Ford Focus Mk1 Common Problems Thread

[Stevesixty7]

On 08/07/2017 at 5:12 PM, Phil21185 said:

I don't know for certain in an automotive application, but from experience of my actual job I'd agree and say there are wires crossed somewhere between switch and solenoid...

Or simply swap the hoses over on the pump =D

First thing I thought was to just swap the hoses over.

[Andy Sumners]

Hi All,

Any one know where I can get a drive belt stretch tool?

I have a Focus Mk1.5 that doesn't have a tensioner and struggling to find a decent stretch tool.

Cheers

Andy

[Andy Sumners]

On 12/31/2016 at 4:33 PM, A470jason said:

Hello all, first post, just got myself a mk1.5,  1.6 ghia, 185000 miles ,but you wouldn't know it to look at it, I have boot electrics issues I have, n/s brake light not working,( though tail light is) tried new bulb but no joy. 

High level brake light u/s

Boot lock u/s,  off key button and interior button. 

Rear demister 

Rear wiper

Are these all linked in any way?  All help greatfully received . 

Cheers all Jason 

Hi Jason,

I recent had the same problem with mine, for me it turn out to be the white/grey holder that you put the bulb into, try swapping these over with the other side and if the problem carries over then it will identify if this the problem or not.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Andy

[Stevesixty7]

On 05/01/2017 at 6:34 PM, A470jason said:

Fixed the n/s brake light,  was a new bulb which was dodgy, different bulb, sorted.

 Now onto the blowers,  resistor arrived today.

Yes, blowers not working on settings 1,2 and 3, but 4 works fine. Resistor pack at fault (thanks to Isetta) fitted a new one and normal service resumed. These are located behind the glove box and to the right, held in by one screw. Prices vary, I could have had one from eBay for 8 quid but with a four or five day wait. I paid 17.95 to get it immediately, fitted minutes later. This is the one I removed. Please note, this is not what you see when looking for it, you'll see the backside of it with the connector, and a single screw at the bottom.

[Skybanger]

I have a 02 plate 1.6 zetec and a 1.6 59 titanium 1.6 and the fuel consumption difference between the 2 cars is unbelievable the 02 is very thirsty in comparison 

[Stevesixty7]

16 hours ago, Skybanger said:

I have a 02 plate 1.6 zetec and a 1.6 59 titanium 1.6 and the fuel consumption difference between the 2 cars is unbelievable the 02 is very thirsty in comparison 

I'm finding this, much heavier on fuel than my old diesel punto.

[Davy1000]

Sort of an old problem, but not quite -

I had the immobiliser problem, giving a fault code of 1,1. I changed the transceiver and sure enough, that was wasted effort. The car went into a dealer's, they swapped the cluster and the car started absolutely fine. The cluster went in for repair at a local place and they eventually said they couldn't repair the PCB, did I want a new board?

New board was programmed and fitted (without a key with the repairer) to the cluster. I picked up the cluster and asked "Drop this in and everything should be fine?". "Yes definitely" was the reply.

It isn't - the immobiliser warning - fast flashing of the LED is there and it obviously won't turn over.

I called the repairer - the car needs a diagnostic and the fault has to be cleared from the ECU.

I contacted a local auto electrician - very well thought-of - never heard of resetting the ECU - he has changed loads and it is just a question of fitting and everything should work. Try disconnecting everything, waiting for 30 minutes and trying again - no change (although I did not check the fault code).

The odd bit is that the fault code seems to be 1,1,4 - three digits.

 

Ideas anyone? (Apart from taking the cluster back and getting my money back, or the cluster repaired, meanwhile shelling-out horrible £££ on a hire car)

[Tdci-Peter]

51 minutes ago, Davy1000 said:

"Drop this in and everything should be fine?". "Yes definitely" was the reply.

If this is your 2009 Focus, then you are in the wrong place, this is a Mk1 thread!

If it is a Mk2 Focus, then the IC can definitely not just be changed without re-progarrming PATS and maybe some other stuff. The PATS codes are stored both in the ECU and in the IC. A system called Forscan can do it, though it is a bit complex. Some locksmiths can do it, but not many. Otherwise it is a Ford dealer job.

If it is a Mk1 Focus, there is usually an in-car PATs programming procedure that could be tried. It should be in the manual.

[Davy1000]

Apologies - I noticed the Mk1 and Mk2 forums and still managed to hit the wrong one.

Yes - Mk2.

I very specifically asked the "repairers" twice if they needed a key and they said that they did not, or at least didn't take me up on the offer. I assumed that they could interrogate the old one and reprogram accordingly. (I had re-soldered the female connector on the PCB a few months back to get rid of another fault code so I did not suspect that a new PCB was needed when I dropped the cluster in for repair, so never thought to take a key in.)

The auto-electrician said that he used another reasonably local outfit and clusters always went with a key and they do come back, drop in and you were going again.

Can I assume that the LED immobiliser fault code is really 1,5  (key not recognised) - there is definitely a slightly bigger gap between the second and third of the 6 flashes than there is between any of the last 3 (flash, long gap, flash, short gap, flash, very short gap, flash, very short gap etc.)

[Tdci-Peter]

38 minutes ago, Davy1000 said:

Can I assume that the LED immobiliser fault code is really 1,5  (key not recognised) - there is definitely a slightly bigger gap between the second and third of the 6 flashes than there is between any of the last 3

Sounds sensible to me. I seem to remember from when my IC went bad (connector on the back also!), the codes were a bit hard to read, though easy once you knew what to expect. That is consistent with the un-programmed IC. Sounds like your Auto electrician should be able to fix it, or you, by sending it away with the key.

I would hope it is difficult to extract the codes, though the Ford security system seems weak when attacked using equipment & knowledge now very widely circulated in the criminal world. It is only owners, and most garages, who have difficulty!

[Davy1000]

Thanks again.

When the connector solder failed, it actually came up with quite a few faults and went into limp home mode, and it was intermittent. At the time this was all Dutch to me, so I took it into my local garage, they ran a diagnostic and that came back with what seemed to be half a mile of paper listing the faults (all not real of course). It was them that put me wise to all of the dash hassles that all cars made over the past 10 years or so, can suffer from (according to legend, associated with lead-free solder).

From there, YouTube, and hence the re-solder job that I did.

The real hassle now, is knowing what to do as the total bill at the moment is already horrible, plus working extra hours to cover time off to get this sorted, and I have been without the car for about 3 weeks already. I doubt the auto-electrician can help with reprogramming based on what he implied when I spoke to him - very helpful, but he did not imply that that was something that he could do himself.

I have also checked the website of the most likely outfit that he uses - near certainly ECUTesting at Heanor (the right town, which he did mention) - and online they claim only to be able to repair units, and send back any unrepairable units with just an inspection cost incurred.

At the very least there is going to be an "interesting conversation" early tomorrow at the "repairers" in Leicester.

One "tip" - when the car was with the main dealer and had the immobiliser fault, I said that I'd organise a tow to get it off their forecourt, to which the very helpful guy on the desk just said that he might be able to help with that. The car was driven  round to reception and left running with the warning that if I stalled while getting home or when I switched off, that would be curtains and the immobiliser would be locked again. So there is a simple way to frig the immobiliser/circuit-board problem.

[Tdci-Peter]

1 hour ago, Davy1000 said:

At the very least there is going to be an "interesting conversation" early tomorrow at the "repairers" in Leicester.

Rather than continue in the wrong place, before we attract the attention of the Super-Mods (nice people, but they do like to keep some sort of order in the site!), Start a new topic in the Focus club, Called Mk2 Immobiliser Problem or something, copy & paste your last reply there perhaps, PM me with a link to the new topic, or add a link to it here, I case I don't see it, & continue there. If you are fairly computer literate, there is a DIY option for about £16 for an ELM327 adapter, which is a very useful bit of kit anyway.

The main dealer has Ford IDS, with direct access to Ford information systems, so can quite easily re-program the IC, but they like to charge £100 or more, even though it is only a few minutes work!

[Davy1000]

Unfortunately only very basic computer skills.

 

New topic - Transfer to Mk2

 

[Doughal]

Have an issue where the front wipers will stop mid wipe when using the single wipe function. I have to hold it down until the blades hit home using this function. Anyone got any ideas on this? Is it the wiper motor on the way out?

[Klink]

After returning back to the lovely blue oval I've had a mass of problems with my newly acquired jalopy. Focus 1.6 zetec 2004 facelift MK1.

I've replaced loads of stuff on it.

Firstly, unknown to me at the time of purchase, stepping out of a green 99T Micra it felt like a super smooth limo, it was faltering at idle. Yes, the hideous idle problem, almost cuts when the revs lower and fluctuates between 1,100 and 500.

SO, my son did the full service as it hadn't been done since 79,000, belt had never done, now at 118,000 mile!..., Gates Belt and waterpump kit along with the case of tools to hold the cam steady and crank bolt. Plugs, oil, fuel filter, air, cabin filter never been touched.

I've cleaned the throttle valve, idler valve cleaned checked and replaced with another from another scrap car. I've checked for perished hoses. Fitted a new throttle position sensor. 

I took it to an electrical engineer that checked for ECU updates and loaded the Ford Idle update part for £80+vat. No faults found on the ECU.

Now it will idle, but only after raising and dipping and diving for a few seconds BUT it doesn't stop there....I went straight back to the technician and explained the car, it now climbs to 2100 revs and even climbs to 3000 in traffic when warm! I asked if he could reverse what he'd done but sadly it was only just a simple Ford update and the problem is elsewhere mine to fix.

I'm really and truly at a loss. Only two things I can do now is replace the MAF sensor on the engine (No MAF near the airbox model), replace the cleaned throttle body and idler valve.

 

Your thoughts PLEASE!

[Klink]

 

I've replaced the idler valve with no change. BALLS!

Trouble is I can now smell a slight whiff of pure hatred coming from the car every time I get in...

[doggsbody]

I would like to say to anyone who complains about the MK1 focus obviously bought a badly treated 1, as ours is 17yr old n has only had the... Speed sensor, idle control valve, idle position sensor, pcv pipe, 1 hub, and soon to have 1 top strut mount replaced it's the 1.8 petrol estate never welded very slightly rusting underneath n were about the 7th owner. As to the pollen filter problem is wet flooring it due to the scuttle panel not being resealed properly after its been changed 👍

[mapex]

Hi all....
Had my 2007 ford focus sport from brand new and the locks especially in winter always gave me trouble.
You would push it shut and it just bounced off the latch, perseverance and it would shut and winter a kettle of boiling water.
Now the passenger side isn't shutting at all just bounces off the latch. I put some grease on the latch and it moved when i tried to shut it its the lock wont clip over the latch on the car....the door hits this but the clip wont pull over.the
The latch slides in the door lock comes down over the latch...this isnt happening.
Thanks

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Stevesixty7]

Hi mapex. Only movement of some sort could cause this. What I mean is, something in the mechanism or the latch has moved just enough to stop it from engaging. That's where I'd be looking. Having said that, it sounds like your car had badly fitting doors from the start.

[05greenwoodk]

i have a 1.8 mk1 tdci fous anf it wint start and when it does it smokes and tge cuts straight back out

[mapex]

Just to let you know i got it sorted by going to a breakers yard and getting new latch £15....works perfect.
Very common problem and even been recalls .

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Stevesixty7]

Glad you got it sorted.

[doggsbody]

Have to say this is the first time I've heard anyone have a problem with the catch never mind a recall on it ?

[CP_MATT]

In need of some advice be grateful if anyone can help.

I have a 1999 Focus 1.8 Petrol.

Over the last few weeks I've noticed the speedo drops to zero but picks back up after a minute or so.

But today it never picked back up and when I slowed down and the revs dropped and the engine cut out it started back up fine but continued to do it several times.

I done the key test and found it had 2 dtc codes

dtc123-throttle position sensor/switch A circuit high input

dtc041- cant find the description

Has anyone else had this issue or managed to resolve it 

Also if anyone can fix it or knows of a good garage in the Croydon area it would be helpful

 

[Tdci-Peter]

1 hour ago, CP_MATT said:

when I slowed down and the revs dropped and the engine cut out it started back up fine but continued to do it several times.

That sounds like the IAC (Idle air control valve) to me.

The codes (DTCs, which should be a letter & 4 digits in full), are a guide to a general area, but are not 100% specific, especially in cars of this age. My Vectra, of similar vintage, claimed the MAF was faulty with just those symptoms, but it was just a sticky IAC. It needed removing, and a really good clean out with meths or similar.

My first clean was quick and did not get right up inside it, but it changed the symptoms a bit, so I though I was on the right track. I gave it a much better clean out when I had a bit more time, and it fixed it.

I suspect the speedo fault is a separate problem, as it has been happening for some time before the stalling, and is unlikely to cause a stall. Maybe a faulty VSS (speed sensor), or connector to it.