Lumpy Engine Issue On A 2009 Fiesta

[purdster]

Hi, can anyone help?

I have a 58 plate (2009 reg) 1.25 fiesta zetec with 22k miles. I have had this car approx 2 years without any problems as such other than it didnt start once so I took it to Ford who ran a diagnostic and found nothing wrong.

I recently had a service and first mot which it passed with no problems, however, over the last few weeks i have noticed that the engine feels 'lumpy' when im sat in neutral.. I have read other posts and most seem to indicate that the rev counter moves, whereas mine doesnt. I have also noticed that it sometimes seems to struggle to pull away in first gear ( I have always had problems with reverse!)

The only thing that i can link this to would be the fact that I have let the car run to 20 miles available before adding £15 or so petrol. Could this have caused the problem and if so would redex or something help? I have just filled right up with Shell but so far havent noticed a difference.

Any suggestions are much appreciated. I am reluctant to take it to a garage as Im a little short this month!

As a side issue, has anyone had problems with bulbs? both my headlights went within the space of a couple of months and now I have a brake light out again which was only replaced at the end of December!

Sorry for the long post but Im going crazy with this car!!

Thanks

[Stoney871]

Hi, try some BG44k additive through the engine rather than redex.

bulbs are always best changed as a pair or else you will get blows.

[purdster]

Thanks will do. Do you know where I can get that additive from? Its the same bulb though so do you think its more of an electrical fault?

Thanks

[Stoney871]

Just do a general Internet search and you should find it ok.

May be worth checking for an earthing fault, maybe a corroded bulb contact or wire.

[Shifty]

I know Ford ran a diagnostic on the car but don't rule out the possibility of a sensor fault. I've had similar issues on other cars and they turned out to be either the coolant temperature sensor or the lambda, both of which affect the timing.

[purdster]

update...car still feeling jerky, if not slightly worse than last week. I rang my local garage yesterday (not a ford dealer, but who i completely trust) and he said it could be anything! he did mention a sensor fault though. He asked if i have had it on a decent motorway run lately, which i havent! so its off on a long run tomorrow and booked into garage on monday. hope its nothing serious :-( he said not to use any sort of system flush on a car with such a low mileage on so im hanging fire on that one.

thanks for your help

[purdster]

well... car booked into garage yesterday. He said he had spoken to an auto electrician and thought it was the stepper sensor/motor?! which is apparently very expensive to do and my garage couldnt have done it. Anyway, they changed plugs at my request and also cleaned the air flow meter. Picked car up last night and it felt a lot smoother and more responsive with no jerky engine at all. Do you think thats done the trick then? Im still anxious to drive it in case it comes back and dont fancy going into electrical faults :-/

[purdster]

oh and they did a diagnostic with no faults listed at all.

[Stoney871]

Fingers crossed that it's sorted then. :)