hi,i really could do with any help or suggestions you may have have regarding my problem.

well 3 weeks ago my focus 1.8 tdci 55 plate 75k car actually just cut out on me with no warning, luckily i was driving along a side road,
i then tried several times to start her she turned over but would not fire.

so i called the AA they came and was with me and the car for a good hour and an half trying to start her but she would not start.
the man from the AA put it on his diagnostics and i was told that it was showing no fuel pressure whatsoever he said that it could be a number of components thats causing this.

so i had it towed to my local garage who had the car for over a week and i was told that the fuel pump had packed up.
so i had a fuel pump fitted and i received a call after 2 weeks saying that my car was done.

i picked the car up and it started fine brought it home only 5 miles away,parked up and went in the house,40 minutes later i got in the car turned the ignition and guess what,you got it, she would not start, she turns over but will not fire.

i phoned the garage and he said he would come to my home tomorrow morning to have a look,well later that same night before the guy from the garage was coming the next morning, i thought i would try to start the car and low and behold she started i left her running for about 10-15 mins, switched off the engine and left her overnight till morning for the guy at the garage,he eventually turned up at teatime,i explained up to that point about the car, he plugged his little diagnostic thingy me jig into the car before he tried to start her and told me that it was showing allsorts of things,they were his words,he then connected a makeshift manual pump to the fuel line and proceeded to manually pump a few times then went to start the car and she started, while she was running he again connected his diagnostic thingy me jig into the car and he told me it was then only showing a mass air flow sensor code/fault,

he then told me that this mass air flow sensor would not be the cause of her failing to start.
he went on to say that i should leave it for a few hours and try to start her later that night and ring him the following morning to tell him if she started or not and he left.

so later that night about 4 hours later i went to start the car and guess what,yes you guessed it, she started so i left her running for about 10-15 mins and switched her off and i started her again i did this a few times in concession. turned her off till next morning,i went to start her again before phoning man from the garage,and she started again i left her running for 10-15 mins again then turned her off,i tried several times today to phone the man from the garage whom i now know is called phillip but was unable to talk to him because he was busy ,,

so at about 4.30pm today i decided to go and start the car and again she started,so i decided this time to take her to my local tesco which is only 2 miles from my home she drove fine and i parked her up,come out of tescos 30 mins later got in the car and guess what,you guessed it she would not start,but i noticed for the 1st time that when i turn the key all dash lights on shortly and off but the what i believe engine management light correct me if im wrong is a red cog symbol with a exclamation mark in centre is still on.

so i managed to get her towed back home from a friend, during this i also managed to get to speak to phillip the man from the garage who was just leaving work to go home, i explained everything up to this point and he is coming out to me again in the morning.

as you can probably understand this is getting so frustrating now , and any help and suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

oh and i did have a service and a new cambelt kit fitted about 6 weeks ago.

The red cog light usually indicates a powertrain fault.
I'd get the mechanic to check the O2 sensor and the battery/alternator voltage as sometimes a low voltage can mess up the power control module (PCM)
It can also indicate a restriction in the Cat or EGR.

hi,stoney871 thanks for your reply i will get these what you suggested looked at and will let you know how i get on,thanks.

Hopefully you'll get it resolved soon.

hi,stoney871 im back unfortunately,well the man from the garage (philip) came out and he put his diagnostics on and he said it was showing only a camshaft sensor fault, well im not a mechanic but i can do little things myself and asked him if i could fit it myself and he said yes no problem,so i got a new sensor and fitted it straight after fitting i turned the car over and she started i run her for about 15 mins and turned her off about 30 mins later i try to start her again and guess what,you guessed it,she would not start and red cog light still on,ive noticed that she seems to start from cold but when she warmed up slightly she will not start,so i decided again to call out the AA they came bout 1 hour later now engine is back cold so AA guy started her and she started so i explained to him up to this point so he left her run for 10 mins and off and on and off a few times then while she was running she just cut out and he tried to start her again now the red cog light was on and she would not start,he connected his diagnostics on and it was showing no code faults,even he was baffled and just suggested that i get her seen by a ford specialists,as i do not have a lot of funds i believe that these ford specialists will be very expensive,id really appreciate any suggestion you may have and where do i turn to next,thanks.

The problem you have is that you will find, if you take it to Ford they will run a diagnostic and charge you for it.
As you say though, no fault codes are showing, so Ford will not be able to help you any more than any other garage would.
I still personally reckon it's an O2 sensor that is failing when hot.
Try changing that and see how you go.
If that still doesn't help i'd say take it to a reputable garage and play it from there.

hi stoney871,yes i think you right im better to take it to a reputable garage,i do have 1 in mind who do specialise in fords,i just hope its not too expensive,il let you know how i get on,and thank you for your quick response and suggestions.

No problem at all.
Please do keep me updated.
P.S, the reason I replied quickly is because I'm sat in my work wagon in an industrial estate waiting for work to come my way and this forum keeps me entertained and awake.
Definitely a good way to while away the long night hours.

I stand to be corrected but I don't think the diesel models have oxygen sensors. Even if they did I think it's unlikely a sensor failure would stop the engine. Certainly on petrol systems the fuel/air ratio is set open-loop until the O2 sensor gets up to operating temperature and will usually default back to open-loop if a sensor fault is detected.