Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 03 1.6 EML on after plug change

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Wed 21 Jan 2009 19:28
03 1.6 EML on after plug change - steve9272
Need advice please, I serviced my focus today and part of that was a plug change, all of the plugs came out ok apart from no 3. I soaked it in wd40 for a while and still had no joy removing it. I needed to go out so decided to leave the plug in until tomorrow and try again in better light.

The problem is that when I started the car up it ran 'lumpy' and the engine management light flashed on and off and the car was severely underpowered.
On return home I managed to remove the last plug and replace with new (this makes a full set replaced).
The car runs superb now but the engine management light is permanently on (doesn't seem to have any power loss or running probs).

Should i take this to a main dealer and ask them to check out/remove the code or will it sort itself out? i believe that the wd40 was probably the culprit. Any ideas what this will cost?

Many Thanks

Edited by Pugugly on 21/01/2009 at 19:40

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Wed 21 Jan 2009 20:07
03 1.6 EML on after plug change - Andrew Moorey (Tune-Up)
I wouldnt think the WD40 is the problem. Possibly one of two things. Its not difficult to get No4 (the shortest) lead incorrectly fitted and not contacting the plug, rather sitting next to it. When you ran the engine the resulting 'misfire' has flagged an emissions fault which will need clearing with a suitable scantool. The other problem that flags a fault is that the engine temp sensor ( between plugs 2&3) wire runs very close to the HT leads, there is a TSB (Tech Service Bulletin) which recommends the sensor wire is cable tied to the adjacent pipe which runs along the head to get it away from HT interference.
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Thu 22 Jan 2009 12:15
03 1.6 EML on after plug change - steve9272
Quick update, went into ford dealer and asked for cost of reseting/wiping error from car they wanted £92 to do it! not bad for 5mins work. I was tempted just to take the bulb out.
I managed to get a local bloke to do it for £40. Car Runs Superb on the new plugs Bosch super 4's.
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Thu 22 Jan 2009 16:08
03 1.6 EML on after plug change - Andrew Moorey (Tune-Up)
just out of interest, did you see what the code was?
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Fri 23 Jan 2009 10:14
03 1.6 EML on after plug change - Carse
As the car was running lumpy the vehicle was probably over fuelling due to poor spark. This being the case the Lambda sensor would have registered a code which lights the EML.

The codes would need to be erased and the EML re-set to reflect its current health

Carse
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