Ford focus cutting out

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 6:30pm #1

Hi all, more issues with my focus today :mad: I was in cork doing exams on the way back my mother wanted to go to a shopping centre in clonmel I sat in the car and the engine was idleing and just cut out. I eventually got it restarted and managed to eventually get to the a petrol station and fill up the car with diesel. The car cut out 7 times on the way to the petrol station 3 times on a round about. When it cut out I had to pump the accelerator abit and it would eventually restart after a good few seconds. I could here a kind of sucking noise coming from the back I assume it was from the fuel tank.

The thing is there was diesel in the car. The fuel light wasnt on. The range read 190 km. when I filled it the car took 42 litres to absolutely brim it. The tank is 53 litres. So that's probably at least 12litres of diesel left if you count the filler pipe.

I am just wondering is this normal for a focus? I can't understand why it would do this when the light isn't even on. I am loosing patience with this car very quickly. Looks like ill have to start filling it when it gets to 1/2 full which is a pain :mad:

challengemaster · 28-05-2013 7:11pm

Could be failing fuel pump or a clogged fuel filter...

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 7:17pm

challengemaster wrote: »

Could be failing fuel pump or a clogged fuel filter...

I changed the fuel filter less than 6k km ago and only buy from a main brand diesel station so shouldn't be that. Im not sure about the fuel pump. Thanks for the response.

keithsfleet · 28-05-2013 7:21pm

Does sound like it's not getting fuel.

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 7:30pm

keithsfleet wrote: »

Does sound like it's not getting fuel.

When I filled it up it ran fine and seems ok now. Still I'm just curious why it would act like that when there was still 12 litres left.

dar83 · 28-05-2013 7:33pm

I'd hazard a guess at fuel pump as well. Especially if you think you're hearing it!

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 7:36pm

dar83 wrote: »

I'd hazard a guess at fuel pump as well. Especially if you think you're hearing it!

I thought There was no lift pump on a 1.6tdci I could be wrong though I'm not that sure tbh.

166man · 28-05-2013 7:44pm

Jaypers BP, you're having awful luck with that Focus. Would you consider changing it for something else?

challengemaster · 28-05-2013 7:47pm

166man wrote: »

Jaypers BP, you're having awful luck with that Focus. Would you consider changing it for something else?

Of all people to say that :pac:

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 7:50pm

166man wrote: »

Jaypers BP, you're having awful luck with that Focus. Would you consider changing it for something else?

It is crossing my mind alright. Its hard to know kind of fcuked if I sell it fcuked if I don't. As I wouldn't even get what I paid for it back never mind the 2k I've spent on it at this stage :eek:. If my summer job goes well I think ill move it on at the end of the summer and take the hit on it. Have to kind of wait and see tbh. But I'm sick of things going wrong with it

Pedalstool · 28-05-2013 7:54pm

I seen a friends focus holding water around the spark plugs which caused him trouble? A common problem apparently.

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 7:56pm

Pedalstool wrote: »

I seen a friends focus holding water around the spark plugs which caused him trouble? A common problem apparently.

I hope mine doesn't have spark plugs or I'm in trouble :pac: ah no mine is a diesel one so no spark plugs. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Pedalstool · 28-05-2013 7:58pm

Bpmull wrote: »

I hope mine doesn't have spark plugs or I'm in trouble :pac: ah no mine is a diesel one so no spark plugs. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Ha ha. I should of read the op before jumping in with my suggestions.

166man · 28-05-2013 7:58pm

challengemaster wrote: »

Of all people to say that :pac:

Ah feck off with ya... My car's fine! No NCT yet but still....:D

Bpmull wrote: »

It is crossing my mind alright. Its hard to know kind of fcuked if I sell it fcuked if I don't. As I wouldn't even get what I paid for it back never mind the 2k I've spent on it at this stage :eek:. If my summer job goes well I think ill move it on at the end of the summer and take the hit on it. Have to kind of wait and see tbh. But I'm sick of things going wrong with it

Understandably so, maybe shift it on and move to something worth a bit less? Hard to believe the cars had so many problems...:(

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 8:04pm

166man wrote: »

Understandably so, maybe shift it on and move to something worth a bit less? Hard to believe the cars had so many problems...:(

Ill wait and see hopefully it won't cause anymore trouble.

robo10 · 28-05-2013 8:50pm

Could be the fuel rail pressure sensor .

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 8:56pm

robo10 wrote: »

Could be the fuel rail pressure sensor .

Since I filled it it seems to be running fine. Just went out there and started straight away and ran normally. The problem seems to be linked to the low fuel even though there was about 12 litres in it. When I was going to the garage you'd sware there was .5 of a litre in it. Basically when I got it started it ran find and I was keeping the revs up but then would just stop randomly on the way to the petrol station had to pull in a few times on the way there. It wasn't running rough or spluttering would just simply cut out no warning.

robo10 · 28-05-2013 9:03pm

The miss had a 07 1.6 tdci it kept cutting out and eventually it would not start the problem was the fuel rail pressure sensor. get it plugged into diagnostics and check for faults im near clonmel and can do it for you no problem always happy to help . There a troublesome engine

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 9:05pm

robo10 wrote: »

The miss had a 07 1.6 tdci it kept cutting out and eventually it would not start the problem was the fuel rail pressure sensor. get it plugged into diagnostics and check for faults im near clonmel and can do it for you no problem always happy to help . There a troublesome engine

Thanks for the offer if it persists and I'm up that way i might take you up on that offer thanks.

George Dalton · 28-05-2013 9:33pm

The fuel rail pressure sensors do give a bit of trouble on them alright but usually the stalling is unpredictable and not related to the level of fuel in the tank.

We sold a Focus a few months back and it cut out on the motorway with the new owner a short time later. Turned out it had ran out of diesel despite showing 160km left on the range. The fuel level sender in the tank had a crack in it which was stopping the float from reading the final 15% or so of fuel left in the tank. Could be a similar problem here but dropping the tank to access the sender is not a trivial job so you will have to see if the problem repeats itself next time the fuel is low before doing anything else.

Bpmull · 28-05-2013 9:43pm

George Dalton wrote: »

The fuel rail pressure sensors do give a bit of trouble on them alright but usually the stalling is unpredictable and not related to the level of fuel in the tank.

We sold a Focus a few months back and it cut out on the motorway with the new owner a short time later. Turned out it had ran out of diesel despite showing 160km left on the range. The fuel level sender in the tank had a crack in it which was stopping the float from reading the final 15% or so of fuel left in the tank. Could be a similar problem here but dropping the tank to access the sender is not a trivial job so you will have to see if the problem repeats itself next time the fuel is low before doing anything else.

Thanks George. It only took 42litres to brim it so according to the Internet they have a 53 litre tank. The gauge has read lower before and the car never done this I've driven it down to 90 km range the light still wasnt on. I could kind of here a sucking noise come from the rear of the car basically like the fuel line was only sucking some fuel and not getting a constant flow. Could alot of dirt in the tank cause this?

Plug · 29-05-2013 12:30am

I've seen a cracked pipe on the fuel sender unit that was causing it to cut when the fuel went below a certain level. It was drawing air in. A clear pipe is handy for diagnosing problem like that.

Could explain the noise you hear.

Bpmull · 29-05-2013 7:47am

Plug wrote: »

I've seen a cracked pipe on the fuel sender unit that was causing it to cut when the fuel went below a certain level. It was drawing air in. A clear pipe is handy for diagnosing problem like that.

Could explain the noise you hear.

That would make sense all right. So if I keep the level of the fuel fairly high it shouldn't happen. Is the sender pipe actually in tank? Sounds like a big job to replace would the tank have to be dropped ? Hopefully the crack won't spread.

George Dalton · 29-05-2013 8:05am

Yes the tank has to be dropped on them. Ford in their wisdom don't make the access hole under the seat large enough to get the tank unit out that way.

Bpmull · 29-05-2013 8:18am

Is a fuel sender pipe expensive too buy. I know you would have to add on labour. If the car is kept topped up with diesel will the cracked pipe have any bad effects on the car. I know its not definitely that problem but just if it is. Thanks for the help.

Plug · 29-05-2013 9:00am

Bpmull wrote: »

That would make sense all right. So if I keep the level of the fuel fairly high it shouldn't happen. Is the sender pipe actually in tank? Sounds like a big job to replace would the tank have to be dropped ? Hopefully the crack won't spread.

Try keep the tank topped up for a few weeks and see does it happen again. After that leave the fuel level fall and if it does start to cut out we know that this will most definitely be the problem. The tank has to be lowered to replace this unit.

Here on ebay.

Ford focus cutting out

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