Hello,

I would be grateful for any suggestions anyone could provide regarding this problem with my car.

It's a 2000 reg Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec. On cold starts, the engine revs up to around 2000 all by itself without me putting the accelerator down (and it's not stuck on a mat or anything, I've checked). The revving becomes worse when I put the clutch down - it shoots up to 3500+. It reached 4000 last night, which is the worst it's ever got. Usually whent this happens, the engine gets to around 3500 and then it stalls itself or cuts out, and when I switch it back on the problem is gone. However, last night it didn't do that and just continued to rev - it was also very difficult to get it into reverse gear (it made the grinding noise you get when you try and change gear without the clutch fully down).

The car does it at traffic lights, and also whilst driving (ie, when I change gear when driving the revs shoot up when the clutch is down).

This morning I drove 3 miles without touching the accelerator - that gives you some idea of how bad it is. It's also very worrying in icy weather, as I brake against my own engine and it can be difficult to control.

The car's done this before - it did it a couple of years ago and I took it to a garage to try and find out what was wrong. They had the car for two days and didn't find anything (they didn't charge me, which was nice).

Any ideas? Thanks!

i dont know how the accellerator is controlled on fords, but it should be either electronic or pull cable.

if electronic, i would look at any possible shorts, loose connections, corroding wires and even fuses.

if by cable (similar to a bycycle brake cable) i would check to see if the cable is ok, the mechanism doesnt jam and the return spring is ok.

hope this helps

hi,had exactly the same problem with my w reg 1.8 its almost certainly the throttle position sensor a very quick and easy job to do look at other posts on here.i bought BRAND NEW ONE HERE //cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160507348425&:IT FOR 20 QUID they are about 66 at the ford dealres !! two screws and its fixed

i suggest you check PCV rubber tube under air intake set, 3rd photo here http://fordfocussociety.com/index.php?topic=3091.0

It is one cause of hi rev.

............................ :D

Hi Braidy

worth trying this.

costs nothing

tom

Try taking off the throttle body (5 minute job) and holding it up to the light. If you see light around the butterfly then replace the throttle body. Worked for me after I had tried everything else.

No need for all that the idle control valves the first thing to check on the mk1 if its gone the car will do exactly what it I now

Have you checked that your throttle cable has not jammed my sons went on his last week frayed at the end so when he pushed throttle it was not returning the throttle body to idle position .worth a look