sese_jane Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Hi All, I have a Ford Focus Zetec 1,8 and I am having major issues with it at the moment it is jolting like I am in the wrong gear (any gear) :(, then the check engine light comes on, we have had it on a diagnostics machine and at first 2 faults where found we changed the Coil pack, still same issue so we then changed the Fuel Filter (no change), I was driving along and the check engine light came on and would not go off so we had it on the diagnostics again and it said that cylinder 1 was misfiring so we changed all the sparks and still my car is driving awful :(, does anybody have any idea as to what it could be I'm at the end of my tether since owning it in Feb I have had to have a new wish bone and now this. Any advise greatly accepted Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 have you changed the HT leads as well as the coils? also are the plugs gapped correctly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sese_jane Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 What are the HT leads ?, and how far apart should the gaps be I bought the spark plugs from Halfords and assumed they would be pre set Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 The HT leads are the leads that go from the coil to the 'distributor' you would have had to unscrew and disconnect them from the coil pack / plugs I expect. If you bought spark plugs, they should be 1mm, or if thats not working, you can try and gap them to 1.3mm. but the coil pack should be a striaght swap. The HT leads get brittle over time, so when you disturb it to replace something, the copper breaks and causes bad connections resulting in the symptoms you see before you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sese_jane Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Spark plugs have been checked they at the correct distance apart :-), non of the wires have come loose as they have been checked and the air gufner (i cant spell it) has been checked all working :-( what else could it be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 the wires sitting firm on the coils and plugs is not the issue. What I mean is that the actual wiring inside the insulation could be damaged. the copper sits down comfortably and doesnt move for many years, in that time, it just sets itself in that position, starts to dry out, the copper becomes dry and brittle. Whilst you dont move it, its fine, but as soon as you try to upset it, thats when it starts to brake inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sese_jane Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 I have been to a second mechanic today who took one look at the car and straight away said its the vacuum pipe, he pulled it off to show me and its has a crack down the pipe and had been rescued with tape, so ordering a new pipe tomorrow so fingers crossed. he also tried some different wires on the coil and spark plugs and still same issue, but he seemed pretty sure that was the issue I hope it is !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 fingers crossed then! I am surprised your leads coped so well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjt Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Aren't the HT leads carbon-cored resistive types James? When I started motoring they were copper with resistors in the plug caps for RF suppression. Later on they changed to resistive leads with a carbon composition core which gave better suppression and didn't need resistors in the caps. What's the situation nowadays? (I haven't looked at my recently-acquired 1.8HE yet and have been running diesel for the last 6 years). Do any models have the coil packs directly on the plugs? Edit: Belay that question - I got off my butt and looked in the Haynes so I see the 1.8 does have coils directly on the plugs and the 1.4 and 1.6 have the wasted-spark system with leads to the plugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 I know Carbon was becoming the preferred choice, but given the cost comparison, most people would happily replace them with Copper. I was always under the impression that (other than a seemingly seperate / aftermarket product, the coils, leads and plugs where 3 seperate components, however I have been wrong plenty of times before! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjt Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 They are, it seems, on the 1.4 and 1.6 engines. The wasted-spark system has just two coils, each simultaneously firing two plugs one of which is on the power stroke and the other on the exhaust stroke. These use the normat HT leads, although Haynes doesn't say if they are carbon or copper. The 1.8 and 2.0 engines use one coil per cylinder mounted directly on the plug so no HT leads are needed. That seems an excellent arrangement to me - greatly reduced risk of HT tracking across dirty/damp surfaces. Interestingly I used to run a Rover 75 V6 and three plugs had their coils mounted directly but due to space constraints the other three had short HT leads from remote coil packs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sese_jane Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 New pipe and still no improvement :(, im slowly giving up Fern Ford, im a the end of my tether, wanted a ford 4 6 years finally got one and now its running like rubbish :(.... any more ideas guys ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artscot79 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Start from the begining the coil was replaced but is it a ford coil tge cheap ones are rubbish and often dont work for long second are the leads ford ones again the cheap ones are rubbish should be Bosch third dielectric grease should be used when fitting the new leads also are the plugs correctly gapped at 1.0mm now if all thats done and theres still a misfire on cylinder one either its a fuel pump issue a duff injector or a cylinder head issue i would take it to a ford or decent garage the fault will have thrown a fault code The coil leads and plugs should have been changed together if a lead was faulty and they replaced the coil then it can damage the new coil so they replace the lead and same issue its also known that a misfire can be caused by damaged wiring to the coil pack which they should check for first the 1.8 is a reliable engine i ended up buying a genuine Bosch coil pack for £30 on eBay new and £65 fir genuine leads from ford that was mine sorted ide say get it to a ford garage or an independant that knows fords well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sese_jane Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 I went to ford to get the part I needed today, I think i'm going to have to take it to ford, is it safe to drive until I can take it there ?, so far I have spend £150 trying to put this right, the first mechanic was like matter of elimination other one was convinced it was the vacuum lead, nothing is working :(, I have been told the leads are new but now I just don't know, these mechanics saw me coming :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwengo Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Right, just wondering as a similar thing happened to mine, but I have a 1.8 tdci. On mine it turned out to be a cam sensor on top o the rocker cover. A simple £30 fix and took 2 minutes to do. Not sure if it's the same on a petrol engine though. I hope you get it sorted soon! Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC mobile app Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stef123 Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 If your sure the coil, leads and plugs are ok I would be looking at the injectors next. If they are ok and working as they should then a compression test would also be helpful. This should be pretty basic diagnostics for a mechanic! Don't spend any more money on parts until the above had been checked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sese_jane Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 The car is fixed :-) i have never felt so happy :-) turned out to be the smallest lead that connect the coil pack to the engine the pin was bent and the bin inside wasnt even attached ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwengo Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 That's good to hear! And sounds like a cheap fix too, BONUS!!! :) Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC mobile app Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sese_jane Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Wasnt so cheap £150.00 to come to that conclusion. But only ended up costing a box of tea bags as he had a ford which was going for scrap yard so took the 4th lead from there. Never again will i be going to the first mechanic who told me the leads where new :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 thats fortunate, I would have bunged him a few quid and took a bit more off it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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