'02 Ford Focus 1.4cc Engine Woes --- HELP!

Tattude

I have an 02 Focus estate 1.4cc with 105k, timing belt done at 102k
While driving it recently the thermostat went into the red, I had to try to get it home but it lay down on me before I got there. It was hesitating on acceleration and losing power until it just wouldn't go any further, I had a peek under the bonnet and was expecting wrath of God type conditions however there was coolant in the expansion bottle and all was calm. I had to retrieve it the following day.
I suspected head gasket issues minimum.

However

A friend approached me during the week who has a 2004 Focus 1.4cc saloon displaying similar symptoms, her mechanic diagnosed head gasket and she did not have the bobs to repair so I put another friend in touch with her and he bought it to repair it.
He did not have to do the head gasket though. He was a little vague on the repair but this is what he said, there was coolant in the head and it was leaking from the right side, frost plugs were replaced as was a temp sensor. Save for the car being difficult to start when cold, there is no sign now that there was ever any issues with it.
He had me remove a plug lead from the estate car that I have and sure enough this was soaking wet with what I believe to be coolant.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this trouble with a Focus 1.4cc or can diagnose this fault for me please?

Thanks in advance.

Hal1

Are the fans coming on at all?

Tattude

Tattude wrote: »

........ the thermostat went into the red, I had to try to get it home but it lay down on me before I got there. It was hesitating on acceleration and losing power until it just wouldn't go any further, I had a peek under the bonnet and was expecting wrath of God type conditions however there was coolant in the expansion bottle and all was calm............................... or can diagnose this fault for me please?

Thanks in advance.

No one can diagnose it over the net, you cooked the engine, impossible to know how much damage has been done.

ford jedi

theres afew common problems like that with the focus,s they very rarely do headgaskets unless they are roasted ,, the core plugs on the head leak coolant in on the plugs very commom problem , did ur car actually overheat /steam and stuff,, or did the gauge just hit the red and car go in to limp mode

Tattude

ford jedi wrote: »

theres afew common problems like that with the focus,s they very rarely do headgaskets unless they are roasted ,, the core plugs on the head leak coolant in on the plugs very commom problem , did ur car actually overheat /steam and stuff,, or did the gauge just hit the red and car go in to limp mode

Thats actually the type of constructive response that I was hoping for, many thanks. When I popped the bonnet there was no physical evidence of overheating etc. There was no steam, there was plenty of coolant in the expansion bottle and all was calm, I could open the bottle without pressure and the pipes were not hard. So the only evidence of overheating was the thermostat hitting the red and the car going into 'limp mode'.

funnyname

I can start a new thread but I thought it might be best to pigback on this one.

I recently picked up a 2002 ford focus 1.4, I bought the car a month ago, I only do very short runs as I get the train for my commute.

1./ dashboard lights gone, left half went two weeks ago, right side went yesterday, do I need to replace a fuse or do I I need to replace some bulbs? I took off the surround on the dash but the 2 bottom screws holding the instrument cluster in place look very tricky so I just let the investigation and replaced the surround.

2./ orange engine light is coming on intermittently, either flashing for a 30 seconds or else staying on for a minute or so. No loss in power during this time. I brought it into my local mechanic last weekend re this but while they ran the diagnostic the light didn't come on. However he did say the engine sound like it was misfiring a tiny little bit but not all the time.

3./ I did my first long spin yesterday evening, about 90 miles split into 3 even spins over the course of 5 hours. When I got home I noticed steam coming from the right side of the engine, I didn't have a torch so I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from but this morning the car started fine ad it has been ticking over for the last 10 minutes with no signs of anything untoward. Also I forgot to check the engine temp as with the dash light not working, the engine temp shoots up to halfway on starting the car and stays there but on the longer runs last night I didn't see where it was.

I will keep an eye on things as it's driving fine and if it gets worse I will call back to check with the mechanic.

Any preventive advice would be much appreciated

Thanks for reading

bassey

The punto finally packed it in, prize for whoever guesses what happened

I'm picking up a 2002 focus saloon 1.4 tomorrow with about 80k miles on the clock, anyone know of any common problems or things to look out for in these? I know the 1.4 is underpowered but that doesn't bother me as hopefully this will be a stop gap.

Anyone any idea of the fuel economy on these? Was getting >40 MPG with the punto.

Thanks