Rough Idle

[Invisible Man]

Hope someone can shed some light on this for me :)

I have a 2010 Focus, with a 1.8 Duratec Petrol engine. I have noticed that sometimes, not all the time, the car can be a little rough at idle and you can feel it through the car, to the point where the Mrs mentioned it the other day and she was in the passenger seat.

The car was serviced 3000 miles ago (37500 i think). Ive read all sorts of rubbish about bad oil, worn engine mounts, dirty spark plugs etc etc.

Has anyone had this before??

Cheers

[greggp]

Is the rev needle bouncing?

Or is it more of a shudder through the cabin?

[martyntdci]

id start with the air filter, then maybe plugs, fuel filter etc..... maybe clean out the throttle body with carb cleaner

[Invisible Man]

Rev needle is fine, it's a shudder through the car.

Its due a major in 6 months so maybe something they do will sort it out

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Ford OC mobile app

[Emzzy]

Hi Gary,

I had a similar problem where the car would shudder when idle used to get some needle movement, car felt like it will stall.

Not sure if this is same problem, took it to local garage, they replaced spark plugs first then they replaced the hub that the leads go into not sure of the name not too mechanically minded sorry, this kind of worked then they found a oil leak in one of the spark plug ports they repaired this now car runs fine touch wood.

Like I said your problem may not be the same but the shudder was same issue I had.

Hope this helps,

[greggp]

Rev needle is fine, it's a shudder through the car.

Its due a major in 6 months so maybe something they do will sort it out

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Ford OC mobile app

I have this engine on mine and I feel a shudder in the cabin at idle, apparently it is something to do with the the engine revs fluctuating to keep the emissions low!

I had the same concerns as you but was told not to worry.

If you put the car into a diagnostics live data mode, you can actually view the revs digitally and you will see what I mean, they are constantly fluctuating between 700-750rpm

If you don't know how to set the car into diagnostics mode, let me know and I will tell you how?

[Invisible Man]

I have this engine on mine and I feel a shudder in the cabin at idle, apparently it is something to do with the the engine revs fluctuating to keep the emissions low!

I had the same concerns as you but was told not to worry.

If you put the car into a diagnostics live data mode, you can actually view the revs digitally and you will see what I mean, they are constantly fluctuating between 700-750rpm

If you don't know how to set the car into diagnostics mode, let me know and I will tell you how?

That would be helpful. Never put it in diagnostics mode before

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Ford OC mobile app

[greggp]

try this....

Self-Diagnostic Mode - Instrument Cluster

1. To enter the instrument cluster self-diagnostic mode simultaneously depress and hold the tripmeter reset button then turn the ignition switch to position II or III.
2. Release the tripmeter reset button when TEST is displayed on the LCD. This will take between 5 and 8 seconds.
3. The instrument cluster will enter the gauge sweep test.
4. To navigate to the following tests while in self-diagnostic mode depress the RESET button to move to the next test.
5. The self-test is deactivated when the ignition is turned to the OFF position.

#.Test
#.Syntax Displayed
#.Gauge/Indicator/Display Tested
#.Description

#.1..Gauge sweep.
#.GAGE.
#.Tachometer, speedometer, temperature and fuel.
#.All gauges go through a full up and down pointer sweep smoothness check, which takes approximately 5 seconds.

#.2..Fill in all LCD.
#.8888.
#.LCD display built into Speedometer.
#.Fills in LCD display therefore seeing if display functioning correctly.

#.3..Indicator bulbs.
#.BULB.
#.Instrument cluster illuminates indicator and warning indicators.
#.Illuminates all the warning indicators that are controlled by the instrument cluster.

#.4..ROM level.
#.rXXX.
#.Instrument cluster read only memory (ROM).
#.Displays the instrument cluster ROM revision level.

#.5..NVM level.
#.EXXX.
#.Instrument cluster non volatile memory (NVM).
#.Displays the instrument cluster NVM revision.

#.6..DTC.
#.XXXX or NONE.
#.Diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs).
#.To list the DTCs stored, press the RESET button.
..REFER to the instrument cluster diagnostic trouble code (DTC) index below.
..The DTC codes will scroll through if there is more than one.

#.7..Road speed mph.
#.XXX.X.
#.Speedometer.
#.Displays the speed signal input in mph.

#.8..Road speed Km/h.
#.XXX.X.
#.Speedometer.
#Displays the speed signal input in Km/h.

#.9..Engine speed.
#.XXXX.
#.Tachometer.
#.Displays the tachometer input signal (RPM).

#.10..Fuel volume.
#.FXXX.
#.Fuel sender system.
#.Displays the fuel volume signal input.

#.11..Coolant Temp.
#.XXXC
#.Engine coolant temperature.
#.Displays the engine coolant temperature signal input.

#.12..Battery Voltage.
#.bXXX.
#.Battery Voltage (t).
#.Displays battery voltage input.

#.13..ABS fail.
#.Ab-[H/L].
#.ABS system.
#.Displays ABS raw cluster input. (H = open-circuit, L = ground).

#.14..Electronic Brake Distribution Failure (EBD).
#.Eb-[H/L].
#.EBD system.
#.Displays EBD raw cluster input. (H = open-circuit, L = ground).

#.15..Illumination.
#.IL-[H/L].
#.Cluster and instrument panel illumination.
#.Displays instrument cluster and instrument panel illumination. (H = ON, L = OFF).

#.16..Crank Sense.
#.Cr-[H/L].
#.Cluster and instrument panel crank sense.
#.Displays Cluster and instrument panel Crank sense. (H = Ignition, L = Ground or over-charging).
#.(Crank sense it the Pos I (Accessory) supply to the cluster. If this is missing then the cluster will remain dead for about 20 seconds after key on. Then it will function normally. This can happen when someone fits a radio and blows the accessory fuse).

Note:
Additional tests are available after number #.16 but are not useful for diagnostics.

Note:
Later vehicles had a "cost reduced" cluster that had a different Engineering Test Mode layout. These came in about 03-53 reg, and can be distinguished by only the symbol lighting up in the tell tale rather than the whole lot. (LEDs rather than bulbs).
These clusters used stepper motors for the gauges rather than the air cored ones and did not have a Gauge Sweep test?

Self ..........DTC.......... Description
Diagnostic
Mode
Displayed
DTC

9202 ..........B1202.......... Fuel pump module circuit open
9204 ..........B1204.......... Fuel pump module short to ground
9342 ..........B1342.......... Instrument Cluster ECU is defective
9317 ..........B1317.......... battery voltage high (greater than 16V)
9318 ..........B1318.......... battery voltage low (less than 10V)
9359 ..........B1359.......... Ignition Run/ACC circuit failure
A143 ..........B2143.......... NVM memory failure
A477 ..........B2477.......... Module configuration failure
D041 ..........U1041.......... Invalid data for vehicle speed
D027 ..........U1027.......... Invalid data for engine RPM
D073 ..........U1073.......... Invalid data for engine coolant
D262 ..........U1262.......... Missing speed, tacho, engine temp, or dometer count
D123 ..........U1123.......... Invalid data for odometer

[Invisible Man]

Cheers mate. Ill give this a try later

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Ford OC mobile app

[artscot79]

number 8 is head temp mate or engine temp not the coolant temp which is whats on the dash gauge to work out coolant temp from head temp its 40 degrees less than the head temp so head at 136 means coolant is 96degrees

but youre right the focus idles pretty low and to keep emissions down it will continually go up and down which can cause a little shudder sometimes its not something to worry about unless its knocking out any fillings you have or trying to stall