Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing strange problems with my Ford Focus 1.6. (2008). Two times this summer, when air temperatures where really high, similar problems occured. I was driving for about 10-15 mins, both times, when suddenly three gauges appeared on display (engine, battery, oil) and car began to lose power and throttle became non responsive. I had to stop the car, turn off the engine, and when I turned it on again, there were no problems and I could drive the car normally. Car is regularly serviced and I went both times to my local Ford dealer. They said that the battery / alternator is good and that car system didn't record any error. Only error exisisting from before is airbag module problem (yellow light on display), but I believe that cannot be connected with the above mentioned problem?

Did anyone have similar problem? I'm starting to go crazy on this, and I can't relax while driving because I don't know when and where this problem will occur again.

sounds like loss of fuel to me, so depends on wether its petrol or diesel as to where to look

but either one i would check fuel pump/filters...

by your description, its sounds more electrical (ie..instant loss of pressure) rather than fuel starvation from a blockage.

other possible is crankshaft sensor as they dont always throw up a code when the fail

Hope this is ok -->>> www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=83652 might be worth a read :)

I have had this happen twice, Once on a busy roundabout which made my bum squeek lol I had to do the same as you stop and restart the engine then everything was fine. Garage couldn't find anything wrong, but it hasn't happened since :/ (1.8.tdci 55 plate)

Stalling due to temporary loss of fuel or air pressure i reckon.

When was the car last serviced with filter changes?

A dirty air or fuel filter may be the problem here.

Stalling due to temporary loss of fuel or air pressure i reckon.

When was the car last serviced with filter changes?

A dirty air or fuel filter may be the problem here.

Thanks for the answer, fuel and air filters were changed about two months ago on regular service so I'll rule them out for now.

Hope this is ok -->>> www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=83652 might be worth a read :)

I have had this happen twice, Once on a busy roundabout which made my bum squeek lol I had to do the same as you stop and restart the engine then everything was fine. Garage couldn't find anything wrong, but it hasn't happened since :/ (1.8.tdci 55 plate)

Thanks for the link :) similar problems like mine..I'll check the condition of ERG valve

sounds like loss of fuel to me, so depends on wether its petrol or diesel as to where to look

but either one i would check fuel pump/filters...

by your description, its sounds more electrical (ie..instant loss of pressure) rather than fuel starvation from a blockage.

other possible is crankshaft sensor as they dont always throw up a code when the fail

Thanks for the suggestion..mine focus is 1.6 petrol..I'll have to find another Ford dealer in my area to run more detailed diagnostics

Its possible that a temp sensor went a bit loopy giving a high readout which cleared when the engine was restarted hence no code or tge fact it didnt happen again

Sounds more wiring or sensor to me

Is it the only time its happened?

I would say wiring on battery/alternator side, dodgy earth possibly, modern cars cant tolerate spikes in the power high or low and can cause mayhem with warning lights running issues etc. you say it was really hot, well if you had a bad positive/ negative earth connection the resistance of the bad connection would increase, the heat would also increase this possibly causing a breakdown in the circuit or a spike when the load is asked of the circuit. I would check all earths in the engine bay first after all its free.

Sounds more wiring or sensor to me

Is it the only time its happened?

It happened to me twice, both times on really hot days..mechanics couldn't find what's wrong

My car recently had an issue. When the ambient temperature exceeded 25 degrees, the ABS light was guaranteed to come on, restart the car, and it went away for a bit, and would again guarantee to come back on. As soon as the temperature cooled to below this, the light wouldnt come back. Turns out for me, it was the ABS short loom on the drivers side, since then I havent had the issue (touch wood).

This is why I believe your issue may be either electrical, or sensor related. Has this issue occurred before the hot weather? or does it only happen on really hot days?

If it is, start by cleaning the sensors, MAF being the best place to start.