My 7 year old owned from new Ford Focus 2.0 Ghia has finally let me down.
Last weekend the car started as normal I moved off but then stalled after a couple of seconds, and couldn?t get re-started. I called Green flag recovery who said it could be the fuel pump, he did all the usual checks then he had a look under the rear seat banged around under the back of the car, and played around with the fuses. After about half an hour the car restarted and I was on my way.
On the way home the abs warning light and traction control light where on permanently, So I checked the fuses when I got home and found they had put a 30 amp rated fuse in place of the blown 15 amp fuse for the fuel pump. So I sorted that out and the next day bought a new battery, as the old one was 7 years old, hoping this would cure it.
The car has been used all week with no problems and I thought it was fixed.
But today after driving around making lots of stops and starts, the car started and stalled again just as before, the 15 amp fuse had blown again. Luckily I was near a VW dealer who charged me 51p for a fuse, this got me on my way again.
I bought some more fuses then at home I turned the ignition and listened to the fuel pump come on, switched the ignition off (without starting the engine), I did this about 8 times then the next try I didn?t hear the fuel pump checked the fuse and it was blown again, replaced the fuse, started the engine and it was fine again.
I remembered the Green Flag man checked the wiring under the rear seat, where I guess it goes to the fuel pump/tank, the wiring is really stuffed through the grommet to under the car, I pulled it gently out and looked closely the black insulated cabling it was quite kinked in a couple of places, I felt it and it did feel a bit warm. Could this cause the problem. I had the seat down to transport some carpet today, and had them down to carry a lot of weight for a car boot sale the week before, it does seem a bit of a coincidence though.
I spoke to the Ford Garage who said they have never heard of such a problem with a Focus and would love me to bring it in to have a look, (labour charge of quite a lot).
Could it be the actual fuel pump or do you think it?s the wiring of something else.
Would using a 20 amp or 30 amp fuse (like Green Flag did) instead of the 15 amp be ok (i doubt it).
When the car is moving it runs perfectly and always has, it's a great car.
This fault is very frustrating any views or help would be greatly appreciated.
s
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The easiest way to find an intermittent short is to fit an in-line fuseholder [there is a Scotchlok type] near to the suspect component and see if a lesser-rated fuse in that blows or if the original fuse blows.
If the lighter fuse goes; then the short is downstream of it - if the original fuse blows, then the short is between the two fuses.
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this is certainly a very unusual fault on a Focus.Which fuse is that blows? location and #of fuse .It is possible that this fuse controls other components as well as the fuel pump.Also make sure that the correct rated fuse is used at all times.I have seen the complete dash wiring burnt out on a Focus cos the owner used a 20a fuse instead of a 10a;the original fault would have been an easy repair!!hth
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thanks for the swift replies.
It is deffinately the 15 amp fuel pump fuse, and it isn't shared with anything else.
i'll check which number it is tonight if it helps. the car has only done 52,000 miles from new, so i'm hoping it doesn't need a new fuel pump.
i'm not very mechanicaly minded, so may have to get an auto electrican in, i'm in hertfordshire area if anybody can reccommend a good one.
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Update on my sometimes non-starting fuse blowing Focus-
I got stranded a couple more times in the last couple of months and had a Ford dealer have a look at the car but they couldn?t replicate the fault.
It is my wife?s car and she drives it much more than me and has never had a problem??.ever.
Which got me thinking. I grew up with old minis, beetles and fiats with carburettors, and the starting technique was to press on the accelerator a bit when cold (or in the case of the beetles a lot when cold) when starting the engine. I?ve had lots of fuel injected cars since , and think I have always left my foot on the accelerator a little when starting without any problems (including the Focus for at least 6 years without a problem). The Focus has never refused to start when cold, only after a few runs and with me naturally leaving my foot on the accelerator pedal a bit. But there is no pattern to this. Sometimes the fuel pump fuse blew, sometimes it didn?t. The car always re-started about a half an hour later, so I guess I was flooding it. Anyway, since I?ve been aware of this I have kept my foot well away from the accelerator pedal when starting the car either hot or cold and haven?t had any problems since, coincidence ? am I talking complete rubbish or do you think there is something in it any views would be welcome.
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>>On the way home the abs warning light and traction control light where on permanently, So I checked the fuses when I got home and found they had put a 30 amp rated fuse in place of the blown 15 amp fuse for the fuel pump.
I don't profess to have a fraction of the experience of some of the others here, but the statement above bothers me.
Is there another problem here? Did replacing the 30A fuse with a 15A put out these warning lights (although I don't see how it could)? Could it even be a dodgy earth problem, with a backfeed path through the warning lights?
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I can't see starting procedure affecting this - colder weather; maybe...
The fuse blew before when you were just repeatedly priming the engine; so that would suggest a circuit or pump issue. Is it fuse 12? If so; 15A is right. It feeds the relay load side and then goes through the inertia cut-off switch and straight to the pump.
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>>would suggest a circuit or pump issue.
Fully agree - the way that you start a car doesn't affect the fuel pump in any way, so, it can't be that.
If you put an inline fuse close to the pump, you will, via Screwloose's excellent suggestion above, be able to diagnose whether the problem is in the fuel pump, or in the wiring between the fuse box and the pump. It's one or t'other.
Number_Cruncher
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It won't affect the pump but you start these with your foot off the throttle;the ECU takes care of fast idle etc..
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Did anybody come to a conclusion with this suspect fuel pump problem, as I have a 1999 fiesta with an identical problem!
Any replies would be much appricated!
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