Hi there, I hope someone might be able to help.
My Focus as of late last week has developed a problem and I'm wondering whether it's something anyone else has experienced.
When crawling along busy urban road in 1st gear for a couple of minutes, when I depress the clutch pedal, the engine revs up a little from about 1000 revs to 2500-3000 for a few seconds before returning to normal. One pedestrian who I gestured to cross the road seemed unwilling given that he thought I was revving deliberately.
There doesn't seem to be any lag or slippage when accelerating though, only some increase in revs when pressing in the clutch.
Could this be anythig to do with an automatic choke? Or is ti possible that my clutch is about to conk out on me?
1999 T reg 1.6 with 65,000 on the clock.
Any thoughts gratefully received - will return about 9pm as I have to go out. I hope I've posted all necessary details.
Thanks
FD
Edited by Pugugly on 19/01/2009 at 20:35
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It doesn't sound like the clutch - that is completely separate from the engine. My R reg Escort (1.8 16v Zetec engine, 88,000 miles) does the same thing - the idle speed is prone to rising immediately after coming to a halt, then falling back to normal after a few seconds.
I've looked on a few Ford and Zetec engine owners' forums and apparently it's just a characteristic of the EEC-IV engine management on these engines, and therefore it's something you have to learn to live with as the cost of a new engine management unit runs into hundreds.
Hth.
Dave.
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Dave, thanks very much for responding. It seems I don't have too much to worry about which is excellent news.
Thanks again.
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I had this problem on my 98 1.6 Finesse.
I read somewhere that half the problems are caused by bad connections so I wiggled the connections on the idle speed control valve and Voila! it did the trick.
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Wash the throttle body out with carb cleaner & a tooth brush. Get someone to hold the throttle pedal down whilst cleaning. Dont worry about the tiny label that says don't clean as the non stick surface doesn't work
Make sure engine is hot. remove 3amp fuse for ECU . Leave for 5 mins. refit fuse & start engine. DO NOT touch throttel for 5 mins, this allows the ECU to relearn idle speed just leave to tick over & then take for 15 min drive. Shoud settle down a treat.
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ID - thanks for what looks like a last resort! Very interesting, definitely something my mate can help me with at the weekend too (in exchange for a pair of pints).
I'll try the wiggling thing first, then this. It's a good job I save all my old toothbrushes. They've never come in handy before.
Will post (for those remotely interested) what happens. I must say it's so nice to have this HJ avenue to try before taking to a garage. So thanks kindly contributors :)
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freman, thanks for that, I'll give it a wee shake when I've looked for an annotated diagram of my engine on the internet to make sure I'm not shaking the windscreen washer fluid instead.
It was quite bad on the way home from work today.
Anyway, I'll have to do that tomorrow morning now but thanks for popping in and letting me know.
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It is certainly NOT a characteristic of the Zetec calibrations;throttle body,throttle position sensor and ABV(air by-pass valve-ISC to some) need checking.
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On my escort this gizmo is situated on the inlet top side of the engine, about halfway along.
BTW There is a label on mine telling you not to dimantle it as the inside is coated with a special substance.
There again mine is a 98 Escort and it may have changed on the Focii (Focuses ?)
Good hunting
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OK, in the interests of good citizenry, I thought it necessary to return with an update.
I am unbelieveably stupid. That's the conclusion. My floor mat was butting up against the accelerator pedal and preventing the spring from bringing back the pedal to the up position. That's all it was. What a donkey. I'll get my coat.
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At least you've let us know. You're not stupid at all, sometimes it is the simplest things - and we look at the difficult possible solutions first.
Glad you've sorted it - a cheap enough repair !
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