Ford Focus Saloon - Engine warning light

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Thu 23 Jun 2011 11:10
Ford Focus Saloon - Engine warning light - Millysmum

Which malfunction does the illuminated amber light (not flashing) cover?

Car is booked into garage but I am still driving it.

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Thu 23 Jun 2011 21:10
Ford Focus Saloon - Engine warning light - Railroad.

It's the emissions warning lamp which is also known as the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL). It comes on when the Engine Management Control Unit is not statisfied that the emission requirements are being met due to a fault/s on the engine or engine management system. The reason why your car appears to drive normally is because the ECU is substituting the missing or incorrect signal from whatever is causing the fault with a pre-determined value. You will need to have your car scanned to find out what fault code/s have been stored and to decide what corrective action is necessary.

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Thu 23 Jun 2011 21:32
Ford Focus Saloon - Engine warning light - Railroad.

Oops, forgot to say that the general rule of thumb is if the engine appears to be running ok then it's perfectly safe to drive but you should get the problem sorted as soon as you can, but if it's misfiring then you should get it seen to without delay.

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Mon 4 Jul 2011 15:48
Ford Focus Saloon - Engine warning light - Millysmum

Have had the car serviced. Car passed its MOT and emissions test was OK.

It would appear that there wasn't a problem. Light has not come back on.

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Fri 24 Jun 2011 11:42
Ford Focus Saloon - Engine warning light - Millysmum

Hello Railroad,

Thanks for the information. Having it scanned sounds like a job for a Ford main dealer.

It's due a service & MOT next week by an excellent local garage but not a Ford one. I'll see what he says and get it to Ford if necessary. The car is not misfiring and I won't be doing many miles in the meantime.

It's brilliant to get some informed opinion on this forum. I'll let you know what happens.

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Fri 24 Jun 2011 12:35
Ford Focus Saloon - Engine warning light - unthrottled

Your indie garage should be able to pull up most-if not all of the codes. I would let them have the first bite of the cherry.

Railroad is right regarding misfiring, misfiring can kill the catalytic converter-and its replacement isn't always straight forward.

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Mon 4 Jul 2011 15:52
Ford Focus Saloon - Engine warning light - Millysmum

My local garage serviced the car and got the MOT. The light has not come back on so hopefully everything is OK . It's running fine. At 62,000 I am wondering what will go next - clutch?

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