Intermittent cutting out 2001 x-reg 1.8 petrol Focus

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martin j - 21 Oct 2009 20:06 GMT

Had this problem since summer, seems to be getting slightly worse as
weather gets colder.
Symptoms are going along quite OK, then suddenly engine seems to lose
power and you notice speedo has dropped to zero. If you have to come
to a stop it will stall. Restarting seems to cure it. It can just
disappear and you'll quite OK for rest of trip. Just did 600 mile
round trip to Lakes district from south London and it never missed
beat.
Current mileage just over 57,000. Most miles now are crap short
journeys in 'lovely' south London traffic jams.

Any suggestions?

Martin J.

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Chris Whelan - 21 Oct 2009 21:20 GMT

> Had this problem since summer, seems to be getting slightly worse as
> weather gets colder.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Martin J.

Very common Focus problem - it's failure of the Vehicle Speed Sensor.

Bottom line? 25UKP and a fairly fiddly 45 minute DIY job, or around
100UKP at a dealer.

If you have the tools and skills to DIY it, search Google Groups for VSS
in the archive for this group; you will find all the info you need to
change it.

In the meantime, the fault will not cause any further problems, and it
will not leave you stranded.

HTH

Chris

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martin j - 22 Oct 2009 20:08 GMT

> > Had this problem since summer, seems to be getting slightly worse as
> > weather gets colder.
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
> --
> Remove prejudice to reply.

Thanks, thought it might be this!

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dr_jeff - 24 Oct 2009 05:04 GMT

> Had this problem since summer, seems to be getting slightly worse as
> weather gets colder.
> Symptoms are going along quite OK, then suddenly engine seems to lose
> power and you notice speedo has dropped to zero.

If the speedo is dropping to zero, I would suspect that there is a
problem with the computer that controls the engine. Are there any OBD II
codes (from the check engine light or whatever you Brits call it)?

> If you have to come
> to a stop it will stall. Restarting seems to cure it. It can just
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Any suggestions?

Find out if there is a check engine light on and any OBD II codes.

> Martin J.

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Chris Whelan - 24 Oct 2009 08:39 GMT

[...]

> If the speedo is dropping to zero, I would suspect that there is a
> problem with the computer that controls the engine. Are there any OBD II
> codes (from the check engine light or whatever you Brits call it)?

I'm afraid that you suspect incorrectly!

As I have described in my previous post, this is a *very* common
(European) Focus problem; it has been mentioned in this ng numerous
times, as a search in the archives via Google Groups will show.

On-line retailers even sell the sensor in a kit complete with the
retaining pin (which is always destroyed by removal).

(In Europe, we use EOBD, which is an extension to the original OBD
system.)

> Find out if there is a check engine light on and any OBD II codes.

VSS faults will not be stored in the ECU, therefore the engine warning
light will not be illuminated.

Chris

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dr_jeff - 24 Oct 2009 14:17 GMT

> [...]
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Chris

Thanks for info. According to wikipedia, EOBD is a version of OBD II,
though.

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