Car dying what to check?

[Sniper82]

2001 Ford Focus Wagon with Zetec engine. Picking my son up from school today as I was leaving it just died. Put in neutral started back fine drove a couple hundred feet died again. Luckily I only live about a mile from his school so I was able to get home. What should I check first?

Once home I tried goosing the accelerator in the driveway and managed to get it to die once but its not constant. Afraid to drive far distances till I figure out the problem.

 

[thepd7]

spelling

 

[quakefiend420]

spelling

Way to be helpful. Perhaps you should check your capitalization, punctuation, and sentence structure (or lack thereof)...

OP, did it throw a CEL? A code would be a good place to start.

 

[thepd7]

Way to be helpful. Perhaps you should check your capitalization, punctuation, and sentence structure (or lack thereof)...

OP, did it throw a CEL? A code would be a good place to start.

Abbreviations don't make you sound smarter.

 

[jlee]

As quakefiend suggested, check to see if it's throwing any codes...easy place to start.

Abbreviations don't make you sound smarter.

GTFO.

 

[punjabiplaya]

codes! any weird noises? vibrations? something it wasn't doing before (other than dying)?

 

[Sniper82]

spelling

Happy now?

Anyway no codes was thrown(yet anyway) thats the first thing I looked for. There has been a bit of vibration in the front end over the past couple weeks. Its more noticeable while in reverse.

No noises though.

 

[exdeath]

Does it die under steady cruise with a constant throttle position or only on transitions (eg: lifting when coming to a stop, overshooting idle, only after long cruises, etc) ? Idles ok, no misses, any hesitation on hard acceleration, only does it when it's cold or hot, etc. Need more specific detail, could be anything from the airflow sensor to converter clutch.

 

[SSSnail]

What is not as important as how in most cases. So, how did your car die? What was it's last words?

 

[jamesmcuk]

DOes it only die when at idle or will it cut out even while the throttle is being pressed?

If its only at idle then it could well be a bad / sticky ICV (Idle Control Valve)

 

[Soccerman06]

Fuel pump, injector, spark plugs?

 

[JCH13]

Loose or corroded electrical connections maybe. Good luck :thumbsup:

 

[amdhunter]

Happy now?

Anyway no codes was thrown(yet anyway) thats the first thing I looked for. There has been a bit of vibration in the front end over the past couple weeks. Its more noticeable while in reverse.

No noises though.

Was the car cold? Does it stall going uphill or when under load? I'd going for the longshot and saying torque converter? Do you have transmission fluid?

 

[bruceb]

If it won't stay idling, first thing to change would be Fuel Filter. Then have the Fuel Pressure checked. If it is low, could be bad Fuel Pump or Fuel Regulator. A quick check shows your engine may use a Timing Belt. If it has never been replaced and has slipped a tooth or two, engine will not run properly. Fortunately on that motor, it is a Non Interference Design, so internal engine damage will not occur when the timing belt fails.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Did you get gas right before this started?

 

[Vetterin]

I have to agree with Bruce....either a clogged fuel filter or bad gas.

 

[HarryLui]

Instead of throwing parts at it, take it to a place you trust and have them diagnosis it.

 

[slag]

I'm more inclined to say sticking IAC valve as mentioned above or bad throttle position sensor. The vibration has me worried, but it might just be coincidental.

 

[Sniper82]

it idles fine only when I would quickly give it gas(in gear) would it die and that wasn't every time. It ran fine going to his school. Just enough time to about get to running temps. Seems like its when the engine is under load is when it happens.

 

[CraigRT]

Could be a number of things, but you have to find out what is causing the actual stall.

Spark, Fuel, both?

My friend had an old car that would stall out at random and it took us quite a while to figure it out. One of the spark plug wiring harnesses was arching to a metal bracket on the intake manifold and killing the injectors (all of them) We literally just zip tied it away from the brace and it never once happened again.

Start looking things over with the engine at idle under the hood., Go from there.

 

[exdeath]

Stumbling under load and not returning to idle correctly in closed loop on a modern engine is most often a fueling problem or emissions system problem (EGR, etc). Ignition systems are rarely a problem anymore being all electronic with multiple coils. That engine has at least 2 seperate coils, so it might run rough but it wouldn't die completely save for the unlikely event that both coils are giving out at the same exact time.

 

[Sniper82]

I cleaned the MAF and it seemed to help alot on vibrations which I'm guessing was due to rough idle. Drove the car a mile or so with no issues. Not sure that was the only thing. Got to looking on the exhaust manifold and there is a collapsed hose. Heard one of these vacuums was blocked off on this engine not sure if this is the one.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Hit it with a hammer.

 

[exdeath]

Shouldn't be any kind of hoses on the exhaust manifold, only a metal EGR tube, and from that tube two silicone hoses that go to the EGR flow sensor. If one of those hoses is damaged it will alter the flow monitor for the EGR and cause improper EGR control.

 

[Sniper82]

Shouldn't be any kind of hoses on the exhaust manifold, only a metal EGR tube, and from that tube two silicone hoses that go to the EGR flow sensor. If one of those hoses is damaged it will alter the flow monitor for the EGR and cause improper EGR control.

sorry meant the intake. Was told it goes to the pvc valve.