Hi this is my first post so hopefully I am doing this correctly.

I have a 2004 Fusion 3spd 1.6 auto. a bit of background. It had been losing water over the last few months and the garage diagnosed a leak in the header tank which they replaced. this seemed to have cured the problem as water level did not seem to change, however 2 weeks later while driving along the temp light intermittently came on, then off, and kept doing this for a while, and the temp gauge went up and down and all of a sudden the engine stopped, which was a bit scary as I was still driving along. after a few minutes I was able to start the car and carried on until the same thing happened again and engine cut out again. called out the AA who towed me to the main dealer with the info that he thought it may be the head gasket. garage said not the head gasket but the thermostat was faulty. All seemed ok, but now I have a weird thing that when I start the engine from cold it is very 'lumpy' for a couple of minutes then is fine. It then runs perfectly, I can stop and start the engine and it runs fine, until the next day when it is 'lumpy' for a few minutes again. Any idea what it may be , otherwise i'll have to take it into the garage again.

Check the basics, like the expansion tank cap. These can leak and allow steam through, causing you a loss of water. Its the cheapest fix to start!

I take it you had the thermostat done and so it's not leaking anymore, the lumpy bumpy will be ignition based check all air box connections as this will have been removed during the other fix, mainly check on that side for the connection to the throttle body, also listen for leaks with it running, otherwise it's ignition based maybe plugs, maybe leads or might be the coil pack, do all the free checks you can first, when was the last time the air filter and plugs were changed?

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