This morning by focus 1.6 (115) petrol 57 plate kept going into engine limit mode. Each time I turned off the engine, it worked fine, but then after a couple of minutes it went on again. It did it when I was leaving my house, at around 20 mph, then multiple times on NSL roads at around 50mph. Once I got onto slower roads it was fine. So I cannot be sure whether it is speed or acceleration that is causing the issue. The engine fault light has not come on. It did it once on the way home yesterday whilst accelerating up a hill. Before Christmas I had this issue, took it to a garage, but there was no fault code, they changed the spark plugs as a precautionary and later the coil pack as it was misfiring. At the weekend I drove 200 miles on a variety of roads including motorway with no issues. They did suggest to me at the garage that I should use shell or BP petrol, on Sunday I filled the entire tank with Tesco, after running on Shell since the issue before Christmas. Any ideas? Thanks in advance

UPDATE: drove home from work, was happening again at high 2000 into 3000 revs. Managed to get it to a garage, there was no fault code, went on a test drive, but guess what?- nothing happened! The mechanic had the diagnostic machine in during the drive, everything was coming up normal. On the drive home, fine, get it some revs accelerating up to 60mph, fine. The garage really seem to be pushing the supermarket petrol angle.

Without diagnostics it could be anything.sounds like the Ti vct cam or solenoids need replaced expensive so a checks necessary if it comes on above 2.5k revs its the Ti vct system it will get worse

Without diagnostics it could be anything.sounds like the Ti vct cam or solenoids need replaced expensive so a checks necessary if it comes on above 2.5k revs its the Ti vct system it will get worse

Thanks, I do remember when I bought the car, being told this kicks in at around 3500 revs.

Just been out in it, happened 3 times all in 3rd gear whilst getting up to speed on slip and after roundabouts. I tried accelerating mainly in 2nd with very high revs after this, no problems. Tried it a coupls of times in 3rd after it had warmed up and was fine.

You need codes it could be coil pack or leads or Ti vct solenoids the work from 1500 rpm that's why you get the same torque at 1500 rpm as you do at 6000 rpm

You need codes it could be coil pack or leads or Ti vct solenoids the work from 1500 rpm that's why you get the same torque at 1500 rpm as you do at 6000 rpm

Not coil packs, done 2 weeks ago during misfire, recently had the spark plugs done too. No codes, went for a test drive with the mechanic to try and get the car into limp mode, no luck.

It sounds very much like an intermittent issue coil pack wiring or the Ti vct system which I hope its not you wouldn't see much change from £709-800 if it is try getting the revs up to 3500-4000 rpm if the light doesn't come on it may not be the Ti vct you'll just have to wait till it happens though if it went into limp mode you'll have a code stored That a ford mechanic should have checked. If its not a ford mechanic you'll get nowhere it needs to be ford as they understand the system

 

You need codes it could be coil pack or leads or Ti vct solenoids the work from 1500 rpm that's why you get the same torque at 1500 rpm as you do at 6000 rpm

 

Went through gears 1-4 well above 3000 rpm and 5 at 3000 rpm this morning, no issues. The issue appears to happen when the engine is cold, as I put my foot on the accelerator for the first few times this morning, the engine felt like it was pausing, almost like when it is going into limp mode and the revs drop. After a few times doing this it did go into limp mode a few times, after around 10 minutes of driving it was fine (hence why it doesn't happen when I take it to the garage), like I said I managed to go through all of the gears at high revs with no issues. However it does feel sluggish, most of the time. This problem only started after I filled up at Tesco on Sunday.

The ti vct uses premium or premium plus fuel for optimum performance I use Tesco 99 Ron or shell 95 Ron will work but the car was designed to run at the higher output on premium fuel it should state it on the rear of the fuel flap

The ti vct uses premium or premium plus fuel for optimum performance I use Tesco 99 Ron or shell 95 Ron will work but the car was designed to run at the higher output on premium fuel it should state it on the rear of the fuel flap

Yellow light came on this afternoon- throttle sensor. Would this be consistant with my issues or something else going wrong?

yes this can cause the issues a new sensor it will be

Check wiring at throttle body these are know to be problematic on focus

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Never had an issue we ith any focus wiring to the throttle body on any focus

Check wiring at throttle body these are know to be problematic on focus

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Is this the connector that goes into the throttle body? If so, all looks fine from the outside. They want to replace the pedal and sensor, I've read all over the internet it's the throttle body that causes the fault though. Focus absolutley fine once again when warmed up. Today the limp mode was coming on when I accelerated from 30 to 40 i.e. gently. If I go from 30 to 60 with the pedal fully down, it works fine. Put some V-Power in it tonight, certainly a lot better performance after about 5 miles. Will have to see what happens in the morning.

I believe the sensor can be replaced on its own I know what the net says but the ti vct throttle body doesn't suffer those issues so its rarely at fault

I believe the sensor can be replaced on its own I know what the net says but the ti vct throttle body doesn't suffer those issues so its rarely at fault

Not what the garage told me, they say it comes attached to the pedal so will need to attach the whole thing. Look more and more like it's a TPS, no problems this morning, but I kept my foot down on for the first few miles. Horrendous on way back, there seems to be a spot when I press down slightly on the pedal where the revs bog and a couple of seconds later it goes into limp mode.

Sorry after looking it is attached to the pedal as usual with modern motors the only way to find out is to replace it but it does sound like the sensor is lagging and intermittently cutting out

£160 down the drain, limp mode came back on as soon as I went up a hill in 3rd gear. Seriously thinking about getting selling and getting a new car, just need to the engine light to stay off!!!

The throttle sensor didn't work I take it?

I seriously think its the ti vct system I'll bet a mechanic with decent knowledge will find it that's the problem with the ti vct system when its faulty as its linked to the throttle sensor the cam the o2 sensors etc etc if its playing up it will show as any of these I was lucky the mechanic had seen it before

Till the ti vct is diagnosed and fixed it wont go off mate I'm afraid

Biggest mistake people make throwing parts at cars try fix wat u spent on parts 2 hours with some who knows how system works I sure would find Ur issue most garages throw parts at it tryin save time on diagnosing but if u don't understand how system works Ur wasting time an money u need proof things out wiring an signals before condemning a faulty component

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Biggest mistake people make throwing parts at cars try fix wat u spent on parts 2 hours with some who knows how system works I sure would find Ur issue most garages throw parts at it tryin save time on diagnosing but if u don't understand how system works Ur wasting time an money u need proof things out wiring an signals before condemning a faulty component

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I concur, but having taken my car to one chain and one small family garage both have said they would do the same: Reset the fault code, if it comes back they'll change the part.

The throttle sensor didn't work I take it?

I seriously think its the ti vct system I'll bet a mechanic with decent knowledge will find it that's the problem with the ti vct system when its faulty as its linked to the throttle sensor the cam the o2 sensors etc etc if its playing up it will show as any of these I was lucky the mechanic had seen it before

Till the ti vct is diagnosed and fixed it wont go off mate I'm afraid

It went into limp mode once, around lunchtime, hasn't since and I've been driving around in it all afternoon.

What symptoms did you have with your ti vct? Like I've said, my car bogs when accelerating in a gear that is too high, such as going up a hill, so at low revs, but very intermittently and usually when engine is cold and then goes into limp mode.

Wat is Ur fault code I can check wiring diagram see if I can shed some light on it for u

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You need to understand how it works when you accelerate there's a multitude of things happening in short the throttle sensor sends its signal in order to get the fuelling right it takes into account external temp engine temp o2 sensor status air density and amount of air going in amount others all this is computed via the ecu sending a signal to the two solenoids which control how much to !Removed! or advance the timing after taking into account cam position etc etc oil is then fed into the vanes of the ti vct system based on all these calculations as this is going on the exhaust valve is constanty varying hence the name twin independant variable control timing ti vct.

If the system fails via the solenoids or the cam phaser then when you put the foot on the accelerator the ecu is putting in the fuel but the car cannot advance or !Removed! the timing bogging the car down losing a chunk of torque in the process that's a very basic idea of how it works .

The problem is the system relies on so many sensors that it can be a nightmare to find the fault you were advised they suspected the vanes were worn hence they put thicker oil in that wont work simply because the car needs 5w30 semi or fully synthetic not 15w 40 mineral oil tho can clog up the oil pathways in the head which is a brass oil pathway that helps to keep the oil pressure up to the cam phaser there's no way to get at this so I don't know who advised them to do that but I wouldn't and my local master tech who fixed mine said he wouldn't either the oils too thick when cold to be thin enough to be forced through at pressure.

My symptoms were when I tried to use any torque is put the foot down the management light came on I had a sluggish car I wouldn't even over take in it showed a fault originally for a cam sensor the mechanic reset the light saying live data showed it working 2 days later it came on again I took it back and it said it was one of the cam phaser solenoids they replaced it and it was fine for a few days again it came on and the master tech said he had seen this before the cam phaser was faulty due to using aluminum to make it luckily I had a warranty as it required the rocker cover off so a new seal for that the cam locked into place timing belt etc off so a new belt as its been disturbed a new cam phaser parts totalled over £500 I was under warranty so it didn't cost me and they had to do a whole new timing kit it took 5 days in total

I would ask the original garage to remove the junk oil and put the proper stuff in at their cost and explain why as its too thick. see what happens with thinner oil in if that doesn't cure it then take it back ask for a master tech who knows ti vct systems and explain the issue to him and tell him its suspected it could be the cam phaser

Can't say re tard come on

Has been fine the past week, either new throttle sensor or putting different petrol in worked. Thanks for you help.