Old Ford Focus Troubles
Discussion
Hi
Long time lurker first time poster, I've been searching for a similar thread but haven't found any so here goes ...
Its a ford focus 1.8 Sport 2007 - now that doesn't sound ancient but I'm not gentle with it, I drive down rough dirt tracks for miles and miles, very rural very hilly forest trails and general around town. It has nearly 110 thousand miles on the clock along with a fair few war wounds along the way !
That being said I've taken care of it very well mechanically its not due a mot till November and I'm holding on because cash is tight.
The engine light is constantly on - electrical issue has been on for the last 6 months, the engine is gradually getting louder and louder sounds very rough, drinks through petrol like you wouldn't believe but has no leaks that I can see. Constantly wants oil - drinks that as well.
Will without failure stall within the first mile, generally at the end of the street or roundabout then struggles to start again without whining - after that its fine.
Does anyone have any ideas, or is it time to trade up ?
Long time lurker first time poster, I've been searching for a similar thread but haven't found any so here goes ...
Its a ford focus 1.8 Sport 2007 - now that doesn't sound ancient but I'm not gentle with it, I drive down rough dirt tracks for miles and miles, very rural very hilly forest trails and general around town. It has nearly 110 thousand miles on the clock along with a fair few war wounds along the way !
That being said I've taken care of it very well mechanically its not due a mot till November and I'm holding on because cash is tight.
The engine light is constantly on - electrical issue has been on for the last 6 months, the engine is gradually getting louder and louder sounds very rough, drinks through petrol like you wouldn't believe but has no leaks that I can see. Constantly wants oil - drinks that as well.
Will without failure stall within the first mile, generally at the end of the street or roundabout then struggles to start again without whining - after that its fine.
Does anyone have any ideas, or is it time to trade up ?
Try changing your spark plugs, also the air filter if it's very dirty. Worth doing the fuel filter too if it hasn't been done for a while.
Edited to add - make sure you use decent fuel - a steady diet of supermarket stuff can cause issues. Try it with some injector cleaner too.
Edited to add - make sure you use decent fuel - a steady diet of supermarket stuff can cause issues. Try it with some injector cleaner too.
Edited by jhonn on Saturday 17th September 19:25
sherman said:
Put it out of its misery.
You will be lucky to get a grand for trade in with an MOT just now as it is.
If as you suspect it wont pass another MOT without work why throw money away that your not going to get back?
Admittedly this one sounds knackered though.
The eml light being on combined with excess fuel consumption will be a lamda sensor (there's 2).
If there's no leaks then the engine is burning it. It's either piston/ bore wear or valve stem seals. Either way, the cost involved will be prohibitive re the value of the car.
Drain the oil, replace the filter and use 4 litres of 5/30 plus 1 litre of Lucas oil stabiliser. This isn't a proper fix obviously but it'll slow the oil consumption and you'll get a few more miles out of it before you either replace the engine with a used one or scrap the car..
If there's no leaks then the engine is burning it. It's either piston/ bore wear or valve stem seals. Either way, the cost involved will be prohibitive re the value of the car.
Drain the oil, replace the filter and use 4 litres of 5/30 plus 1 litre of Lucas oil stabiliser. This isn't a proper fix obviously but it'll slow the oil consumption and you'll get a few more miles out of it before you either replace the engine with a used one or scrap the car..
The high fuel consumption probably means that it's running very rich (squirting too much petrol into the engine).
This has probably washed the oil off the inside of the cylinder bores, leading to excess wear, hence the noise. The bores would be worn inside making them too large for the pistons. Oil would then get up the side of the pistons and be burned, hence the oil consumption.
The engine light is probably because it's running rich, rather than being an electrical issue. Unless the car has separate electrical problems?
If this is the case, the engine is very much on its way out.
Another poster mentions the lambda sensor which is a good shout as a cause. I have a feeling a stuck thermostat could also cause rich running.
Anyway it's probably too late now to save the engine so not worth spending money on spark plugs etc I suspect.
This has probably washed the oil off the inside of the cylinder bores, leading to excess wear, hence the noise. The bores would be worn inside making them too large for the pistons. Oil would then get up the side of the pistons and be burned, hence the oil consumption.
The engine light is probably because it's running rich, rather than being an electrical issue. Unless the car has separate electrical problems?
If this is the case, the engine is very much on its way out.
Another poster mentions the lambda sensor which is a good shout as a cause. I have a feeling a stuck thermostat could also cause rich running.
Anyway it's probably too late now to save the engine so not worth spending money on spark plugs etc I suspect.
Edited by samoht on Saturday 17th September 21:14
Electrical issues on them if you do a lot of rough stuff lots of vibrations will possibly be the ecu plugs under the dash in passenger footwell they are kicked loose regularly. So lots of vibrations over an extended period of time may cause them to work loose.
Also they have a problem with the dash in the clocks the solder they used had very little or no lead in so is tin. Over time with vibrations the joint on the ribbon gets micro fractures in it causing various issues.
Very easy fix about 30mins take clocks out and run a soldering iron across each joint.
YouTube has some good videos regarding it.
Also they have a problem with the dash in the clocks the solder they used had very little or no lead in so is tin. Over time with vibrations the joint on the ribbon gets micro fractures in it causing various issues.
Very easy fix about 30mins take clocks out and run a soldering iron across each joint.
YouTube has some good videos regarding it.
I had an 03 focus 1.8 which I put 130k miles on. The most frequently wearing part was the coil pack. When it started to fail I had an engine fault light and the engine would go into limp mode, so increased fuel consumption. The coil pack was cheap and simple to replace, the car got through 3-4. So the engine light and increased fuel consumption could be that.
I agree about other people saying bore wear causing increased oil consumption. By the time I got rid of my focus I was burning oil, leaking oil and leaking coolant. The cam cover was leaking oil and a gasket change didn't solve it. Coolant began leaking at the join between the thermostat housing and the block. Changing the cam cover gasket only solved the oil leak for a couple of days. Maybe changing the plastic cam cover, which may have warped over time, would have solved the problem, but I think that wear in the bores was causing positive pressure in the crankcase and elsewhere, causing leaks. Replacing the thermostat housing only stopped the coolant leak for a few weeks. In the end I just got rid of it.
It was a good car and never actually broke down on me, but a mistake I made was sinking a lot of money into it before I got rid. At 120k and MOT time, which a slightly slipping clutch at this point, I decided to either get rid if it needed lots of work to pass the MOT, or replace the clutch if it didn't need too much work. Of course it passed with no advisories! So I spent about £400 getting the clutch done, and another £400 or so getting a new cambelt fitted as that was overdue too. I thought I was set for another few years, but then part after part began to fail.
In my last year of ownership I sunk about a grand into a car that, I now think, was designed to start falling apart after 100k or 10 years due to planned obselecence.
I strongly recommend not doing any major repairs or major service items, just the minimum to keep her safety on the road, and start looking for a replacement car.
I agree about other people saying bore wear causing increased oil consumption. By the time I got rid of my focus I was burning oil, leaking oil and leaking coolant. The cam cover was leaking oil and a gasket change didn't solve it. Coolant began leaking at the join between the thermostat housing and the block. Changing the cam cover gasket only solved the oil leak for a couple of days. Maybe changing the plastic cam cover, which may have warped over time, would have solved the problem, but I think that wear in the bores was causing positive pressure in the crankcase and elsewhere, causing leaks. Replacing the thermostat housing only stopped the coolant leak for a few weeks. In the end I just got rid of it.
It was a good car and never actually broke down on me, but a mistake I made was sinking a lot of money into it before I got rid. At 120k and MOT time, which a slightly slipping clutch at this point, I decided to either get rid if it needed lots of work to pass the MOT, or replace the clutch if it didn't need too much work. Of course it passed with no advisories! So I spent about £400 getting the clutch done, and another £400 or so getting a new cambelt fitted as that was overdue too. I thought I was set for another few years, but then part after part began to fail.
In my last year of ownership I sunk about a grand into a car that, I now think, was designed to start falling apart after 100k or 10 years due to planned obselecence.
I strongly recommend not doing any major repairs or major service items, just the minimum to keep her safety on the road, and start looking for a replacement car.
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