Hi all

I recently bought a 55 plate five-door Focus with the 1.6 (115PS) engine in Ghia trim that has 57,000 on the clock. It's had regular services, with the last service being at 50,000.

It has 12 month's MOT thanks to the independent I bought it from. It failed the initial test due to a broken front spring and a damaged wheel, but sailed through everything else and blitzed the emissions.

Used it today on a variety of roads and it runs as you would expect. However, on my way home from visiting my parents (so car had been stood for an hour so I guess cold), I was accelerating up the motorway sliproad and was doing around 3.7-4k revs in second gear when the engine management light came on and has stayed on ever since.

When the light came on, there was no loss of power that I noticed, and while the light has been on (probably 15-20 miles of driving) there has been no noticeable drop in power, no change to engine note, basically you wouldn't know there was a problem. The light has stayed on despite four or five ignition starts.

I'm not technically minded whatsoever so wondered if you fine people had heard of something similar? I'm 99% sure the company I bought it from covered engine and gearbox for the first 1,000 miles after purchase (LOL) and I've only done like 120 or so, so should be OK, but don't want them to try and baffle with with a load of old tosh, would rather go armed with some facts.

the engine management light wouldnt come on for no reason so there is a fault somewhere. best to get your codes read which would indicate what the fault is. where abouts in yorkshire are you?

I'm from Leeds originally, but live in Huddersfield now.

Going to ring the garage I bought it off tomorrow and just ordered an OBDII scanner thing too.

ah same but live in bradford, tbh the garage should be able to read the codes for you and go from there, but i cant see it being anything major if the car is driving fine.

i think i have the same engine as you. i personally feel it drinks far too much fuel, but its a nice drive :)

Yeah, it seems pretty thirsty, averaging 36mpg over the last 120 miles, but otherwise I like the car. Hopefully it's something simple that the garage sorts.

I go for a curry at Kashmir in Bradford twice a month!

ouch im averaging around 26mpg with mainly A roads and not much traffic. on a motorway run i get like 34. still trying to find the reason behind it

OK, so the light has gone out on its own accord. Do they do this after so many ignitions?

Sounds like a possible ti vct issue I wouldn't leave it if the light comes on again easy WA to tell rev it passed 4k revs if the light comes back on the ti vct isn't working

As for the mpg having the same engine 34 lowest on a roads motorway 40s easily I get more than 28 in town

Sounds like a possible ti vct issue I wouldn't leave it if the light comes on again easy WA to tell rev it passed 4k revs if the light comes back on the ti vct isn't working

As for the mpg having the same engine 34 lowest on a roads motorway 40s easily I get more than 28 in town

Thanks for this. I don't think it is the TI VCT because I had it up to 4-5k revs to test it a couple of times and everything was fine.

However, I drove from Huddersfield to Nottingham and while cruising at 70mph it sometimes felt like someone had dabbed the brakes for a nano-second, like it was missing a beat. I noticed the acceleration was a little lumpy in second gear from 2-3k revs, not massively but noticeable to me.

Yesterday, the EML light came on while at traffic lights. Felt a mini "lump" then it came on and has been on since. No other symptoms while it is on. I'm starting to think this could be the plugs / HT leads / coil packs from what else I've read on these great forums, but could it also be the throttle body?

Fuel economy has improved to 36.8mpg over the last 600 miles with a mixture of city and motorways, mostly the former.

Thought I'd update this in case anyone else has similar problems.

Took it to a garage that I trust and they stuck it on the diagnostics machine and code P2303 - Ignition Coil B Primary Control Circuit Low -- came up right away. The mechanic took a look and said it looked relatively new, but it is difficult to tell because the garage I bought it from previously has obviously steam cleaned the engine as you could eat your dinner off it.

Got it booked in for coil pack, leads and plugs so hopefully this will be settled once and for all.

Thanks everyone for your replies.