11 Ford Focus brief loss of power when accelerating

Rattlehead_ie

As the thread topic says, Im hoping to get some pointers and advice on possible causes. I've had this issue happen to me 3 or 4 times in the last year with the car and its been put down to "bad diesel" and the filter, which has been swapped each time, however I just get the feeling there is something else at play.

Issue happens predominantly moving from 3rd to 4th gear, however noted it from 2nd-3rd and 4th-5th. Issue is when expecting to accelerate quickly I would increase my speed and then move into the next gear (as recommend by the lil dash indicator) once moved into the next gear my rev indicator quickly jumps up with a brief loss of power, followed by it falling back down to where you would expect it to be and slowly increasing as normal. To get around this for now I tend to stay in a lower gear till the rev counter is much higher and then move up the gear, which Im sure isnt great for the car either.

Car is in for a service next week, but I fully expect the "bad diesel" response again.

Any help. advice would be great, thanks

Rattle

shietpilot

Sounds like a slipping clutch. Power loss would result in decrease of revs and not an increase.

Rattlehead_ie

shietpilot wrote: »

Sounds like a slipping clutch. Power loss would result in decrease of revs and not an increase.

Thanks for the reply. My fault, when I mentioned that the rev limit goes up, I dont actually hear the rev of the engine, it just the indicator that flies up and then comes back down to where it should be.

biko

It does sound like a slipping clutch, when revs counter goes up but car isn't moving properly. It can also be a split hose.

I suggest you take car to another mechanic and see what they say.
You can also check the engine for bad hoses.

Don't try this unless you're handy around cars. Maybe for you it's enough just to squeeze hoses while car is running, listen for changes in idle revs and don't get caught by moving parts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CPqbaSgcok

Rattlehead_ie

Cheers guys. Both sound like valid other issues for this. I'll leave the mechanic to the mechanic bit. Swapping fuses and bulbs is as far as I go

I'll let you know how I get on next week.

mullingar

No engine vacuum in that diesel engine. They do have a vacuum pump to generate vacuum to control the turbo via a small actuator.

If it's in gear with foot off the clutch and the engine revs at a different rate to the expected acceleration, it's the clutch slipping.

Go out to the car, rev to 3k, handbrake on, brake pedal pressed, 5th gear and lift clutch fast, if it runs for a few seconds or more it's the clutch. If it immediately cuts out its good.

Rattlehead_ie

Wished I had just kept plugging away at car and with the illusion of bad diesel. I'm now 2.3k down after major work having to be done on call. Full swap out of the clutch and rear suspension screwed.....I knew the timing belt was coming up so that was expected but good god. It'll be get the car back and look to sell it on immediately now.

Either way thanks for all the help and advice guys. Much appreciated.

Cheensbo

Aw that sucks. What work besides the clutch has cost you 2.3k?

I know if I dropped that much on repairs I sure as hell wouldnt be selling on straight away :O

Rattlehead_ie

Right so
Timing Belt and Water pump
Clutch Replacement and Slave
Drag Arm Bushes
All other sundries:

In fairness its a lot of work, just wasnt expecting that much of a dig into the €

shietpilot

Rattlehead_ie wrote: »

Right so
Timing Belt and Water pump
Clutch Replacement and Slave
Drag Arm Bushes
All other sundries:

In fairness its a lot of work, just wasnt expecting that much of a dig into the €

You replaced the flywheel too, right?

Rattlehead_ie

shietpilot wrote: »

You replaced the flywheel too, right?

New Clutch Kit installed.
Which I was told included the flywheel

mullingar

Is it the 1.8???

Sounds like it is as the 1.8 flywheel fails frequently

Rattlehead_ie

mullingar wrote: »

Is it the 1.8???

Sounds like it is as the 1.8 flywheel fails frequently

1.6 Zetec Sport Import 110BHP if that makes a difference.

Ill be looking at a new car shortly enough anyway. I clock good millage with work