Ford - Focus :: 2003 - Engine Surges Under Load And CEL Came On?
Apr 17, 2013
I have a 2003 Ford Focus ZTS with a ZTec 4-cylinder motor, 5-speed manual transmission, @145K miles (one owner). I had the fuel pump replaced in October 2012. For the past couple of months I have had intermittent engine surges when the car is under load, and it is most prevalent when undergoing heavy acceleration or when going uphill. The engine idles smoothly at about 800-1000 rpm. The problem seems most prevalent when I have more than 1/2 tank of fuel in the vehicle.
I have noticed that when the car is in cruise control mode and surges occur the accelerator pedal depresses as if the engine is trying to get more fuel. Spark plugs, Timing belt, tensioner, and water pump were changed approximately 30K miles ago. Alternator replaced @10K miles ago. No visible leaks around the head or valve covers. Vehicle is driven mostly highway miles in low dust environments. Engine light normally doesn't come on, but today the surges were worse than normal and the engine light came on several times over approximately 1 minute interval. Then the surges stopped and the engine light went out and did not come back on.
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My 2002 Ford Focus ZX5 has had a low idle (not unsteady) for about a year. Just thought I needed a tune-up. Recently, it started surging and bucking between 40 and 50 MPH. Seems to run fine under acceleration, but then when backing off the accelerator, it starts the surging/bucking. The check engine light is on constantly. A diagnostic pointed to the EGR valve, which I replaced, but it didn't solve anything.
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1999 F350 7.3 Super Duty surges when going uphill with a load. The only time we drive it is when towing the horse trailer - also has a camper on.
The truck doesn't physically surge, just the RPM gauge goes up and down and along with it a humming noise.
Also, What conditions should I engage the towing button on the end of the gear shift? I've heard several answers. Should it be engaged when towing or off?
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For example. If you are going 30 mph the engine surges. It surges when the throttle is in the same tps location.
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I have a 99 7.3 with 40,000 on a rebuild,injectors I don't know they do pass a buzz test. What happens is when driving say at 30 mph and I am not needing to give it throttle but i don't back all the way off the peddle sort of at a neutral point my engine will sound rough and seems like its not hitting on all cylinders.it runs great when i give it fuel and idles fine its just the point in between it runs erratic.last year when chasing a no power problem. I did rebuild the ipr, new fuel filter, icp and harness,cps and what fixed it was new fuel pressure regulator (brass was gaulded and causing fuel pressure to crash). No mods other than a bullydog tuner that never goes past #2 setting. I do have a auto ingenuity scanner, what to look for or already know what my issue is.
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I own a 2003 Hummer H2 with a 6.0 liter vortec engine with only 62,000 miles. At 50 to 55 mph 1500 to 2000 rpm the engine surges 300 to 400rpm with foot steady on the throttle. There is no engine light on and I,ve checked for codes with a code reader from the auto parts store. No error codes. I've cleaned the mass flow air sensor and throttle body with no change. My next thought was to replace the throttle actuator control sensor or accelerator pedal position sensor. I do enjoy working on my own vehicles so have been reluctant to take it into the shop.
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I have a 2003 Ford Focus Sedan with 75K miles, bought used from a Ford dealership 3-4 yrs ago with 45K miles.
I spent Saturday driving around doing errands. Late in the day, it wouldn't start up again. This was after about 20 minutes of sitting in a parking lot right after a 10-mile drive. It would turn/crank but not actually turn over. Eventually, I had a tow driver come out, who also gave it a try, and then it made an awful clunking-grinding-crunching sound after a couple seconds of trying to turn. Towed to the local mechanics.
They did some compression tests and tell me that a spark plug is "smashed." They say only a major engine problem could smash a spark plug and recommend just replacing the engine. The alternative would be to take apart the engine to figure out exactly what's wrong, at a labor cost of $800-1,000, but they say there would be a good chance that whatever they find out wouldn't be fixable anyway.
Recent history: oil change about 6 wks ago, no history of oil problems, regular oil changes (at least since I bought it).
Recent problems:
(1) About 2-3 times in the past few months (including Saturday morning the day this happened), my car would sometimes take a bit more turning over to actually start. Those episodes would feel like it was "barely" starting, and then the car would kind of gentle buck for the first 20-30 seconds of driving, then be totally normal and start right up again afterward.
(2) For the past year or so, the speedometer and odometer would intermittently go to zero, usually after a sudden speed or lane change or big cranking of the wheel (e.g., reversing out of a parking spot)...this would last a mile or two then randomly come right back on.
(3) The weekend before my engine wouldn't start, my check-engine light came on while driving on the highway.
This happened to occur during one of those brief zero-speedometer episodes. I took it to the shop, they said it was a sensor issue, and it took nearly $500 to repair.
So....questions:
(1) any of the above history related to current engine problem? My shop says probably not, but I'm not sure what to believe.
(2) Recommend taking the engine apart at this point to diagnose the problem, or just replace the thing?
(3) If replace, get used or refurbished? (Shop recommends latter b/c they say history with used is totally unknown)
(4) Tow it to a different shop for the second opinion? (5) Or, just give up on the car totally and get a new car? I have minimal knowledge of mechanics.
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We have a 2003 Passat GLX, 43000 miles, V6, AWD. I've noticed recently that when driving at constant speed the engine will surge about once every second or two. It's very regular, and on a smooth road I can also notice a bump in the drive train, very similar to road bumps.
I've taken it to a dealer, since I believe it is a transmission issue, and therefor covered under warranty. There are no computer codes stored for faults in the transmission, they've said. However, they started by pursuing the fuel injection system (though no code was stored), and then wanted to fix a faulty coolant sensor (since found not to be faulty).
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Ok I just bought a used 2003 Ford Focus from a dealership which I am financing and after the second day driving the check engine light came on. Once I saw that I took it back to the dealer and he told me the sensor was very sensitive and because I didn't close the gas tank tightly the light came on. I didn't feel satisfied with this answer so I took the car for a diagnostic. They informed me that the car had a gasket leak. I then took the car back to the dealership and told them what I had been informed and the mechanic told me that it wasn't a big deal, nothing for me to worry about. Now I don't know much about cars and I have been doing a little research of my own and a gasket leak seems to be a big problem.
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It has been since the 80's that I have attempted to do any work on a vehicle. How do I find a vacuum leak and where is my vacuum canister. I am assuming that it is a vacuum leak for anytime my engine has a load on it the air stops coming out of the dash vents and goes to the defrost vents. I have an 2000 F150 with the large engine with about 112,000 miles.
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1999 4.6 (106K miles) will stumble / miss when at 35-50 mph under a mid throttle load (just before reaching the downshift point). Has been doing this since I bought the truck at 70K miles.
Computer has no codes, engine runs fine under all other circumstances, and gets a decent ~20 MPG on the highway.
Done the standard tune up items (plugs / motocraft) and cleaned MAF, replaced TPS, tranny flush/ filter. Replaced the left O2 sensor 2 months ago, but it dumped a code and was really noticeable when it went out.
I am about ready to dive off and replace the MAF, but at $100 a shot would like other alternatives to try first. I am really convinced the engine is leaning out and misfiring under this load.
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I have a 2002 Ford F-150 with a 5.4 Triton. 212,xxx miles. I replaced the cops and the plugs about 6 months ago. I was pulling a trailer up hill last week and the engine was under a load doing about 3000rpm. It began to misfire and give me a flashing mil. However, before I went very far the engine began to run fine. It happened 3-4 different times. However, there is no code recorded. I've driven the truck nearly 100 miles with no problems, but I'm going to be pulling that trailer uphill again next week.
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I recently bought a 2000 f150 4.6 with 105000 on it I notice when I was driving if the engine got under a load it whined. It does it every time and it does it being parked but not as bad. What it could be?
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My 1999 5.4l runs great then after driving about 20 minutes, surges & stalls if you try to accelerate. Then the idle surges from 600 to 1500 (back and forth). Connected a fuel pressure gauge, and it shows 30 then drops to near 0 then bounces back to 30 then near 0, then back to 30 etc. No codes are reporting. What to check? Let it cool down, process repeats. Has new fuel pump & filter.
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03 supercrew 5.4. I've been having problems climbing hills. I'm on a trip and the truck surged fron do then to drive and stopped. Let it sit for 30 mins or so and it was good. Drove another 500 miles ans started again going up some hills. The first time it was 110 out and the 2nd it was 90. I'm pretty sure it's a cop but of course no cel. It does not seem to of over heated either. Can the cops overheat? Do you recommend a diagnostic, will this show up if no cel has show?
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2001 F150! It does this weird little surge, burping and farting away...but only in ambient heat. The engine never gets hot, it never over heats. What have we done? A full tuneup with new plugs and boots, oil change, new air filter, gas filter. It did it again...took it back in and had the fuel pressure checked, fuel injectors are fine...it can't be the fuel pump, it runs great unless it is hot weather. It has twice blown the P0171 system lean bank 1 code and has gone away after the tuneup and again after the new o2 sensor. It runs great, except in hot weather, starts surging and losing power...
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So I know there has been lots of posts on surging issues and how to troubleshoot. My truck is a 97 f150 4x4 xlt 4.6l v8. I have noticing surging and dropping in my RPMs lately. No CEL. I have kept a journal when I notice when it happens. I only have issues when I am driving around 40-50 mph and if I go over bumps/pot holes/rough spots in roads or when I'm braking over bumps/pot holes/rough spots, my truck surges/RPMs drop CEL flashes on and off only during these instances. Makes me think something could be loose or something causing this. It has stalled at times when having to brake fast (yellow light, etc.). Where to look first? 1997 F150 4x4 4.6 V8...
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I am new to FTE and have a question about my 99 4.2l. After it warms up, i can shut it off and about 30 mins later try to start it again and it will idle very rough and sometimes stall. I also noticed that it surges sometimes with just off idle throttle when its cold. I am not getting any codes thrown, here's what I've done so far: cleaned the maf and throttle body, and it didnt work at all. I did convert my cht over to ect by using the plugged coolant outlet on the lower right side of the intake manifold and extending the connector wires which actually solved the problem a little bit but it still does it from time to time.
More info about the cht to ect conversion, but after reading that ford did away with them in later models i wanted to do the same while at the same time making it so much easier to swap it out if ever needed. No more getting under the truck. And where im at cht's are kind of hard to come by without having to order them Anyway, it worked flawlessly! I only had to extend the wires by about 8", wrapped them and ran it along side the injectors for a clean factory look. Ill try to post pics soon...
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'1999 F150, 5.4L, 85K miles ....
Fuel pump failed last year, had it replaced. Ran fine for a week or 2, then one day went into limp-home mode. Mech replace fuel pump relay, again ran fine for a month or so. Now when the ambient temp gets above 80F or so (yeah, it has already this year - I'm in Central TX), engine at full op temp, I'm experiencing some sort of heat-soak issue. Engine runs fine when cold, and at normal op temps on the road, but if it is parked for 15 - 20 minutes then restarted, the idle goes all funky - nearly dies, surges, etc. for a minute or 2, and then it seems ok.
I would go back to the same mech, but he had to close his shop due to health issues, so I'd like to see if I can resolve this. So, it is definitely heat-triggered, and "seems" like a fuel issue, but of course it could be some electrical contact having difficulty above a certain temp.
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I have a 98 ford Explorer that has some serious trans problems. It all started a while back when I was pulling a small 10 foot trailer and when I go to where I was going the trans puked out what looked like all of its internal fluids. It was a hot day, and these problems seem to be exacerbated by the heat but who knows. Yes the check engine light is on. I also have the occasional O/D OFF light blinking at me. As of late the vehicle has started to act like it has a stall converter on it. I have to rev to nearly 3k RPM before it will engage.
I changed the fluid and filter about 2 months ago and the fluid is already grey and nasty. The vehicle has also started going FORWARD in ALL gears, Reverse, Neutral, etc. all are forward gears now. The trans occasionally overheats and pukes out a large amount of fluid but I cannot tell where it is coming from. At road speed (55 MPH) the engine surges when it is at a constant 2500 RPM. I know my outlook is grim but if I just need a new torque converter I would like to know before I go the the Salvage yard for a different transmission. BTW. The engine WAS replaced around 12,000 miles ago with a donor engine from a flipped vehicle.
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So this doesn't begin until I put it into a forward gear, but after about 30 sec of smooth running, I will get a sudden momentary loss of power, then a surge, which repeats and intensifies as the van lurches forward until the engine finally stalls. Throwing it into N in the middle doesn't work. Babying the gas had no effect. It happened both at higher(2.5-3K) revs and at lower (.8-1.5k).
After killing the battery starting and restarting it just to keep it moving, I had it jumped, at which point I sat with it in P for 20 min to charge the battery and in all that time, it ran fine. I'd love to hear some possible diagnoses. Don't know if I should have it towed from where it's sitting, or try to drive it to the shop, or if it's something I can repair myself (think 1-star difficulty).
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