Focus Mk3 1.8 Petrol Shakes When Starting Up

[paolo101]

Hello everyone

My dad bought a 58 reg Focus Mk3 1.8 Zetec petrol a fortnight ago. I've driven it a few times and noticed when starting the car that it shakes noticably when cranking and then stettles down when idling and driving. I don't know if this is a "characteristic" of this particular engine, but I've never experienced anything like it on any other car I've driven.

I put the bonnet up and watched the engine when he started it and it does seem to jump quite a bit more than I've seen any other engine but seems to idle reasonably smoothly.

It does seem slightly hesitant to rev when driving although I might be imagining it.

The car is 16 months old and has only 5,000 miles (ex Motability, no modifications), it had its first service in January this year by a Ford dealer.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Am I worrying about it un-necessarily?

Thanks in advance.

Paolo

[Wizz]

Hello everyone

My dad bought a 58 reg Focus Mk3 1.8 Zetec petrol a fortnight ago. I've driven it a few times and noticed when starting the car that it shakes noticably when cranking and then stettles down when idling and driving. I don't know if this is a "characteristic" of this particular engine, but I've never experienced anything like it on any other car I've driven.

I put the bonnet up and watched the engine when he started it and it does seem to jump quite a bit more than I've seen any other engine but seems to idle reasonably smoothly.

It does seem slightly hesitant to rev when driving although I might be imagining it.

The car is 16 months old and has only 5,000 miles (ex Motability, no modifications), it had its first service in January this year by a Ford dealer.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Am I worrying about it un-necessarily?

Thanks in advance.

Paolo

Exactly the same on my 59 plate Zetec S 1.8 petrol.

I sent it back to the Ford Dealer I bought it from, for that, and a rattle on my driver's door.

They had it all day and fixed neither problem......so what a waste of time.

They told me they had re-mapped the ECU with new later software and sprayed a special silicone on the door rubbers, which I must admit, has got rid of the creaks and groans I was getting.....but not the rattle that I took it in for, or the engine starting problems I had been having !

My old Zetec 1.6 petrol engine was a much smoother starter, and I have also had on more than one occasion, with the 1.8 engine, I have started it up again after driving it out of my garage and shutting the door..... the engine is running but doesn't respond to the accelerator pedal, until all of a sudden it revs like mad.

I was also not at all pleased with the courtesy car they gave me.

It was a 10 plate Ka with 400 miles on the clock, 2 door, no central locking, no air con ( needed because of a chronic lung condition I have ) on one of the hottest days so far, and of course no petrol ! ( any less and I would have had to push it to the petrol station )

I'm going to look at the door myself, and if I can't cure the rattle I'm going to take it to another Ford Dealer in my area and get them to look at both problems all over again.

[paolo101]

Sorry to hear about your problems Wizz. I hope you find a dealer who puts more effort into resolving them.

Has anyone else noticed shaking while starting the engine on the 1.8?

[starfield]

hi guys

i have kind of the same problems. i will refer you to this link:

http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t12079.html

my car is a 1.8 petrol (56 reg). the engine does shake at start and as for the 'hesitant' acceleration, this is due to the drive by wire, this takes time to get used to. i did took mine to ford as well and they said they have updated the ecu but there is no change.

this accelearion lag is typical with all vehicle with dbw

[artscot79]

hi guys

i have kind of the same problems. i will refer you to this link:

http://www.fordowner...php/t12079.html

my car is a 1.8 petrol (56 reg). the engine does shake at start and as for the 'hesitant' acceleration, this is due to the drive by wire, this takes time to get used to. i did took mine to ford as well and they said they have updated the ecu but there is no change.

this accelearion lag is typical with all vehicle with dbw

afetr youre last post i nipped round to a friends and had a go of his mums car and yes its the dbw that causes that momentary lag as for the slight shake hers also does the same like the mk1 and mk2 focus the 1.8 engine is not a particularly smooth idler not as smooth as the 1.6 is trade off i guess for that little bit xtra hp

[paolo101]

afetr youre last post i nipped round to a friends and had a go of his mums car and yes its the dbw that causes that momentary lag as for the slight shake hers also does the same like the mk1 and mk2 focus the 1.8 engine is not a particularly smooth idler not as smooth as the 1.6 is trade off i guess for that little bit xtra hp

Sorry I hadn't replied earlier.

Would I be right in saying that the 1.8 Duratec is originally a Mazda engine?

I guess no 4-cylinder without balance shafts will ever be truly smooth, but it's a bit disappointing for a modern engine to seem so unrefined.

[artscot79]

Sorry I hadn't replied earlier.

Would I be right in saying that the 1.8 Duratec is originally a Mazda engine?

I guess no 4-cylinder without balance shafts will ever be truly smooth, but it's a bit disappointing for a modern engine to seem so unrefined.

Beginning in 2004, Ford dropped the old 4-cylinder Zetec engines in favor of Ford's Duratec and Mazda's MZR design. The all-new Duratec/MZR was designed as a replacement for the Zetec engine and was developed as joint collaboration with Ford and Mazda.^[1] This includes the 2.0 L Duratec 20 the 2.3 L Duratec 23 and the all new 2.5 L Duratec 25. Ford builds the engines for its own use in Chihuahua, Mexico; Dearborn, Michigan; Valencia, Spain; Laguna, Philippines; and Nanjing, China.

[edit] Duratec 18

The Duratec 18 is a 1.8 L (110 CID; 1796 cc). Bore and stroke are a square 83mm × 83.1mm (3.27 in × 3.27 in). It has an aluminum engine block with cast-in iron cylinder liners and an aluminum DOHC cylinder head. It uses SFI fuel injection, has 4 valves per cylinder and features fracture-split forged powder metal connecting rods and a one-piece cast crankshaft. Output is 125 hp (93 kW) at 6000 rpm with 122 ft·lbf (165 N·m) of torque at 4250 rpm. This engine is currently fitted to Ford models outside of North America.

[starfield]

Beginning in 2004, Ford dropped the old 4-cylinder Zetec engines in favor of Ford's Duratec and Mazda's MZR design. The all-new Duratec/MZR was designed as a replacement for the Zetec engine and was developed as joint collaboration with Ford and Mazda.^[1] This includes the 2.0 L Duratec 20 the 2.3 L Duratec 23 and the all new 2.5 L Duratec 25. Ford builds the engines for its own use in Chihuahua, Mexico; Dearborn, Michigan; Valencia, Spain; Laguna, Philippines; and Nanjing, China.

[edit] Duratec 18

The Duratec 18 is a 1.8 L (110 CID; 1796 cc). Bore and stroke are a square 83mm × 83.1mm (3.27 in × 3.27 in). It has an aluminum engine block with cast-in iron cylinder liners and an aluminum DOHC cylinder head. It uses SFI fuel injection, has 4 valves per cylinder and features fracture-split forged powder metal connecting rods and a one-piece cast crankshaft. Output is 125 hp (93 kW) at 6000 rpm with 122 ft·lbf (165 N·m) of torque at 4250 rpm. This engine is currently fitted to Ford models outside of North America.

on what model does mazda use the 1.8 duratec engine??

[artscot79]

on what model does mazda use the 1.8 duratec engine??

ALL ENGINES AFTER 2004 ARE DURATEC