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Ford Focus 1.8 Cold Starting Problems

I've recently bought a second hand Ford Focus 1.8, (year 2000) and from the start I've had cold strating problems with the car that I can;t get to the bottom of.

Basically when the car has been sat for a few hours when you turn the key the car fires up first time, however if you release the key as soon as the car fires the engine cuts out staright away. If you then turn the key again the engine will turn over for 10-15 seconds before the engine will start up.

However when i first try to start the car if I keep the key turned after the engine first fires, it will cough for a couple of seconds and then start fine.

As soon as the engine has been started from cold it will start fine with the first turn of the key until it has been left for a few hours. (the egine doesn't even need to warm up).

The car has been to the Ford dealer a number of time for diagnostic checks and they can not find any fault codes in the ECU, so they keep telling me there is nothing wrong with the car.

I'm stuck now, I'm planning to change the idle control valve as the only way I think I can find the fault is to start changing bits and carry on till the fault ges away.

Has anybody else seen / heard of a fault like this.

Thanks.

Reply to
markeolsen
Loading thread data ...

I'm afraid I can't answer your question myself, (although I'm thinking "temperature sensor"), but in order to help others help you, perhaps you could post answers to the following:

Is there any evidence of previous servicing? Paperwork? Clean plug leads/oil filter under the bonnet? Confirmation from previous owner?

How many miles are on the car?

Once running, is driveability normal?

Does it start perfectly when fully warmed up?

If you want to ask advice now or in the future from a wider audience, there is a dedicated NG:

alt.autos.ford.focus.

Hopefully someone else will be along soon...

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Aside from what Chris has asked about the car's history / mpg / miles / drivability etc etc..., what happens if you start it with just a sniff of gas pedal, say enough to achieve 1500rpm?? Does it still die or does it run fine?

It doesnt sound like the usual ISCV problems, but without trying the car myself I cant be sure.

Tim. .

Reply to
Tim..

Thanks for the replys

If I put a little bit of gass on the cars starts fine, and once its run for a few seconds it will start normally every time until it's been left for a few hours.

The car has a new set of orignal ford plugs and leads and the oil / filter is new too (although i didn't change the oil myself and have heard that the wrong grade oil can casue problems on the focus engines)

When the car is running it drives fine, the engine actually feels very nice, Its got around 6000 on the clock and until last year had a full serivce history.

One thing I did not mention in my first post is that on a really cold day the car sometimes keeps cutting out until it has warmed up, the only way to keep the enigne running is to keep some gas on until its warmed up.

Reply to
markeolsen

Your ISCV is definately sticking.

Its in such a nasty position on the Zetec E engines, replacement is the only option.

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

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