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Carbonic irrigation

I purchased a new Focus 1.8 petrol in April 2009. There is an intermittent fault sometimes on starting and sometimes when pulling away from rest. The engine drops to a slow tickover, about 750rpm. and stays there. It will not rev up. I turn the ignition off and restart and the engine then runs normally. It has happened twice when pulling away from rest at a roundabout and really it is potentially dangerous in such circumstances. The local main Ford dealer where I purchased it has had the car in twice but hasn't come up with a solution. He says it is not a fault he has come across before. The last time he had the car in he “carried out later calibration to PCM” and the car ran O.K. on test, but the fault persists intermittently. Have you heard of this problem before? Where do I go from here? Any suggestions gratefully received.

Asked on 26 December 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
I recommended J.H. to try running it on decent 99Ron petrol, preferably Shell V-Power. He did for two weeks and reported back that "the car is running well and I have not had the intermittent problem on starting. The Ford handbook doesn't say use a high grade petrol but I shall stick with it now."
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