2001 Ford Focus Stuttering problem

Why _So_Serious?

Hi all,
Have a 2001 ford focus, lately causing Stuttering/ stalling problem.
Changed the spark plugs few weeks back and that sorted for day or two and came back, had it service yesterday and in diagnosed it came as a Cylinder Misfire.
I think it could be Coil.
Does anybody has any idea what could it be and how much i am looking for?
Thanks

Gavman84

Hi It sounds like the coil pack is the problem alright. They are not too expensive I think about €80 for it and then price to fit it. Prob be roughly 150 from main dealer to do the job but independent be good bit cheaper.Best bet is to ring Ford and ask price and ask your own mechanic the price. Common problem on the Focus anyway.
Better off to replace it sooner than later too as can damage cat if leave it too long.
Gav

macroman

I'd bet it's the coilpack, the mothers Focus had this problem, new coilpack sorted it. Quick and easy fix, quite common too

Tefral

Coilpack, ford focus' suffer really badly from them because people use spurios plugs that do not have the correct gap.

Everyone that i have ever known that has had a focus has changed the coilpack.

Its a job you could do yourself with Torx screws, just follow the plug leads to the end (not in the cylinder) and thats the coilpack.. its a little black box with 4 "stacks" on the top that the leads plug into.

quarryman

Gavman84 wrote: »

Hi It sounds like the coil pack is the problem alright. They are not too expensive I think about €80 for it and then price to fit it. Prob be roughly 150 from main dealer to do the job but independent be good bit cheaper.Best bet is to ring Ford and ask price and ask your own mechanic the price. Common problem on the Focus anyway.
Better off to replace it sooner than later too as can damage cat if leave it too long.
Gav

do NOT pay someone €70 to fit a coil pack. Literally a 3 minute job.

tred

Why _So_Serious? wrote: »

Hi all,
Have a 2001 ford focus, lately causing Stuttering/ stalling problem.
Changed the spark plugs few weeks back and that sorted for day or two and came back, had it service yesterday and in diagnosed it came as a Cylinder Misfire.
I think it could be Coil.
Does anybody has any idea what could it be and how much i am looking for?
Thanks

change the plugs first followed by the coil pack. sometimes the leads give trouble. youll need torx heads to loose the pack and replace. happend to the mrs car recently..

johnayo

Why _So_Serious? wrote: »

Hi all,
Have a 2001 ford focus, lately causing Stuttering/ stalling problem.
Changed the spark plugs few weeks back and that sorted for day or two and came back, had it service yesterday and in diagnosed it came as a Cylinder Misfire.
I think it could be Coil.
Does anybody has any idea what could it be and how much i am looking for?
Thanks

Will probably be a faulty coil pack. You also should disconnect the leads from the spark plugs and check that there is no water or coolant down at the plugs.Windscreen washer hoses have a habit of leaking water down there causing a misfire. If you continue to drive car with misfire, you will be replacing the catalytic convertor as well soon.

Why _So_Serious?

Thanks all for the advice.
Changed the coil pack yesterday, Cost me €80 including labor, Mechanic wasn't happy enough after changing the coil pack, he said it might be some other problem like not enough compression or something.
he asked to me drive a bit and let him know, i am driving since last night, problem has gone but for 1 second it seemed stalling again, will give it a good go on the weekend.

I honestly don't know what is the problem. he spent good bit of time to check the spark plug and diagnose test, and 1 spark plug seem to acting as well, plug was new but rubber, changed the rubber and bit better but i don't what he was testing and he didn't explain me anyway.

i hope it goes away now.

quarryman

I had the exact same thing on my mondeo. Got a diagnostic and it indicated a mis-fire in 4th cylinder.

Assumed it was the coil pack and changed it myself. Problem was still there.

Put a new set of HT leads in and all fixed!

Why _So_Serious?

quarryman wrote: »

I had the exact same thing on my mondeo. Got a diagnostic and it indicated a mis-fire in 4th cylinder.

Assumed it was the coil pack and changed it myself. Problem was still there.

Put a new set of HT leads in and all fixed!

That's exactly what showed on mine too, How much i am looking for HT leads?
Did your's drive any better for few days after you changed the coil pack?
Thanks again.

quarryman

Why _So_Serious? wrote: »

That's exactly what showed on mine too, How much i am looking for HT leads?
Did your's drive any better for few days after you changed the coil pack?
Thanks again.

I can't remember €40 or thereabouts. I thought it made a bit of a difference at first but then again, it might have all been in my head.

Why _So_Serious?

Brought the car to garage again last weekend with same problem.
I had the coil pack changed, new spark plug, serviced etc, still no fix.
Does anyone has any idea what is wrong, Mechanic said he doesn't have any idea but i will need my car to lave for longer period.
The sparks are going black very soon he said, it's still showing Cylinder Misfire.


Any advice would be appreciated.

Henry Ford III

Get it on a proper diagnostic machine pronto. A misfire can only be down to a fueling or ignition issue.

Henry Ford III

cronin_j wrote: »

Coilpack, ford focus' suffer really badly from them because people use spurios plugs that do not have the correct gap.

Everyone that i have ever known that has had a focus has changed the coilpack.

Its a job you could do yourself with Torx screws, just follow the plug leads to the end (not in the cylinder) and thats the coilpack.. its a little black box with 4 "stacks" on the top that the leads plug into.

I've owned 6 petrol Foci and never had any coil pack issues. Maybe I'm just lucky?

Why _So_Serious?

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Get it on a proper diagnostic machine pronto. A misfire can only be down to a fueling or ignition issue.

Yeah that's a proper diagnostic machine, mechanic mentioned something about ignition timing and thinks the problem started when timing belt was changed.
he wants me to leave the car for a day and can check properly, but i don't want to spend too much money on it as i am after spending lots, i don't mind spending if i know for sure that will fix it, he is charging €60 for a day labor to have a look.

Geezy

Did you try the HT leads?

Had a misfire problem with two other cars.

Turned out to be the leads.

Sometimes they can melt against the engine and lose thir spark before it reaches the sparkplug. Other times they can get damaged when they are being taken off and put back on (sparkplug change) it the lead is being pulled rather than the actual cap bit.

Shouldnt cost too much (€30 tops) and easy to change. just make sure you remember where the old ones were positioned before you replace with new ones as they each have an allocated spark and socked on the ignition coil.

ps buy the parts in a mechanics providers like southside motors on the keylmore road as they are much cheaper than rip off halfords!

d.h.79

I've a similar issue - the engine takes a moment to 'catch' sometimes when I turn the ignition, and then kind of shakes/shudders into life. Then, for the first 5 or 10 minutes of driving, there is often some hesitation/jerkiness when accelerating, particularly when the revs are low (e.g. accelerating away from lights). It has been plugged into a diagnostic, but no faults were diagnosed.

I had a look online and found the following:

"Poor starting and hesitation of Focus petrol engines may be due to loss of pressure from the fuel rail, itself either due to a gasket failure or due to failure of the rail, which is expensive at over £400 fitted. Though another possibility is a cracked crankshaft breather pipe."

This is taken from the following website:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/ford/focus-1998?section=bad

Does anybody have an opinion on this?

Also, see the below post from that forum:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=76696

Any opinions welcome. Cheers

Geezy

d.h.79 wrote: »

I've a similar issue - the engine takes a moment to 'catch' sometimes when I turn the ignition, and then kind of shakes/shudders into life. Then, for the first 5 or 10 minutes of driving, there is often some hesitation/jerkiness when accelerating, particularly when the revs are low (e.g. accelerating away from lights). It has been plugged into a diagnostic, but no faults were diagnosed.

I had a look online and found the following:

"Poor starting and hesitation of Focus petrol engines may be due to loss of pressure from the fuel rail, itself either due to a gasket failure or due to failure of the rail, which is expensive at over £400 fitted. Though another possibility is a cracked crankshaft breather pipe."

This is taken from the following website:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/ford/focus-1998?section=bad

Does anybody have an opinion on this?

Also, see the below post from that forum:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=76696

Any opinions welcome. Cheers

Sounds like it could be worn HT leads (leads that go from spark plugs to ignition coil)

I had the same problem on my punto years ago and the mechanic gave a similar story... head gasket €500. took it down to my mates dad who is also a mechanic, he changed the ht leads and the car was perfect!

The damage may be visible if on of the leads has melted against the engine (loosing its spark). Or it may not if the cable is thorn from the inside.

They cost about €30 in southside motors keylore road... my advice change them and see if there is a difference.

On a seperate note... related to the engine warning light on my 04 petrol mondeo. The ignition coil can often malfunction if the sparkplugs are changed new ignition coil fixed the job cost €196 from ford or €60 from southside... easy to fit

Optimus Prime

I have had this issue on my car 3 times in the last 2 years.

The first time i had it 2 years ago, i was getting the sparks and coil replaced and the sparks where coroded into the engine and one broke while getting removed. i had to get it drilled out. cost me a fortune.

The second time down in galway 2 months ago the engine light came on and the car was jumping in first and i had to put the foot down to get it going. I opened up where the sparks are in it had water in there. had to get the sparks changed and the coil changed again.

last week, same thing again, engine light on, having to put the foot down to get it going, car nearly cutting out if i turned on the heat. I brought it down to a mechanic i know this time and removed the sparks, they where wet again. he said this happens on certain year ford cars. there is no cover over the engine so water gets on top and leaks either through rain or from the spray things for the windows which are right over the engine. on top of that the garage in galway put in a non ford coil which needed to be replaced.

He made me a cover to go over the engine that will keep water from getting in. he said he has seen this a load of times before.

Why _So_Serious?

Thanks all.
Yeah the problem was in HT leads,€30 and it's running like a new since then.

Anyone having similar problem change HT leads before trying coil pack. Some mechanics are there to rip you off.