Tricky Focus Mk1 problem, would appreciate advice.

Outkast_IRE

Ford Focus Mk1 1.4ltr Petrol Hatchback
Last week I noticed the car getting fractionally harder to start, just a tiny bit thought it was the cold weather etc.

Fast forward to driving down the road, and engine management light comes on but car seemed ok, when pulled up and stopped I notice the idle has become really low, around 700rpm or even lower. Its so low that its the headlights flicker, and its constantly seeking , rising a fraction and dropping a fraction, on the edge of conking out.

As soon as you tap the accelerator even a fraction its running fine, no obvious roughness, in the noise.
After I take off again I notice a slight dead zone in the revs, its not there all the time but is intermittent.

Next time I start the car its much harder to start, needs a touch on the accelerator to get going.

Now once running there is no obvious roughness except for the dead zone in the revs that's intermittent.

Ok fast forward and I bring it to my local indie, he pulls a fault code and comes back saying a misfire in cylinder 3, he suspects the coil pack, and he was doing a compression test on the engine aswell to check for other issues.
I was very busy the following day so couldn't pick up till 2 days later.

When I go to pick up the car he tells me, he suspects its a sticking valve, that's intermittently sticking and he has put some additive in and wants me to run the car with it for a week or two and see does it help with the valve.

Otherwise he says he needs to take off the head and find out which valve is causing the issue and it could cost €600 plus.

Any ideas ? To me it sounds like coil pack still as I had that go on me 4 years ago and the symptoms were very similar ?

Advice needed here before I shell out big money. I may bring it to ford dealer for 2nd opinion.

Hal1

I would start with replacing the spark plugs and ht leads. Also check for air leaks around the rubber hoses.

corktina

me too, and the coil pack, cheap DIY jobs.

Mycroft H

I'd be looking at the crankshaft position sensor as well. All cheap possible fixes. The crankshaft position sensor can throw up ambiguous faults when it's gone wrong, more often than not just the CEL Light.

turbostan

Presumably the battery was checked and is ok?

88manta

Did you get a diagnostic scan done on it?

Outkast_IRE

88manta wrote: »

Did you get a diagnostic scan done on it?

The check engine light came on and they said they pulled a fault code for misfire in cylinder 3

Outkast_IRE

turbostan wrote: »

Presumably the battery was checked and is ok?

I personally didn't check it as I don't have multimeter, I would hope that it was one of the first things the garage checked.

porsche boy

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

The check engine light came on and they said they pulled a fault code for misfire in cylinder 3

Replace the coil pack, leads and plugs. Common fault in the Mk1 Focus, coil packs and leads seem to wear out over time. Whole lot should be around a hundred quid in a motor factors. Be sure to connect the leads correctly to your new coil pack as there are a few different configurations depending on engine.

porsche boy

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

The check engine light came on and they said they pulled a fault code for misfire in cylinder 3

Replace the coil pack, leads and plugs. Common fault in the Mk1 Focus, coil packs and leads seem to wear out over time. Whole lot should be around a hundred quid in a motor factors. Be sure to connect the leads correctly to your new coil pack as there are a few different configurations depending on engine.