Hi guys,

Just wondered if anyone had any ideas whats wrong with the wifes car!

Its a Ford Focus Zetec, 2001 model and she has filled up the tank with petrol and its now on half way and she has only done 100 miles!! It seems to be eating a lot more fuel than normal. The clutch is definitely on the way out and I wondered if that might cause the fuel problem? Tyre pressures are ok and apart from the clutch the car drives well with no other strange behaviour.

Im going to get it looked at next week but wondered if there was anything I could check in the meantime? Any help is appreciated

Yeah sounds as if its all down to the clutch , i take it the clutch is slipping ? if it was using too much fuel the engine RPM would increace. I really cant think of anything else that would cause you MPG to go that bad.

Hope you get it sorted

A worn clutch won't cause that sort of MPG unless it is severely knackered and permanently slipping - in that eventuality the car would be a nightmare to drive as nothing would happen when you put your foot down. You would have noticed the clutch slipping months and months before it got that bad, though. If that's the case and you've simply done nothing about it, could be the clutch.

First though, you could try an ECU reset by disconnecting the battery for 30 minutes and see if that helps.

when did it last have a full service? plugs, air, oil and filter...

Could be a faulty sender unit in the fuel tank. Try filling it up again see if it really is half empty.