Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 1999 T reg losing power

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Tue 25 Mar 2008 14:51
1999 T reg losing power - Yorkbird
Hi All,

Was after a bit of advice really. Back in Feb I bought a 1999 T reg Ford Focus 1.8LX 5dr from a trader. It is now about 1-2 weeks past the original 28 day mechanical warranty he gave me (couldnt afford to pay to have a longer warranty). This is the situation at the moment. Twice in the past week I have been driving along and my 'check engine' orange warning light has come on, the power has died and the steering felt really strange, and I had to steer the car to safety at the side of the road and put my hazards on. I know it wasnt me stalling the car. I didnt have any bad gut feelings when I bought the car. I paid £1700 for it, hpi clear, traders business was on the same site as his own home so i thought and felt as though this was a very honest trader (am I naive?? I have been done over once before so mega careful and scared about buying another car on my own).
Anyway first of all, I dont know what the fault is and have not had it checked out yet as I wanted advice before approaching the trader, remember the warranty is now out of date and I do not know what rights I do or dont have. Why didnt this happen when it was in its warranty grrrrr!

Ok, so has anyone had a smiliar experience re:power loss, and opinions on how I should approach the dealer would be most apppreciated... I waS due to take the car on a 250 mile journey at the beginning of next week but so scared that if the power goes on the motorway that I cannot get it safely across the carriageway

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 28/03/2008 at 13:04

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Tue 25 Mar 2008 15:06
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - niceguyeddy
Hi .... before I give advice / opinion on how to deal with this and what your rights are I need to know what mileage the car has covered please
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Tue 25 Mar 2008 15:09
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - Yorkbird
Hi

Its currently got 110k on the clock

Thanks
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Tue 25 Mar 2008 15:11
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - Screwloose
Yorkbird

A read of this should cheer you up - consumer law may well give you six months of pre-existing fault presumption.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=43

Once it has lost power; does it cut out completely or remain idling? If it stops; how do you get it restarted? Under what conditions/speeds does it occur?
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Tue 25 Mar 2008 15:20
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - Yorkbird
Once it has lost power; does it cut out completely or remain idling? If it
stops; how do you get it restarted? Under what conditions/speeds does it occur?

>>

Hi , thank you. Ok so to answer your question, as soon as the orange light came on, the power died as the steering went quite stiff, however I was still able to turn the wheel slightly in order to steer to the side of the road (in a bit of a panic by this point). As soon I got the car to the side of the road I was able to turn the key back to the off position and turn it on again and resume driving as normal. I am still able to drive the car around, these were 2 isolated incidents. I was driving at around 40/45mph at the time, possibly a little faster. Dry roads I think.
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Tue 25 Mar 2008 15:40
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - Screwloose

The next move is to get the fault-codes stored in the engine control unit read. The seller will know somebody equipped to do it. That will give some idea of what's causing the problem.

The light coming on indicates that the ECU has noted something amiss. Is this a petrol or diesel 1.8?

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Tue 25 Mar 2008 15:44
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - Yorkbird
SNIPQUOTE!
Is this a petrol or diesel 1.8?


HI its a petrol model

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 25/03/2008 at 19:35

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Tue 25 Mar 2008 15:32
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - niceguyeddy
The law surrounding the purchase of cars can be very grey and no matter what the sales of goods act stipulates will often depend on the opinion of 1 judge (if you was to take it all the way) so the best way foward is to reach an amicable arrangement with the trader if possible.

As a professional retailer of cars I can give you a little insight to how to go about things

The 28 days is not a "get out" for the bloke you purchased the car from though at the first attempt of sorting the problem out it may well be quoted by him.

Step 1 call the trader and explain the fault he may be helpful if so then happy days.

If he blows you out and washes his hands then you need to call the local Trading Standards people who can be very helpful.

Basically the car needs to fit for the purpose sold for and losing power when driven does not fit this criteria so the trader needs to fix it or refund the monies paid BUT some of this depends on how old the car is the price paid and what a reasonable person would expect (this is the grey area coming in now)

EG a brand new car that looses power is definately a black and white example

a 9 year old car with 110000 miles which was sold at near trade money (£1450 CAP CLEAN) is not so clear cut ... it may be argued that you should expect a few problems on a car of that age and miles .... this is why you first need to sort amicably if possible.

so back to STEP 1

Calmly call the trader and tell him of the fault and see how he reacts if in the negative contact trading standards and they can help you from there

Ley us know the outcome and happy to give you the next step in needed

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 25/03/2008 at 19:35

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Tue 25 Mar 2008 15:39
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - niceguyeddy
just had a thought ... get hold of the previous keeper and see if he had the same fault .... may help you later on.
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Tue 25 Mar 2008 15:42
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - Yorkbird
just had a thought ... get hold of the previous keeper and see if he
had the same fault .... may help you later on.


Thank you for your advice, I am going to contact the previous owner. I will also post once I have contacted the trader.
Very much appreciated
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Tue 25 Mar 2008 18:10
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - zm
I too have a 99T 1.8LX focus in stock, that did have a problem with cutting out and losing power (but it did not affect the steering). I knew it would be nothing much really, and looking on the car-by-car section of this site, the Focus page referrred to a speed sensor on the gearbox that causes problems of this nature. A cheap part £23 or so, I had it replaced and all seems well now.
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Tue 25 Mar 2008 18:14
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - Screwloose

The speed sensor is extremely unlikely to be able to cause this problem. If it fails; the speedo drops to zero.
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Tue 25 Mar 2008 18:29
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - zm
The speed sensor is extremely unlikely to be able to cause this problem. If it
fails; the speedo drops to zero.


It did lose a bit of power and cut out at low revs, speedo went to zero as well.
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Fri 28 Mar 2008 11:39
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - Yorkbird
*****Update******
Many thanks for your advice peeps, I have phoned the trader today and he sounded very fair. I am taking the car to his workshop middle of next week so they can have a look at it for me. So far so good..fingers crossed. Will keep you informed :)
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Sun 2 Feb 2014 14:50
Focus 1999 T reg losing power - Leefrancis7

I know this problem was highlighted back in 2008 but I would appreciate any updates since then as I have problems with heavy steering. I own a 1.8L Zetec. My mileage is much lower at 58K. I would appreciate any advice. Ford have suggested a new PAS Steering Pump that MIGHT be the cause but I'd like a definite answer/solution.

Its not the sort of problem where Mechanics can say see hwo you go with it. I could have a serious accident with this.

Edited by Leefrancis7 on 02/02/2014 at 14:53

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