hi all have a 1991 ford focus never had any problems till recently . it might only happen once a week but its started cutting out on me , all the dials go off speedomitor petrol gaige ect they do come back on after a few mins .it can be pretty scarry when going over a central reservation and dies when half over or going round a corner and your steering locks .Somebody looked at all the pipe work today and said that looked fine any idea people :o

So when you refer to cutting out, first of all, are you referring to the engine cutting out, or just the dials?

secondly, when it cuts out, do you just end up rolling, and nothing else happens, and then you keep turning the key to bring it back to life?

Finally do you notice if its linked to speed / revs?

for example, my gut says check the fuel filter housing, I had this before, the car would die when I hit around 2500 revs, below that with gentle acceleration not a problem, but as soon as I hit that speed, the vacuum brought air in and injected air into the engine, and air and combustion dont work too well without fuel!

thanks for answering the engine cuts out and the steering locks the dials then dont work for a few mins or sometimes it will cut out again a few mins after the first cut out and the dials wll start working again .The car would roll but with the steering locking its not good i have to start t up as quick as i can it does start straight away. I havnt really noticed if it happens at a certain rev any ideas

hi all have a 1991 ford focus never had any problems till recently .

Hi Marg... Do you mean 2001?

When you say the steering locks, do you mean the steering lock activates (like the ignition key has been removed) Or the steering gets really heavy? (like the power steering pump has stopped operating because the engine isn't running)?

hi yea its a 2001, id say it locks as if youve taken the key out

That could be an actual ignition barrel fault, or wiring to it at least...

thats what i thought go on ebay or something get a new barrel and get it put in my first car did that

That would be something that needs doing pretty quickly as the safety implications of it happening while driving don't bear thinking about.

Agreed, its not safe if the steering locks up, in fact I would advise not to drive it at all until you have made some headway!

Hi, my 2003 1.8 TDCI has just started to do the same, and i think if i drive at low revs it seems ok..

Hi, my 2003 1.8 TDCI has just started to do the same, and i think if i drive at low revs it seems ok..

hi all just thought id update this for anyone who has had the same problem it turned out to be the speed sensor

Ah. so the reason the steering locking was because the vehicle was stalling due to the VSS fault cutting power.