Hi all,
Bit of a dilemma here,my wife's old focus 1,2003 vintage,left us stranded on Sunday and the recovery chap informed me it was probably the fuel pump faulty.I have since discovered that there is a fuse supplying the pump which had actually blown,replaced it and hey presto all is well....or not?
My usual garage man seems reluctant to get involved with this pointing out that it would be very difficult to localise the fault,particularly having only blown the fuse once,and also it could be the pump,or wiring,or connectors.
Big issue is,do we have the pump replaced and hope for the best?Obviously I do not want my wife driving a car that could cut out at any moment.I am only contemplating this as the car is in mint condition otherwise,25,000 on the clock!
Would it be best to just abandon this and get something else,any thoughts please?
Cheers...Phil.
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Is it practical for you to swop cars with her for a bit ( as in you use it for now ) and just keep a couple of fuses in the glovebox? If it doesn't let you down again after a few days then it might well be safe to let her have it back. If it does start playing silly beggars again then you could look at your other options then?
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Hi,
Yes I could certainly run it for a few days,and she could manage without as she would not drive my car.Trouble is she has lost confidence in it now,thinking it could fail on her anytime when she gets it back,understandable.
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May be worth trying an auto electrician to establish if it might be electrical rather than mechanical.
Is it Petrol is Diesel?
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Hi,petrol auto.I gather from the inter web that it is not uncommon for the pumps to fail on these cars,but my mechanic is not as confident it seems...
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Pretty common fault on these when the pumps get tired, they start to draw excess current and blow the fuse (number 15 sticks in the mind for some reason?)
Changed plenty in my days in a brightly coloured van.
Just get a new mechanic then get him to replace the fuel pump. No reason why it shouldn't continue to give good service.....
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I'm guessing a petrol pump isn't to expensive, so as the car is low mileage and been good until now then I would just get it replaced - much cheaper than changing for something new........unless man maths are at play
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Morning,
Thanks for all that input everyone,I have booked it in to get the pump replaced,seems like a good idea.
mikeyb.....if it was my car man maths may have come into it..:)
Cheers....Phil.
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Sounds like a worn pump to me too from my limited electrical knowledge. You could buy another second hand car and have lots of problems, I think you are doing the right think getting it replaced.
I had a similar issue with my MAF on my old Corsa, my mechanic didn't think the MAF was the issue, but people on the Corsa forums did and my limited knowledge of ECU systems also told me it was an engine management issue. I swapped out the MAF and it cured the problem.
Similar issue on my Panda too, started cutting out at junctions and just generally playing up, the problem was just dirt that got into the ECU connector, been fine ever since. What I am saying is with cars, your general feeling about what is wrong is usually correct.
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What a sensible rational cat you are Sheikha. Usually, that is....
:o}
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Definitely sounds like a car worth fixing. Hope the new pump does the trick.
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Pretty much stock fault on early Focus models.Fuel pump causing fuse to blow.Just make sure that the garage that does the job checks the connector to the top of the pump flange .These can overheat and burn the contact pins.
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Sorry, Phil, only just noticed your post.
Please see
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=18540&v=f
I should add that it is almost 2 years since the fuel pump fuse blew and, after replacing the 15A fuse, there have been no further problems. The cure is to carry a handful of spare fuses and a torch in the glove compartment, and to teach your wife how to change a fuse at night when it's peeing it down with rain. This method works on the same principal as carrying an umbrella so that it doesn't rain.
Our Focus is a 52 reg 1.6 petrol with, when the fuse failed, 108k on the clock. I have just taken it down for its annual MoT/service at 118k.
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Hi,thanks again for your replies everyone.
Couple of questions please,is mileage of any relevance here as to whether the pump is possibly at fault,its only done 25,000?
I think my main concern is if the car could just stop suddenly,say on the M6?...:(
Cheers....Phil.
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>>my main concern is if the car could just stop suddenly,say on the M6?...:(
Well change the pump and done wivvit guvnor.
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That's what I like,be decisive....:)
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"Well change the pump and done wivvit guvnor."
A change of pump on a Focus of that age would cost about as much as the car is worth. I am glad that I didn't jump to that conclusion. Anyway, any car could go bang at any time for any number of reasons ............ just try not to worry unnecessarily.
I don't know if there's something about the electrics on Focuses of that era, but ours was particularly good at sorting out cheap headlamp bulbs from branded ones. When I started using e.g. Osram, Philips or Ford bulbs, the car was happy.
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I don't know if there's something about the electrics on Focuses of that era, but
>> ours was particularly good at sorting out cheap headlamp bulbs from branded ones. When I
>> started using e.g. Osram, Philips or Ford bulbs, the car was happy.
>>
My sil had one with exactly the same problem, went through cheap bulbs like nobodies business. Headlights were a bit of a faff to change iirc. Other than that it was a good car, they put 60k on it with very few faults.
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>> Anyway, any car could go bang at any time for any number of reasons ............
>> just try not to worry unnecessarily.
>>
100% agree (brand new car could have a blowout or 'computer says no' moment), but convincing one's other half of that, using rational logic, seldom works in my experience. Hence I replaced a 2K Zafira with a 7K Meriva, which is less reliable than the Zafira. :-(
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Spamcan, your own daft fault for buying cars with three vowels in the name...
Talking of bulbs, my 330 ( see, no vowels) never blew a bulb in 6.5 years. Current Focus has blown a headlight H7 within months. Unreliable pile of poo. Might invest in a pair of Philips X Vision when I return home.
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There's three vowels in three thirty...
;-)
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It's why I never bought a Lamborghine Murcielago. The only car with all five vowels in its name I believe
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Most exclamations rely heavily on vowels. They just wouldn't have the same impact without them. Try substituting, "Ooh, Ahh, or Hey!" with a vowel-less word and no one will be impressed.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Thu 15 Sep 16 at 21:06
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The Welsh language has even more vowels. And words with only vowels! We have w and y too.
So the Welsh for eggs is 'wyau'.
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>> It's why I never bought a Lamborghine Murcielago. The only car with all five vowels in its name I believe
Is that the only reason? Because there are other Lamborghine you could have got that do/did not have the same problem, e.g. the Aventador. No 'i' or 'u'. What's stopping you?
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 15 Sep 16 at 21:52
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No it was a Murcielagp or nothing. To be honest, as AC points out, I knew I was always going to have trouble with the spelling of Lamborghini so I bought a Golf instead.
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Lamborghini not Lamborghine CGN.
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"Hi,petrol auto.I gather from the inter web that it is not uncommon for the pumps to fail on these cars,but my mechanic is not as confident it seems..."
Phil - did you change the petrol pump in the end? I am asking myself how many of those 'failed' petrol pumps are, in fact, failed fuses. It'll soon be two years since the fuse blew in my wife's Focus.
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The fuse blew in my Wife years ago.
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>> The fuse blew in my Wife years ago.
What, only once?
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Hi Haywain,
I did book it in to get it replaced,but the mechanic,who I have every faith in,having examined the connections and wiring etc said in his opinion it would be a waste of money to replace it at this point.
He said that he could see no evidence of the pump labouring and even if the fuse went again he would need preferably to do some more tests.
I suppose this is commendable,he could have just replaced it and made his money.
My wife will not be needing it for a few weeks now,so I am going to run it...until I get fed up with the seats that is!
Cheers....Phil
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Sounds good Phil. Hopefully it was just a ( now deceased ) gremlin.
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"I suppose this is commendable,he could have just replaced it and made his money."
It sounds as though you have a very reasonable mechanic there, Phil. Having looked at Youtube videos of how to change a Focus fuel pump, it seems to involve either dropping the fuel tank or getting at the pump by cutting a hole in floor under the back seats (yay!). The pump sits on top of the fuel tank.
Your comment re seat comfort reminded me that at the time we bought our Focus, there was significant criticism of the seats. I was particularly wary about this, having a permanent 'dodgy back'; the seats in the Mondeo that I had then were pretty awful too. However, the Focus that had caught my wife's eye was a (18mths/12k miles) 3-door hatchback 'Chic' - some sort of 'limited edition'. It was based (as I understand) on a Zetec with slightly stiffer suspension, stainless steel tail-pipe (wow!) and heated leather seats. Whilst the heater packed up in the passenger seat a couple of years ago, I can say that those seats have turned out to be the most comfortable car seats that I have known.
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My 2011 (2nd gen) Focus 1.6 Tdi Sport DPF ( yikes) has exceptionally comfortable seats. Nowhere near the range of adjustment compared to the lovely 3 way memory leccy ones on my '04 BM but very acceptable non the less. Far better than anticipated.
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Hi all,
This is the standard 1.6 Zetec auto,without air con,perhaps the poverty spec at the time.
The problem I have with the seats is that they have very little padding in the seat base,it's like sitting on a board after a short while.Its not a problem to the wife as she is slightly lighter than me...😀...Also I am spoiled by my armchair Avensis seats.Shame this as the other models you mention obviously have better seats.
Thanks again for all your input....Phil.
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Cushion? Or the up market fix, memory foam cushion. :-)
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Ford Focus - What to do...? - Runfer D'Hills
