instantly and then drives perfectly. This may happen once every 5 miles or so of driving.
It only happens on decel, at all othe times it drives perectly.
A quick google found similar probelms from other owners, same engine same year. Everyone tried new plugs, fuel filter etc etc. Turned out the solution was to have the PCM reflashed.
Software is a strange thing... they seem to update it all the time. If the software worked fine when it was new, why does it go wrong years down the line ?
My local Ford dealer wants £117 to reflash the PCM for me, with a message that said any pre-existing problems should be investigaed first or they wont be liable if anything goes wrong.
Not sure what could go "wrong" if your just loading up the latest software version ?
Im happy to "give it a go" for the price as it worked for other owners, rather than let the main dealer F**k about with it for a few hours, change a few unecessary aparts then reflash the PCM and give me a larger bill.
Any thoughts on this matter appreciated as Im a bit old skool, and any knowledge I have is just enough to be dangerous....
Over the past few months its developed a habit of stuttering at tick over after deceleration and often cutting out. It will restsart instantly and then drives perfectly. This may happen once every 5 miles or so of driving.
It only happens on decel, at all othe times it drives perectly.
A quick google found similar probelms from other owners, same engine same year. Everyone tried new plugs, fuel filter etc etc. Turned out the solution was to have the PCM reflashed.
Software is a strange thing... they seem to update it all the time. If the software worked fine when it was new, why does it go wrong years down the line ?
My local Ford dealer wants £117 to reflash the PCM for me, with a message that said any pre-existing problems should be investigaed first or they wont be liable if anything goes wrong.
Not sure what could go "wrong" if your just loading up the latest software version ?
Im happy to "give it a go" for the price as it worked for other owners, rather than let the main dealer F**k about with it for a few hours, change a few unecessary aparts then reflash the PCM and give me a larger bill.
Any thoughts on this matter appreciated as Im a bit old skool, and any knowledge I have is just enough to be dangerous....
This may not make sense to start off, but will at end.
I have a BMW, and Ford. BMW seems have specialists that know the engines backwards and know what to look for, what to fix, one hit and broadly it is done. My BMW is not as common as my Ford, so really it should be harder.
I have had two issues with my Ford, it's a bog standard engine, crazy numbers of that engine are on the road and the SMAX I have also has a fancy sat nav system.
Ford have been hopeless on the sat nav issue, and cost a fortune to fix a simple issue on something else.
I am at a loss to trust a ford dealership, I would love to find an Indy of the quality I have for the BMW to use for the Ford, but doesn't seem to be there where I live.
If you can, try looking on ford forum for recommendations on garages near you.
I have a BMW, and Ford. BMW seems have specialists that know the engines backwards and know what to look for, what to fix, one hit and broadly it is done. My BMW is not as common as my Ford, so really it should be harder.
I have had two issues with my Ford, it's a bog standard engine, crazy numbers of that engine are on the road and the SMAX I have also has a fancy sat nav system.
Ford have been hopeless on the sat nav issue, and cost a fortune to fix a simple issue on something else.
I am at a loss to trust a ford dealership, I would love to find an Indy of the quality I have for the BMW to use for the Ford, but doesn't seem to be there where I live.
If you can, try looking on ford forum for recommendations on garages near you.
pcn1 said:
Software is a strange thing... they seem to update it all the time. If the software worked fine when it was new, why does it go wrong years down the line ?
Particularly with gearboxes it's often that they can't always simulate and adapt the software to the specific wear patterns that customers see. There's a lot of adaptation built into them that we don't appreciate - shift points depending on throttle angle and even recent behaviour (e.g. being a bit sportier after you've been nailing it, then settling down within a few seconds)pcn1 said:
Software is a strange thing... they seem to update it all the time. If the software worked fine when it was new, why does it go wrong years down the line ?
Maybe the condition causing the fault only occurs due to wear that occurs over a long period of use. For example you could imagine that once the timing chain has stretched a certain amount, you could run less aggressive timing to protect the engine. Let's say that the code that makes the timing less aggressive is incorrect and it instead makes the timing way out causing it to stall on light throttles. The bug was always there in the ECU software but you would never experience it until the timing chain had stretched enough to trigger it.
Just an update on this thread I started before Covid kicked off.
After 18 months of doing nothing about it, I finally got the car booked into the local Ford dealer, had the PCM updated. Happy to report after 2 weeks of driving all seems fixed.
No more engine stalling, and before the car cut out every day on the way to work and home at least once. On a bad day several times.
I'd even goes as far as to say the engine performance feels slightly better. It used to struggle when accelerating in a higher gear from lower rpm's. Now it seems to pull with a little more enthusiasm. Not a big difference, but noticeable.
£117 well spent !
After 18 months of doing nothing about it, I finally got the car booked into the local Ford dealer, had the PCM updated. Happy to report after 2 weeks of driving all seems fixed.
No more engine stalling, and before the car cut out every day on the way to work and home at least once. On a bad day several times.
I'd even goes as far as to say the engine performance feels slightly better. It used to struggle when accelerating in a higher gear from lower rpm's. Now it seems to pull with a little more enthusiasm. Not a big difference, but noticeable.
£117 well spent !
pcn1 said:
Just an update on this thread I started before Covid kicked off.
After 18 months of doing nothing about it, I finally got the car booked into the local Ford dealer, had the PCM updated. Happy to report after 2 weeks of driving all seems fixed.
No more engine stalling, and before the car cut out every day on the way to work and home at least once. On a bad day several times.
I'd even goes as far as to say the engine performance feels slightly better. It used to struggle when accelerating in a higher gear from lower rpm's. Now it seems to pull with a little more enthusiasm. Not a big difference, but noticeable.
£117 well spent !
Wish I’d seen this thread earlier. I have a 2011 Focus 1.6 as well which developed a similar problem e.g. stalling at traffic lights and waiting to turn right etc. This was about 2018ish. Googled and like the OP found that a reflash could be the answer as I knew the car hadn’t been to a main dealer in years. Took it to local dealer who were a bit dubious but checked for updates and yes there was one outstanding. Reflashed it and apparently gave it a good test run over urban roads . Charged me about £ 90 and seemed to be fully expecting me to reappear on their doorstep but car was fine and has given no trouble since. Phoned the service manager after a week to let them know and I think he was a bit astonished!After 18 months of doing nothing about it, I finally got the car booked into the local Ford dealer, had the PCM updated. Happy to report after 2 weeks of driving all seems fixed.
No more engine stalling, and before the car cut out every day on the way to work and home at least once. On a bad day several times.
I'd even goes as far as to say the engine performance feels slightly better. It used to struggle when accelerating in a higher gear from lower rpm's. Now it seems to pull with a little more enthusiasm. Not a big difference, but noticeable.
£117 well spent !
Funnily enough I had this with a 2008 Focus I bought second hand from a main dealer. In the 12m warranty period I had it back twice for two little issues (Window switch and something else). On one of the visits they said 'oh, we also noticed your cars ECM isn't to the latest version and we've billed you for this' The figure was similar to yours. I said, it's still under 12m warranty as I bought it from yourselves and I'm having warranty work carried out.
After a five minute conversation in the back room, they came in and said they've done the update FOC, so I get the feeling some updates are a bit of a money spinner for them.
After a five minute conversation in the back room, they came in and said they've done the update FOC, so I get the feeling some updates are a bit of a money spinner for them.
I have read many posts and forums re updating pcm on focus mk3.
I was skeptical but had to book mine in, on collection all sorted so pleased with it (I was starting to hate using the car) but now almost like new. Definitely worth having it done, if your problem is stalling for no app reason.
Cost me £120.00 @ ford
I was skeptical but had to book mine in, on collection all sorted so pleased with it (I was starting to hate using the car) but now almost like new. Definitely worth having it done, if your problem is stalling for no app reason.
Cost me £120.00 @ ford
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