Focus 2.0 Petrol 1999 - 'Whistling' noise and loss of power when accellerating

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Sun 21 Feb 2010 19:00
Focus 2.0 Petrol 1999 - 'Whistling' noise and loss of power when accellerating - stuartl
My Focus has started behaving rather strangely.
About a month ago I noticed a sound that can only be described as a whistle on acceleration. It is more apparent when accelerating harder than normal but if you dip the clutch and rev the engine it doesnt happen so only happens when the engine is under load. It revs quite happily when stationary and doesnt make the noise. Along with this there is a marked loss of performance, the car seems very gutless and when I tried to accelerate to overtake someone and had my foot flat on the floor the car all but stalled until I lifted my foot slightly. Going up steep hills round here is impossible but the car will tootle around town quite happily and idles fine. There have been no lights come on that we have noticed. Any ideas please?!
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Sun 21 Feb 2010 21:31
Focus 2.0 Petrol 1999 - 'Whistling' noise and loss of power when accellerating - elekie&a/c doctor
A whistling noise accompanied by a lack of power could be a blockage in the exhaust system.The noise is the exhaust gas trying to escape before the blocked part of the system.hth
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Sun 21 Feb 2010 21:51
Focus 2.0 Petrol 1999 - 'Whistling' noise and loss of power when accellerating - stuartl
Well the whistling does sound like it is coming from the exhaust but as it only happens when driving it is difficult to tell. What can cause the exhaust to block, break-up of cat or silincer wadding?
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Sun 21 Feb 2010 22:35
Focus 2.0 Petrol 1999 - 'Whistling' noise and loss of power when accellerating - elekie&a/c doctor
Could be cat breaking up or rear silencer blocked.You need somebody to split the exhaust system to find the offending part.hth
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Sun 21 Feb 2010 22:40
Focus 2.0 Petrol 1999 - 'Whistling' noise and loss of power when accellerating - stuartl
I replaced the rear silencer myself about 8-10 weeks ago. I guess in theory it could be a rogue item. The whistling and lack of power didnt occur straight after replacing that , maybe a month or so after. I guess the easy first port of call would be to try and get the rear silencer off again and see what happens.
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