[red-i]

hey guys.. my girl's got a 2001 focus. about 3 months ago the tranny started acting up. when driving it feels like it's jumping in and out of gear... it happens very quickly, it's not jumping between gears, more like if driving at a constant speed (say 100kph) the car will jolt ever so slightly. i can't see it being an o2 sensor as it idles fine, her trans fluid has been changed recently, spark plugs are pretty new, and she replaced her fuel pump under recall a couple years ago.

just curious if anyone else has had any issues like this? i'm hoping it's something simple like a solenoid or something but i really have no idea.

thanks!

[NOS2Go4Me]

I had a very similar problem with our previous Focus in that when you cruised at a set speed for a while (minutes, hours), it would "hiccup" slightly. It wouldn't be enough to log a code or throw a CEL, but it happened once every few months.

I didn't keep the car long enough after the repair, but not too long prior to selling it we found out that a lot of minor driveability annoyances were related to the ignition coil. Once that was replaced, the car woke right up and drove well... until we sold it ;)

I'm not ruling out the transmission per se... try resetting the ECU entirely by leaving the negative cable off the negative battery terminal for 5-10 minutes. Then, reconnect it and drive the car as you normally would. Occasionally, take it for a quick jaunt to the upper rev ranges. See if it happens again.

When was the last time you replaced the fuel filter?

[red-i]

NOS2Go4Me,Jan 25 2007, 11:10 AM Wrote:I had a very similar problem with our previous Focus in that when you cruised at a set speed for a while (minutes, hours), it would "hiccup" slightly. It wouldn't be enough to log a code or throw a CEL, but it happened once every few months.

I didn't keep the car long enough after the repair, but not too long prior to selling it we found out that a lot of minor driveability annoyances were related to the ignition coil. Once that was replaced, the car woke right up and drove well... until we sold it ;)

I'm not ruling out the transmission per se... try resetting the ECU entirely by leaving the negative cable off the negative battery terminal for 5-10 minutes. Then, reconnect it and drive the car as you normally would. Occasionally, take it for a quick jaunt to the upper rev ranges. See if it happens again.

When was the last time you replaced the fuel filter?
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thanks for the reply! as for the fuel filter, I have no idea.. i'll have to check through her maintenance records. I'll try resetting the ECU tonight to see if that helps. it happens pretty consistantly.. like i'd say 3 or 4 times per minute when on the highway. at lower speeds i dont' notice it as much but i think it's more related to keeping it at constant speed in one gear for long enough for it to happen.

good suggestion about the ignition coil as well. if after resetting the ECU it's still acting up, she might end up just taking it to her dealership to have them check it out. yeah i know the dealers are expensive, but the one she's been going to have been pretty honest and straight up in the past. i myself have a mazda protege so i know very little about the focus. is there one ignition coil per plug on the 2001, or does it use coil packs?

[Burnin21]

The focus uses one coil pack on the SPI and Zetec motors and use Ignition wires to power the spark plugs. Usually the coil pack is relativly cheap to replace. The Duractec engines are the ones with individual coils per plug, but your girls focus is too old for that ;)

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Burnin21,Jan 25 2007, 02:45 PM Wrote:The focus uses one coil pack on the SPI and Zetec motors and use Ignition wires to power the spark plugs. Usually the coil pack is relativly cheap to replace. The Duractec engines are the ones with individual coils per plug, but your girls focus is too old for that ;)
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ah ok great info, thanks guys. I'll post back with my findings.

[j3rt]

I would suggest new spark plug cables. Especially if they haven't been done yet. My auto was doing the same in around 109 on the highway, same problems. At first I thought is was the tranny slipping, or the intake filter being soaked and the MAF getting damp.
I was checking things out one evening and noticed some arking across some of the cables at the coil. Changed them out and things cleared up. The stumbling/bad idle was really bad in damp weather. Also I noticed the ground connector on the coil was corroded, this was a week later while I was rechecking things. Cleaned it up, but it did not make as much of a difference compared to the new plug wires.

[red-i]

j3rt,Jan 26 2007, 12:35 AM Wrote:I would suggest new spark plug cables.  Especially if they haven't been done yet.  My auto was doing the same in around 109 on the highway, same problems.  At first I thought is was the tranny slipping, or the intake filter being soaked and the MAF getting damp.
I was checking things out one evening and noticed some arking across some of the cables at the coil.  Changed them out and things cleared up.  The stumbling/bad idle was really bad in damp weather.  Also I noticed the ground connector on the coil was corroded, this was a week later while I was rechecking things.  Cleaned it up, but it did not make as much of a difference compared to the new plug wires.
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yeah i'm pretty sure it's more related to the plugs/wires/distributor than the tranny. gf booked appt at dealer for monday (lol she still can't completely trust me with her car). we'll see what goes down. thanks fellas!

[j3rt]

you should price out some plug wires for her, stockers and fancy ford racing, that way she'll know how much the dealership is over charging her. She might at that point let you under the hood, so to speak.....

[red-i]

j3rt,Jan 27 2007, 12:12 AM Wrote:you should price out some plug wires for her, stockers and fancy ford racing, that way she'll know how much the dealership is over charging her.  She might at that point let you under the hood, so to speak.....
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turns out it was a cracked spark plug, the pvc hose to the egr was cracked, and the front springs were replaced under warranty (i believe this was addressed by ford a couple years back about them extending the waranty for springs to 10yrs right?)

what's stupid is the plug's only 2 or 3 months old... she ended up popping by midas to have her rear drums/shoes replaced and spark plugs changed (of course i insisted i just throw them in but noooooo). who knows what s***ty plugs midas threw in there.. anyway now i'm assuming the dealer just popped in a motorcraft one and left the others.. i'll just change them this weekend. what plugs are best?

p.s. thanks for all the help. i'm a member of toprotege btw. seeing as the lady's car has about 120k on it i'll be surfin around here more often to get me some maintenance and troubleshooting info.

[reldridge]

I'd stick with the stock Motorcraft plugs on a daily driver. No need for anything more expensive. I had a similar problem with my Focus, turned out to be a bad wire. I'd maybe check them out while you check the plugs.

What kind of Protege do you have? I used to lurk on toprotege back in my Escort GT days (BP fan for life! :D)

Ryan

[NOS2Go4Me]

If you're stock, stick with the OEM recommended Motorcraft stuff for sure.

Even with a lightly modded Duratec I'll be sticking with stock plugs.

[red-i]

reldridge,Jan 31 2007, 07:22 AM Wrote:I'd stick with the stock Motorcraft plugs on a daily driver. No need for anything more expensive. I had a similar problem with my Focus, turned out to be a bad wire. I'd maybe check them out while you check the plugs.

What kind of Protege do you have? I used to lurk on toprotege back in my Escort GT days (BP fan for life! :D)

Ryan
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i have a 2002 protege5.. yeah we still have quite a few BP guys as well. don't get me started on my car! i burn a quart of oil every week! (most likely a cracked ring or seal) :( gf's focus on the other hand has been relatively trouble free. she had her fuel pump go on her once, then it was replaced under warranty, and then it was replaced again under recall for an improved version)

ok i'll go with the motorcraft plugs.. while i'm at it can someone mention the part number? does the spark plug gapping have to be adjusted at all?

[NOS2Go4Me]

IDK the part number, just even call a local dealer and ask them the part number if you want to shop around for it. Most will give it to you without a fuss.

Gapping isn't required... :ph34r:

Oh man does that sound wrong.

Stock plugs go in without any adjustments being required. There. Now get your minds out of the gutter... mine was there first!

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NOS2Go4Me,Jan 31 2007, 09:52 PM Wrote:IDK the part number, just even call a local dealer and ask them the part number if you want to shop around for it. Most will give it to you without a fuss.

Gapping isn't required... :ph34r:

Oh man does that sound wrong.

Stock plugs go in without any adjustments being required. There. Now get your minds out of the gutter... mine was there first!
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cool.thanks for the info. while i'm at it i might as well change mine at the same time.

[red-i]

well the gf's car has started bucking again. i knew something wasn't right last week when her remote starter wasn't cranking enough to get the car started. it does run better htan before, but the start sounds rough, and she's never had issues with the crank time on the remote starter before. (yeah i dind't get around to changing the plugs). rather than change them, i'm just gonna go back to the dealer with her, she paid good money for the work, and they should be the ones to fix it.

my guess is that they replaced the one plug, and didn't bother checking which type was in there (so she'd have 1 motorcraft and 3 of whatever midas threw in there). if not, then the issue would seem to be coil or wires (which they should have checked when troubleshooting anyway).