Hi folks,

Have had intimitent what I would call "stutters" on my Focus occasionally during the 13 months I have had it. (one previous owner, bought at 2.5 year old, 25,000 on clock, now done 42,000). Power loss is similar to someone lightly dabbing the brake, hardly detectable to a passenger but detectable and annoying to the driver. Loss is not quite enought to visibly move the rev counter down.

Yesterday evening this stuttering was getting worse making me think it could be an ignition problem (was going to check plugs when I got home), then doing about 70mph just about to leave the M42 it came up with an "engine system failure" light on the dash and then when I pressed the acknowledge button on the end of the indicator wand it said it was in "Speed Limited Mode".

Engine then stalled setting off from lights at motorway island and after restarting appeared to return to normal. I have done around 35 miles in 3 seperate trips since this problem without the "Engine System Failure" warning re-occuring.

From what I have researched am I correct in thinking the "Engine System Failure" will have logged an error code somewhere on the system that connecting it to diagnostics will reveal.

Can anyone suggest what my be the root of this problem. I have heard it could be a speed senor, lambda senor, engine coolant senor or problem with ECU itself.

I also understand that a main dealer can charge £100 or more just to plug car into diagnostics machine without actually fixing problem.

What is my best plan of action?.

Can someone other and/or cheaper than a main dealer access the diagnostic codes ?.

Could any on these sensors be a likely cause and be replaced myself for less than the cost of £100 worth of diagnostics?

Strangely this problem appeared to disappear from the point the car had its first oil and filter change since I bought the car and then re-appeared coinciding with having it's second oil and filter change. Is this just fluke or could there be some logic to this?.

Thanks in advance for any help and advise.

Phil.
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Hi,

I'm driving a Nissan Micra 1.2 2006 "E" and on my way to work this morning, the yellow engine light appeared on the display.

It is currently with a local garage who are running a diagnostic test, but I'm really worried it could be something serious. The sickening part of all is that the 3 year warranty only ran out 4 days ago (!!!)

On my way home last night the engine seemed to be slightly less nippy than usual, and at one or two points, without applying any extra pressure to the accelerator, the car sped up slightly on its own. I noticed that the rev needle at some points was "quivering" a bit. It was very windy outside though, so perhaps I was imagining things. But this morning, the car drove fine to work but the engine light came on the display.

Any thoughts? I'm terrified it could be something serious - I don't even need it after next month and was planning on selling it.

Just for info - 2 days ago I put some oil in as it was getting low. I put quite a bit in, and the oil was purcharsed about 4/5 years ago. It is Tesco oil for all petrol engines. I also wiped around the top of the engine with a wet wipe, as it seemed to be covered in ash. Not sure if this could shed light on the matter.

Thanks in advance
Robert

{edited to remove make/model/year/engine info from header as this automatically gets included from the mandatory boxes that you have to fill in} Read more

Sorry if this has already been raised and I missed it.

I see that Tesco is selling 'Fully Synthetic', 5W - 40, oil in 2 litre quantities for £12. 'Suited to cars using infrequent oil changes' and it states the specifications it meets. Presently I pay £30 for four and half litres (+P&P) so it looks about the right price for a good quality synthetic oil in small quantities. Anyone know more?

Please, let's not get into a discussion of oil changing.

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Following some links (there's a lot of reading if you follow them) it seems many are using Two Stroke oil mixed with their diesel fuel.

tinyurl.com/nd5ap8
tinyurl.com/43psh3
tinyurl.com/mwosjn

Can't remember 2T oil in the various fuel additive discussions but feel free to delete this if it's already been covered Mods.

Could we have a nice discussion please, everyone's opinion is valid.

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Hi
Apologies for basic questions following. Not familiar at all with MK4 Polo, its my gfs. Mines a MK2 Golf .... much simpler :-))

Any gotchas to be aware of when changing main head light bulb, small light bulbs, parking light bulbs, brake light bulbs ?

How do I change the plugs ? How od I access the plugs ? I cannot see how the plastic engine cover is removed ?

Thanks

Peter Read more