Im new to this forum and hope somebody can help me out. Ive been having a problem with my Focus Lx the past week and have a lot going on financially so want to know if it's gonna hit me in the pocket.

Whilst driving back from a family holiday on Friday I lost power in my Focus Lx whilst doing around 75mph. All the lights came on the dash board and regained power after about 5 seconds whilst pushing on the accelerator, all lights went off apart from the engine light. I pulled into a layby restarted the engine and made 80 miles to home.

I've done another 100 miles this week with no problems until tonight. I drove 10 miles, got out, turned engine off, got back in car 5 mins later and engine wouldn't start, didn't even sound as if it was trying. Sounded like a dead battery but all other electronics worked. After 10 mins car eventually started. I drove 100 yards and engine cut out. Gave another 10 mins and started again and made 10 miles to home.

Anyone with an idea on what's up?

An LX? (trim level) can you remember what was written on the pump when you last filled up (eg petrol or diesel? ) letting us know engine capacity would be good too, as these can have completely different engines, depending on the CCs

petrol ?

diesel ?

engine size ?

Doh too late beaten by FOCA :P :D

Apologies FOCA 1.4 Petrol.

If you can aqquire an OBD code reader (they can be bought online for under £20) and plug it into your car - it may give you an idication of what is wrong, saving you money in the long run (by not replacing parts you don't need) - it can also be useful in narrowing down the problem so forum members can help you better

When was the car last serviced? if its been a while, it may be worth doing the "service" items, such as the fuel filter, and the spark plugs (these could potentially be your problem) + frequent oil+filter changes can help look after the engine + a new air filter can help your economy/ performance (the oil & filter and air filter are unlikely to cause the symptoms you describe)

When the car is running poorly, does it sound rough, like a moped or an old tractor - if its only running on 3 cylinders (instead of 4) it can sound like that - often called "missing" (mis-firing) - this woud indicacate an HT (high tension) electric fault -

On a petrol car, apart from the plugs, the coil packs and leads can also play up as well as sensors (again, fault codes can be really useful for narrowing these things down)

If you have a look round the site, a forum member Jeebowhite, has a link to an afordable recomended OBD code reader on his "signature"

petrol ?

diesel ?

engine size ?

Doh too late beaten by FOCA :P :D

Youve got to be quicker on the draw

Ive seen threads with lots of posts including recomending changing plugs or coil packs on cars that turn out to be diesels or talk of DPFs on petrol cars - it can all get a bit confusing & embarassing

Thanks for info mate.

It's probs 2 years since service, it's been on my mind for past few months but put it off theand knew it would probably bite me on the !Removed!.

Doesn't really seem to run poorly to be honest so no rough noises. Before it cut out on motorway for a good 5 mile it seemed to be a bit sluggish (even for a 1.4)

Well when I say doesn't seem to run poorly obviously other than it suddenly cutting out. Most of time it's a good run and sounds alright.

Just tonight was pretty odd when it wouldnt start after just getting out of car for 5 mins then suddenly started,...cut out after 100 yards....left 10 mins ...started and did 10 mile home. Inconsistent

Foca I have lost my crayons hence slow drawing

Foca I have lost my crayons hence slow drawing

They don't let me have pencils ir pens (anything sharp) either

Anyone seen my marbles anywhere?....

Well when I say doesn't seem to run poorly obviously other than it suddenly cutting out. Most of time it's a good run and sounds alright.

Just tonight was pretty odd when it wouldnt start after just getting out of car for 5 mins then suddenly started,...cut out after 100 yards....left 10 mins ...started and did 10 mile home. Inconsistent

Often, that is caused by lack of spark or lack of fuel (getting to the cylinders) without more info, its difficult to tell, and an answer would generally be a guess, if you get the fault code(s) that would help narrow it down

The condition of the plugs can help diagnose faults too - eg, do they stink of petro?l and when you turn the engine over with a plug touching the (metal) block do you see a nice fat spark? + what color/ condition are the plugs in?

Need more to go on

Turns out its the instrument cluster. Car thinks its been stolen and shuts down. Need to find one online now.

One garage tried to charge me £500 for the repair!

There are Companies that don't as little as 90 quid so it's worth shopping around

http://www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk/repair/make/ford?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ford%20focus%20dash%20repair&utm_content=Ford&utm_campaign=CRManufacturerKeywords