Crossed posted from Focus newsgroup Had this problem since summer, seems to be getting slightly worse as weather gets colder. Symptoms are going along quite OK, then suddenly engine seems to lose power and you notice speedo has dropped to zero. If you have to come to a stop it will stall. Restarting seems to cure it. It can just disappear and you'll quite OK for rest of trip. Just did 600 mile round trip to Lakes district from south London and it never missed beat. Current mileage just over 57,000. Most miles now are crap short journeys in 'lovely' south London traffic jams.
The engine can be completely stopped and the car travelling at 100mph, it is irrelevant. One of the common Focii faults is that you can be driving along and suddenly the speedo stops completely, the radio goes quieter and there is a general loss of power, the car still drives though, when you pull up at a junction the engine stops and all the dash lights come on and if you are not ready for it the loss of power steering is a bit of a shock. Re-start the Focus and everything works again, till next time, the time between breakdowns gets shorter over a few months till it happens every journey.
The cure is to replace the vss, I should have said to also buy a new retaining pin/clip, since they are usually so rusted in that you ruin them during removal. It is also a job that is much more difficult if you have not got access to a lift.
The vss is about 35 pounds and the clip 2. Labour about 30 -60 quid depending.
To be fair, the fault the OP has is no big deal. My Focus had the same problem for over a year, slowly getting more frequent, until I got around to fixing it.
Personally I am appalled at the huge list of faults that most mainstream modern cars present with during their life. Basic engine reliability is hugely up over the last few years, but so many faults seem to be accepted, like suspension arms wearing out, electronic faults, low cam belt life, coil packs, tdc sensors etc. etc.
One of my favourite sites over the years has got to be honest johns car by car breakdown. Take a look at the list of faults Mondeos have, or Ford Explorer if you want a real laugh, then turn to Lexus GS300.
I pointed out this difference to someone that had just bought a 6 speed diesel mondeo, within a couple of weeks the fuel pump had failed, then the handbrake cable seized, then he got the horrible surging fault that needs a new injector, then the crank pulley fell to bits, after that he stopped using it and it is just sitting there rotting. However, he still goes on about how economical it was !! He is unable to see the elephant in the room.
Meanwhile my Lexus just carries on, no drama or breakdowns, not so economical on fuel, but so hugely reliable, quiet and comfortable it is much more desirable. Yes, I know I was struggling to undo the front pulley bolt a couple of weeks ago, but that is only every ten years or so !!
Is it not the case that you are in a position where you mainly see faulty cars though?
Certainly the Focus I ran for ten years was the most reliable car I have ever had. It never failed to start, and never broke down. It had two minor problems fixed under warranty. (Noise from front springs, and heater recirc motor.) Neither of those faults prevented use of the car.
I replaced the VSS for the problem being discussed here, and also had to change the gear lever centralising spring. (Under a fiver, and 10 minutes work.)
Other than that, I replaced a couple of hoses as a precaution. Apart from wear and tear items, and service parts, that's it.
Cam belt was replaced at the service interval of 10 years.
Sadly, it didn't survive an argument with the back of a Disco, so I've replaced it with another Focus.
I am starting to come around to your line of thought about Mondeos however; there are three in my "friends and family group", and two of them have been pretty poor in terms of reliability.
True, I do see vehicles with faults, in the main Fords and Vauxhalls, my customers with Japanese stuff very rarely have any failures, and when thet do they are justified.
I like Focii to drive and think they are probably the best car Ford have fielded for a long time, BUT I do see the problems: Window mechanisms, which are ludicrously overpriced. Water leaks around the stupid plastic bit round the pollen filter. Diesel injection pumps. Alternators. Door lock faults. VSS faults Water pump failure. Dashboard problems. Rear fog lights fill with water. And now the clutches are failing on early ones and they are not too easy to replace.
Generally though a massive improvement from the fiesta/escort. But rubbish compared to Japanese stuff. If the Japs can do it, why can't Ford?
I know your job gives you a different perspective from the rest of us but in my own experience, cars of today are much more reliable than the
60's & 70's era cars I drove when I was starting out.
Back in those days, cars didn't soldier on for 250k miles. I'll give you the suspension arms thing. Some of them fail at silly mileage. But low cambelt life? 100k seems fairly standard now compared with 30k back in the 70's. Admittedly it only took about 20 minutes to swap the belt back then and now it can be an expensive couple of hours labour.
Coil pack and sensors? Well they don't seem to be as troublesome as condensers and points. And I remember that back in the 70's some cars would eat leads and plugs every 10k miles. Now you can get 40k from plugs and 60k-100k from a coil pack. I know that occasionally a coil pack will fail earlier than 40k but its not that common.
So would I rather have my rusty Mk2 Escort with its permanent whiff of "Easy Start" and its 3k oil & filter changes and tow rope in the boot or my Mk2 Focus that works as advertised and will probably continue to return 20k/year over 12 years or so?
Ran an Explorer for years .. cheap as chips secondhand (I bought my S reg with 32k on the clock for =A34500 back in 2002) .. more equipment then you can ever imagine (everything leather & electric). Ran it for
6 yrs, done 145k on the LPG conversion (that turns it from 12 MPG on petrol to the equivalent 25 MPG as LPG is/was just under half price), and I wasn't easy on the car either here in Devon. The list of issues I had is limited to a new front ball joint, a replacement radiator and an LPG revision (new injectors). Never even replaced the exhaust. Finally traded it in (got =A3800 for it) as on 177k the chains started to rattle and it was time for something else. I indeed had a real laugh. Just a shame they stopped making them for the UK market.
I have been looking at LPG converted Range Rovers as that seems to be the closest equivalent (I don't like Jeeps), but they simply don't compare (in that price range)
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