High revs

[emilykett_]

Hi. 

I’ve had my 2018 1.1 litre fiesta (23k mileage) for 2 years now and since October 2021(this is my first car) I’ve noticed the revs have been increasing while driving and idle. This has been a constant issue and I’ve taken it to two different trusted garages who haven’t found anything wrong with the car. I’ve cleaned out the petrol tank using RedEx fuel system cleaner (I used two shots) and found it didn’t make any difference. I’ve tried supermarket and branded fuel garages and found the only fuel my car currently drives well on is the Shell E5. I would typically before this have used the E10 once it changed over in September and it’s only since I started noticing the rev count increasing that I swapped to E5. If I drive at 20mph (where I would normally change up to third gear) I find my revs are at 3,000. But currently I’m finding I need to change at 15mph. If I hit 30mph I need to be in fourth or fifth gear as the revs once again hit over 3,000 revs. At 70 in fifth gear my revs are between 3,500 and 4,000 which they never used to sit at, as it would typically be around 2,750 to 3,000. I use my car for commuting to work and pleasure and have always looked after it and have never had problems with it before this, nor did the first owner. 

I’ve also noticed alongside this that my start-stop hasn’t been working, I have checked and it is enabled. Looking back it’s around the same time that I’ve had this problem with my revs and I wasn’t too sure if the two were connected? 

I was just looking for some advice really. My next plan was to take it to Ford and see if they can see any problems with it but I thought I’d try here and see if anyone has had a similar problem and what they’ve found that’s helped? 
 

Thanks, Emily

[unofix]

Hi Emily, I can kind of tell from your post that your not a budding mechanic in the making. Lets start off with a couple of things, I assume that you don't have a 1.1 Litre , but most likely have the 1.0 Ecoboost 3 cylinder. Is you car manual or automatic ? I assume manual but please confirm.

Forget about different petrol E5, E10, Shell, Tesco, Esso or Bells Whisky it does not make the slightest difference to how high the revs are when you drive.

using any kind of fuel cleaner like RedEx is not to be recommended on a 1.0 Ecoboost.

The probable cause of the revs increasing is a problem with the clutch.

Last but not least. Of course your Stop/Start system doesn't work. It would be nothing short of a miracle if it did. There are thousands of posts on these forums covering the topic. Just get used to the fact that it's not worth even trying to sort it out.

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

11 hours ago, unofix said:

Hi Emily, I can kind of tell from your post that your not a budding mechanic in the making. Lets start off with a couple of things, I assume that you don't have a 1.1 Litre , but most likely have the 1.0 Ecoboost 3 cylinder. Is you car manual or automatic ? I assume manual but please confirm.

Forget about different petrol E5, E10, Shell, Tesco, Esso or Bells Whisky it does not make the slightest difference to how high the revs are when you drive.

using any kind of fuel cleaner like RedEx is not to be recommended on a 1.0 Ecoboost.

The probable cause of the revs increasing is a problem with the clutch.

Last but not least. Of course your Stop/Start system doesn't work. It would be nothing short of a miracle if it did. There are thousands of posts on these forums covering the topic. Just get used to the fact that it's not worth even trying to sort it out.

 

Yes, I agree, increasing revs at same speed point to a clutch issue.

No reason why the car shouldn't be a normally aspirated 1.1 though - 70 and 85 ps versions were available on the Mk 8 in 2018, both manual only.

(I like the idea of running on Bells whisky, probably cheaper than petrol the way things are going - you wouldn't want to waste a good single malt, though!😀)

[emilykett_]

Hi, thanks for your help  

No I can’t say this is my area of expertise. No it isn’t an ecoboost, it’s a 1.1L Ti-VCT 75PS 5-Speed manual. 

Both the fuel advice and the fuel cleaner were advised by two garages I had visited who also both cleared my car with no issues. 
in terms of my start stop I’m not worried or fussed at all I was just curious if the two were linked that’s all. And yes the whiskey does sound a decent shout. 

Is there any way to check my clutch is faulty before taking it to a garage? And do you have any other recommendations you have?

Thanks

, Emily

[unofix]

1 hour ago, emilykett_ said:

Is there any way to check my clutch is faulty before taking it to a garage? And do you have any other recommendations you have?

Hi Emily, very good to know that it is a regular 1.1 and not the 1.0 ecoboost (normally far less problems), and the fuel additive/cleaner won't have caused any issues. As I say what ever petrol you use won't make any difference to the revs, so the likely cause is a slipping clutch, or you're resting your foot on the clutch pedal.

A general way to test to see if the clutch is slipping is with the car standing still (engine running) put it in 3rd gear gently let the clutch up and try and pull away. It the revs drop and the car tries to stall (or stalls) then the clutch is probably not slipping. If however the revs stay the same or increase and the car seems to be slowly pulling away then the clutch is slipping.

This is only a basic test. There maybe other clutch problems but it's a good starting point.

[emilykett_]

23 hours ago, unofix said:

Hi Emily, very good to know that it is a regular 1.1 and not the 1.0 ecoboost (normally far less problems), and the fuel additive/cleaner won't have caused any issues. As I say what ever petrol you use won't make any difference to the revs, so the likely cause is a slipping clutch, or you're resting your foot on the clutch pedal.

A general way to test to see if the clutch is slipping is with the car standing still (engine running) put it in 3rd gear gently let the clutch up and try and pull away. It the revs drop and the car tries to stall (or stalls) then the clutch is probably not slipping. If however the revs stay the same or increase and the car seems to be slowly pulling away then the clutch is slipping.

This is only a basic test. There maybe other clutch problems but it's a good starting point.

Thanks for the advice. I’ve given a go and it’s done neither. I’ve booked it in for a clutch test so hopefully if there is a problem with the clutch they will be able to identify if there are any problems.

Thank you for your help 🙂

[unofix]

Hi, what happened when you tried to pull away ?

[emilykett_]

On 2/28/2022 at 5:16 PM, unofix said:

Hi, what happened when you tried to pull away ?

Hi. At first it would rev up and then would drop slightly and then just sit at 1000 revs. It stalled the once and every other time it just revved up and stayed at 1000

[unofix]

That would suggest to me the clutch is slipping. Best to get it checked out by a good garage.

[emilykett_]

2 hours ago, unofix said:

That would suggest to me the clutch is slipping. Best to get it checked out by a good garage.

Okay I’ll do that. Thank you for your assistance with this! 

[DaveT70]

24k on a clutch is bad.

Are you holding the car on hills on the clutch?

Do you keep your foot on the clutch pedal when driving?

To test clutch, before you spend money:

Start engine, keep handbrake on, engage third gear, hold 1,500 RPM, let go of clutch.

If car remains at 1,500 RPM, clutch is gone

If car bumps and stalls, clutch is good.

Also, find a decent hill to go up, 30 MPH, 3RD gear, floor throttle. If revs increase but speed doesn't, then clutch is shot.

But at 24K, unless poor driving, I would be surprised if the clutch is shot

Revs fluctuating at idle has nothing to do with the clutch BTW.

Try and keep to the same fuel, it doesn't really matter which one, just try and keep to the same and don't use additives they are a waste of money

[Eric Bloodaxe]

3 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

24k on a clutch is bad. But at 24K, unless poor driving, I would be surprised if the clutch is shot

Yes, I've only rarely had a clutch replacement, even after doing 100k. 

You never know with cars purchased used, though. I once bought a 2 year old Cavalier with only 4k from a colleague. Clutch went shortly afterwards. I'd never actually seen him drive - when I did, I could see why the clutch failed early!

Taught me that low mileage cars aren't always a good buy.😀

[emilykett_]

8 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

24k on a clutch is bad.

Are you holding the car on hills on the clutch?

Do you keep your foot on the clutch pedal when driving?

To test clutch, before you spend money:

Start engine, keep handbrake on, engage third gear, hold 1,500 RPM, let go of clutch.

If car remains at 1,500 RPM, clutch is gone

If car bumps and stalls, clutch is good.

Also, find a decent hill to go up, 30 MPH, 3RD gear, floor throttle. If revs increase but speed doesn't, then clutch is shot.

But at 24K, unless poor driving, I would be surprised if the clutch is shot

Revs fluctuating at idle has nothing to do with the clutch BTW.

Try and keep to the same fuel, it doesn't really matter which one, just try and keep to the same and don't use additives they are a waste of money

I don’t hold the car on hills I always make sure I have the brakes on. And I don’t drive with my foot on the clutch either it’s usually on the foot rest or by the drivers seat away from the pedal. 
 

I’ll try your test to see if my clutch is dodgy tomorrow (just finished a 13 hour shift and an hours commute so fairly tired!) In regards to the hill suggestion, I know it does that anyway as I have a couple of hills around me and usually it’s a case my foot is to the floor with the revs increasing and little acceleration but it’s been like that for as long as I can remember. It’s something I’ve just dismissed it as a smaller engine and lack of power in the acceleration and nothing actually wrong. 
 

Thank you for your suggestion! 

[emilykett_]

20 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

24k on a clutch is bad.

Are you holding the car on hills on the clutch?

Do you keep your foot on the clutch pedal when driving?

To test clutch, before you spend money:

Start engine, keep handbrake on, engage third gear, hold 1,500 RPM, let go of clutch.

If car remains at 1,500 RPM, clutch is gone

If car bumps and stalls, clutch is good.

Also, find a decent hill to go up, 30 MPH, 3RD gear, floor throttle. If revs increase but speed doesn't, then clutch is shot.

But at 24K, unless poor driving, I would be surprised if the clutch is shot

Revs fluctuating at idle has nothing to do with the clutch BTW.

Try and keep to the same fuel, it doesn't really matter which one, just try and keep to the same and don't use additives they are a waste of money

So I tried both your suggestions. My car bumped but didn’t stall (juddered at 1000 revs then went into start stop which is unlike my car as I thought I had an issue with my start stop as it rarely kicks in) and going uphill the revs increased to 4000 with not too much acceleration 

[DaveT70]

3 hours ago, emilykett_ said:

So I tried both your suggestions. My car bumped but didn’t stall (juddered at 1000 revs then went into start stop which is unlike my car as I thought I had an issue with my start stop as it rarely kicks in) and going uphill the revs increased to 4000 with not too much acceleration 

Clutch has gone then. Shop around though, don't have it done at the first place you come to.

Perhaps it was an ex learner car then. 24k on a clutch is bad.

How long have you had the car?

Is it on finance?

You could try complaining as you expect the clutch to last longer than 24k, they will try and blame you though as you can't prove it was like it when you had it.

[TomsFocus]

Modern clutches are made to be 'just' good enough for the torque output of the car.  The 1.1 barely has any torque so gets a weak/cheap clutch.  And of course, those are exactly the cars used for stop start city driving where the clutch gets used constantly!  24k does seem excessively bad, but I wouldn't expect it to manage 100k+ like a 2.0 diesel clutch.