Hi everyone,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read my question. I hate to be "that guy" who only joins a forum when they need a hand, but my other efforts to diagnose this problem have failed and I wasn't sure who else might be able to help me.

I have just bought a 2002 MK1 Ford Focus 1.8 which I have been quite happy with. I had driven the car around 400 miles without a problem but all of a sudden the car seems to be struggling with some sort of power issue.

The issue started when I accidentally skidded my Focus. I have just moved on from a BMW 318i which had a very impressive anti-skid, and I had forgotten how easy it is to skid a car! This may or may not be related, but as it happened so soon after, I thought it may be relevant to mention.

When I am accelerating, particuarly in the lower gears, the car can be very slow away from the mark and instead of smoothly accelerating it is jolting aggresively up to speed. This is particuarly scary when I am pulling out at a roundabout or a junction because sometimes the car simply doesn't react! It seems to be at it's worst in the lower gears. I can put my foot flat to the floor, and the car will eventually accelerate, but it is a very jolty aggresive and bumpy acceleration.

At the same time this fault developed, I also noticed my trip meter keeps resetting to zero. Sometimes it reaches 4 or 5 miles before resetting to zero. Sometimes it does not change at all throughout the entire journey.

I have taken the car to a mechanic but he has been unable to diagnose the issue.

Any help or advice is really very much appreciated.

Tom

A duff Speedo sensor or a cluster fault are most likely.

Your focus must have a bent subframe if your 318 handles better hehe :p

My money is on mass air flow sensor. Uneven acceleration and lumpy throttle.

Hey guys, thanks for all the advice.

I had the coil pack, leads and spark plugs replaced and this seems to have fixed the issue! The car is driving smoothly again and there doesn't seem to be any loss of power.

The one unusual thing is the trip counter is still faulty. It seems to reset itself randomly every few miles and some journeys it doesn't work at all. Any ideas?

All the best,

Tom

If the odometer is working ok and it's only the trip counter that's affected maybe the reset button is stuck or the switch it operates has become faulty.

Thank you for all the help and suggestions.

Another loss of power on the way to work this morning. Nowhere near as severe as before but definitely there. The engine light is on, but it is flickering constantly and faintly. Last night my headlights kept turning themselves on every time I took the key out of the ignition. Started it up a few times and eventually they went off.

At a bit of a loss with this one

Mmm ground?

I suggest ur headlights and trip computer maybe a shared ground in the loom. Is ur 1.8 a petrol or diesal ?