2003 Ford Focus CL, Manual, 5D hatch - Acceleration issues

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Wed 27 Oct 2010 09:29
2003 Ford Focus CL, Manual, 5D hatch - Acceleration issues - ClaireLou
On driving some 80kms last week with no issues - 110kmph on the freeway - when pulling off the freeway and slowing the car down, I noticed I was getting no response when my foot was pressed down firm on the accelerator. I pulled the car over. No lights lit on the dash, did not lose power - engine still running. Brought the car back up to 'biting' point, started to go forward and the revs just fell flat, couldn't go anywhere.

Called roadside assistance, who took 40mins to arrive. When they got there, there was no apparent problem. Car was accelerating fine in 1st. He said it could be a fuel pump issue but that could not be diagnosed until total failure? Anyhow, he followed me for another 5kms and no issues - he pulled off. I carried on for about another 2kms and the same thing happened. Again, no overheating, no lights on the dash, electrics fine, just car started to slow and no response from the accelerator.

Called roadside assistance again. He arrived and tested the computer - no issues. Checked the engine, no issues. This time, however, when I put my foot on the accelerator to try and pull away, there was little to no response and it almost sounded like there was a blockage.

Anyhow, had to have the car towed back to Sydney - $300 later. It's been to the garage where I bought the car 2 years back and they say they've road tested it and can't find a problem....they go on to say they can replace the fuel pump for $1500! I don't want to fork that sort of money out on a long shot.

Any ideas on what the cause could be?
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Wed 27 Oct 2010 22:30
2003 Ford Focus CL, Manual, 5D hatch - Acceleration issues - injection doc
I guess that if a pump is $1500, then its a diesel ?????
if its petrol more info would help ?
If its diesel the early focus did suffer throttle potentiometer issues which doesn't always flag a fault.
I would find a good indy who may be able to spend some time driving the car whilst monitoring fuel pressures etc etc.

When I had custoemrs experiencing similar issues i used to get them to leave me with the car & I would drive it for days untill the fault occured.
I once had a Carlton that the customer insisted always lost power after 386 miles of constant driving.
The car had a mega history of new parts fitted so I wired up led lights to load of different modules and drove the car allnight and at 3pm in the morning at 377 miles the power went and the power supply to the coil was failing indicated by the led light flickering and failing !
Rewired the coil from the ECU and the car went on for years after that.
so patience and a good relation ship with a garage can help
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