Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 05 1.8 Car stalling at junctions and lumpy idle

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Sat 11 Oct 2008 09:23
05 1.8 Car stalling at junctions and lumpy idle - Norman77
Hi,
I've owned this Petrol focus (mk1) for 6 months. Recently it has developed a very slight lumpy idle. Now when the weather is cold it will stall when coming up to junctions. It will behave perfectly some days. Am i correct in thinking it could be the idle control valve at fault?

I have had the fault codes read at a Ford main dealer and none are showing. As i understand it, one of the few sensors that can fail or stick and not generate a fault code is the idle control valve. is this correct?

All thoughs are greatly appreciated.
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Sat 25 Oct 2008 21:30
05 1.8 Car stalling at junctions and lumpy idle - hrvoje dagelic
Looks very similar to what my fiesta did (but could be a different problem):


a little thread here:

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=61...4


and a big one here:

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=12...3

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Sat 25 Oct 2008 21:38
05 1.8 Car stalling at junctions and lumpy idle - Screwloose
Norman

Check the rubber breather hose that joins on to the back of the inlet manifold; they split lengthways and the edges suck in so that you can't hear the air leak.
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Sat 25 Oct 2008 22:50
05 1.8 Car stalling at junctions and lumpy idle - Norman77
Just a quick update.
I have had the idle control valve changed along with the double o ring gasket. The old one was caked in carbon residue and was sticking slightly. Its been a couple of weeks now and all has been well.

I took off the rubber hose that goes between the inlet manifold and pcv valve at the front and also the hose that goes between the fuel pressure regulator and inlet manifold to check for splits and leaks. Both held perfect vacuum pressure with no signs of splits etc.

The spark plugs have also been regapped to 0.040" from 0.050 which seems to have improved things. Is there a recommended gap i should use?

Thanks again.

Norman.

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Sat 25 Oct 2008 23:08
05 1.8 Car stalling at junctions and lumpy idle - Screwloose

If this is an EYDB engine; then it depends on the make of plug.

All except NGK specify 1.0mm [or 40 thou;] NGK say 1.3mm.....?
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Mon 5 Sep 2011 14:04
05 1.8 Car stalling at junctions and lumpy idle - gaving7095

I had very similar issues, thankfully I have a local independant & very reliable garage who diagnosed a faulty PCV (valve) which was £50 to replace & £25 to fit and crankcase ventialtion hose (£15 to source & £25 to diagnose & fit). TOUCH WOOD my issues are over now... The car does seem OK.
It seems I was (hopefully :-)) lucky 'cause both of the above parts were relatively cheap to supply & fix. The faulty PCV should have lit the engine warning light straight away but didn't :-(
From all the reading I did it seems that Ford used slightly "dodgy" hoses throughout the Focus engine - hopefully your issue can be easily found & cheaply fixed!

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