ford focus tdi

[bigdaddycain]

my 1999 vreg 167,000 mile focus diesel has recently started playing up.i suddenly lose power,revs revert to tickover,"glowplugs" light flashes repeatedly.accelerator does not respond.If i switch off,then restart the engine,everything is fine,till next time! any ideas?

[Simon R]

I could guess all day, But the most likely thing would be the accelerator pedal. Try starting the engine and pushing the pedal to the left and right with your hand. if this causes the simptoms you have described then it will be the potentiometer on the pedal.

[Simon R]

failing that the glow plug light is acting as an engine management warning lamp, so any good garage with the right equipment,AA or Rac should be able to read the fault codes for you... good luck.....

[bigdaddycain]

thanks simon,tried the pedal jiggle..no luck. have got it booked in to a diagnostics place  in the morning,hopefully will find out then...

[knowitall1]

you will find that the sensor has gone most modern cars use what they call drive by wire and not the old accelerator cable ie you do not have an accelerator cable just a sensor that has most likely gone wrong

ps very expensive to fix

[shfislrh]

<DIV>I have a 2000 focus that is doing EXACTLY the same.. I suspected my accelerator as it has always been exceptionally sensitive, and never quite right..

[bigdaddycain]

it was the accelerator that was the culprit! got it booked in at a place locally called camco,they discovered the fault very quickly indeed,they phoned me about 10 mins after id dropped the car with them.They put the car on their diagnostics gizmo to make sure that was the only fault.they replaced the pedal with a new one,plus the diagnostics �135,the pedal is electronic,it doesnt have a cable on it,its all circuit board and solder!..result? i could hardly drive the car from the garage,it was so responsive! i got used to it after a while,it would do over 60mph in third with the pedal pressed about an inch! Im also getting better fuel economy too,used to get about 425- 450 miles on �40 of diesel,got 525 miles out of the last �40,so i guess the pedal has been on its way out for the last 75000 miles,and soldiererd on....

[shfislrh]

After bigdaddycains last post, i went to scrapyard last night and picked up a second hand accelerator (�45, ouch), 10 minutes to fit, and the car is working beautifully again.. This is the only problem i have had with the car, and would definately recommend the Focus TDI

Many thanks all

Lee.