2006 Focus 1.6 Ti-VCT - Focus hesitation/stutter - ChrisM41

My focus is driving me nuts. Its got somewhat intermittant (or varying severity) stutter or hestitation at the lower end of the rev range, more so when cold. Its mainly noticable with very light throttle, such as when creeping in heavy traffic, i cant really feel it at full throttle. It doesnt seem to do it at low revs if its in a high gear and I boot it.

Ive done the usual, replaced the leads, plugs and coil, there is no water in the plug wells. Ive swapped out the throttle body, MAF sensor and injectors for known good units (thanks to a patient friend) and even had the PCM updated to the latest software and reset the adaptations, but nothing has helped.

There are no error codes in the PCM and most sensor readings seem reasonable, although i have very negative long term fuel trims at idle (around -20 to -25%), this improves after a while at higher revs. Oddly the stort term fuel trims are always within a few % of zero. The lambdas are reading reasonably to, the pre-cats are fluctuating from 0.05 or so to 0.8 every second or so, the post cats are at 0.7-8 constant.

Any ideas? I'm thinking of doing a compression test later in the week, but if thats fine i have no idea where else to look.

Edited by ChrisM41 on 03/05/2016 at 21:04

2006 Focus 1.6 Ti-VCT - Focus hesitation/stutter - elekie&a/c doctor

I would take a close look at the coil connector plug.Common problem on these is for the pins to open up with a loss of good contact to the coil.The wiring is very tight here and engine movement/vibration can cause this.

2006 Focus 1.6 Ti-VCT - Focus hesitation/stutter - slkfanboy

The poor trim values at low revs suggests an air leak on the intake system.

At higher rev trims values will alway correct as the % of air leaking becomes less in relation to air flowing trough the system.

A water mist spary is a good way to find an air leak.

2006 Focus 1.6 Ti-VCT - Focus hesitation/stutter - kabarna

Hi Chris!

I have the same problem, could you tell me what was the solution for you?

Thanks!