Ford - Focus :: 2004 - Stumbles Or Hesitates At Speed / Headlights And Dash Lights Flickering
Jan 6, 2014
Ford Focus 2004 manual 150K miles. Most days the car runs fine. Other days it will start and run until it warms up, then stumbles or hesitates at speed. When this happens the headlights and dash lights are also flickering. Sometimes i hear a clicking sound behind dash, left side. I have the sure cure: turn the heater fan to high. This works every time. When the engine is hesitating, i turn the fan to 4-high, the engine smooths out. Turn the fan down, engine again hesitates. Hesitates at 3, worse at 2, worst at 1. It seems to need the extra load.
But after few minutes of high heater fan, the alternator light comes on. I flick the heater switch down, endure the hesitation for a few seconds, the alternator light goes out, engine still hesitating, flick the fan to high, engine smooths out. A few months ago i could get it to fun smoothly with the fan on 3, didn't need 4-high. Now seems to need 4.On the days when it is always running smoothly, the heater fan can be on any speed, the alternator light does not come on.
Next few days or even weeks the engine will run smoothly, no hesitation, with the fan on or off or any setting.
The car has been to three shops in past year, one of them a major Ford dealer, who kept it two weeks. The problem has been diagnosed as battery (replaced), Battery connections (checked), plugs (replaced), fuel pump controller (replaced), fuel pump (replaced - ouch!), alternator (replaced twice - ouch twice), grounds (checked). Every time they "fix" something the car runs ok for a week or so.OBD shows P2004 (intake manifold runner stuck) but all agree it can't be the problem.
There have been a few times when i flicked the heater fan to high that all the dash lights died, fan went off, headlights off, turn signals didnt' work, but the engine ran smoothly. Not so good on the highway at night!There have been a few time, not recently, when the car wouldn't start. No dome lights, no dash lights with key turned to ON, no clicking or starter with key turned to START. It acted as if my battery was missing. The cure was to turn the headlights on. All normal after that.
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I will start out with a little history of the situation. A little over three months ago my original altenator died with over 200,000 miles on it. I took it in and had it replaced (they used a refurbished altenator) and about a 1-1/2 months later is when the issue started. The headlights and dash lights will flicker and whenever they dim, the volt gauge will go down.
When the lights come back to normal brightness the volt guage will also go back to normal. All this will go on for random lengths of time as I am driving. I took the vehicle back to where I had the altenator replaced and they replaced it again under warranty. About another 1-1/2 months went by and the same thing started happening. I took it back to the same garage and this time they put in a brand new altenator. Finally about a week after this last visit to the garage the symptoms came back.
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the flickering stopped after 10 mins and hasnt come back. is this an alternator problem or loose battery cables/ground strap?
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2005 Ford Focus : About 10 months ago noticed my battery light was faintly visible with car off and key out of ignition. It was faint and erratically pulsing, it also did this when car was running. This issue would last a week or so, then go away for a while...then come back.
Then it spread to include the ABS light too, and eventually became permanent. But six weeks ago, after driving from CA to WI, it went away...for a few weeks, but came back.
A few days ago I went to my car, and it spread to include the checkfuel cap, oil, and door ajar lights. Also a loud beep occurs at erratic intervals. The lights all flash and pulse individually. Most are faint, but the oil light and door ajar light seem full strength. When I turn the key to second position, all the lights light up full strength and solid, like they're supposed to (for the testing phase).
Then once car is on, they go back to flickering faintly...but the loud beep goes away. I'm concerned about the beeping running down the battery with car off-so I pulled out fuse #36, which is for "a/c swith, instrument cluster". This stops the beeping and flickering, cuz the lights no longer have power to them.
The battery voltage is 12.3 volts, and while running it's a steady 14.35 volts.
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2003 - Just recently my battery light started coming on and off on the dash, and occasionally my headlights would turn off and come back on. Now the ABS and BRAKE lights flash and the headlights are still on and off. I have already scraped (not cleaned) most of the corrosion off of the terminals on the battery and tightened the connections...
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My van stumbles & hesitates when I am gradually accelerating up a hill. It does not happen if I accelerate quickly or on level ground. It only happens going up hills slowly. It can be very violent.
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I recently purchased a 2011 Sonata GLS and I love it. However, I'm having a slight electrical issue.
While driving at night with the headlights on occasionally they'll dim and flicker and often cut off completely while driving or parked. The interior and dash lights will also switch off with the headlights, however the radio will still continue to play. The lights only stay off for a second and then come back on. Sometimes I can make them flicker and go off by turning on my blinker or switching between high and low beams.
I'm trying to figure out if it's a problem with the alternator, the battery, or the fuses and if this is a known issue.
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I have a 2002 Kia Optima. The headlights have been flickering as well as every light inside the car. When they're doing this, if I press on the brakes, everything fades out. Such as the radio, headlights get very dim, air conditioner fades out. The car almost comes to the point of stalling. I've had the alternator replaced but the problem continued. I have asked several mechanics but they are baffled.
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I've had my '07 Volvo S40 2.4i for almost a year. It has a little over 60K miles on it and is serviced regularly. Within the last 3 months, I've noticed some weird things happening occasionally:
-Trouble starting when cold (I understand this is pretty common with a lot of cars.)
-Headlights & interior lights flickering
-Going over "bumps" in road causing dash display lights to illuminate for a second, radio to shut off, and loud system "BEEP" comes through the speakers (this has happened 3 times total, all on the same day.)
-AC stops cooling periodically I've had the system scanned for the AC issue and it seems that there was a "Pump pressure" message that cleared itself at one point and am guessing the same thing has happened the next few times it's done this.
I also asked that the battery be checked to see if it needed to be replaced soon. The mechanic said the battery was fine and thinks it's something wrong with the entire electrical system.
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My 02 F150 4.6 has 84K miles on it, and started stumbling/hesitating during accellartion about three weeks ago. Before this problem started (about 2,000 miles ago), I installed a new fuel filter and air filter. Since I noticed the problem, I installed new plugs. The problem didn't go away, so today I checked the fuel pressure. At idle the pressure is 32psi with the vacuum line left on the fuel pressure regulator (30-45 is normal as per Chilton's), and 42 with the vacuum line off (40-50 is normal as per Chilton's). I also had someone else rev the engine so I could observe, and found that the fuel pressure went as low as 28 when the engine speed was quickly increased. The standing fuel line pressure is 30 (30 is normal as per Chilton's) Does this sound like a fuel pump problem, or is there something else that I'm missing.
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I started the car this morning, plugged the phone charger into the lighter socket, noticed the charger light wasn't on, pressed the charger in tighter, the car started to run funny, then it cut off. Lights work, radio won't work, all fuses are alright upon several visual inspections. Car wants to turn over but won't start. I tried disconnecting the negative battery cable to see if the car would revert back to "normal". I have never had a problem with this car in the two years I've had it; the battery was purchased brand new in November of 2011. I unplugged the cigarette lighter to see if that would work but nothing so far. Could it be the ignition switch?!
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The last month or so, I have noticed that my dash board lights (red lights) and my actual interior lights that come on when you open the doors to vehicle will flicker sometimes...And it can get bad I guess and annoying. It's more of it pulsating really. I noticed today while driving home and I had the radio on loud it was doing it and I do not know if was just in my head that it was doing it more when the radio was loud or what, but this is ridiculous.
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I have a 2003 Camry V6 LE.
Yesterday the headlights did not turn off automatically when the car was locked up after being driven for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, this was not detected until about 8 hours later.
The door locks would not function with the remote and the doors were manually unlocked.
When I got in the car and tried to start the car the dash and dome lights began blinking/flickering, the CD player ejected the CD, and the security light was blinking as it would if the doors were still locked.
The battery was too low to start the car so I jumped the car to start it and got home.
Battery showed 12.7 volts cold the next morning before the car was started. While running there was about 14.3 volts across the battery terminals which would seem to say the charging system is OK. Battery is just under 3 years old.
Doing some testing, I found that the headlights would turn on with the multifunction switch without the car running. In this case they would not turn off through locking the doors even after double clicking the lock button on the remote. The only way to turn them off in this case was through the multifunction switch.
Other testing shows that if the lights were turned on with the car running, they would turn off automatically within about 30 seconds or so when the car was shut off and the doors locked. In another similar test with the engine running and then shut down I also tried the double click lock using the remote and this also turned the lights off immediately.
Based on research on TN site, one recommendation for a similar, but not identical, problem was to replace the multifunction switch. No one suggests replacing the headlight relay or any of the 4 DRL relays.
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I just recently had the hybrid battery replaced in the my 06 Prius. Probably about 2 years ago I had my right headlight replaced because it kept going out. Well now my headlight is back to going out again. However no it's no longer just the right headlight. It can be either. It doesn't seem to matter if it's smooth road or bumpy. Seems to do it alittle worse on really cold days but it's also done it on a couple 40 degree days we had recently.
The left headlight has a habit of flickering alot. Some times it'll stop and stay on, other time's it'll flicker and then go out. When the right headlight goes out, it doesn't flicker, it just goes out. If I turn the lights off and right back on, both headlights come on. They may stay on rest of way to work after that or they may stay on 5 minutes. It is something I can check via navigation console? Is my only option to take it to a Toyota dealer?
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I've got a misfire problem with my Focus. It started about a month ago and did not trip a code until last week. It stumbles on acceleration between 2,000 and 4,000 rpms. It is only a slight stumble and although noticeable, it does not impede driveability much. Last week I was able to get it to finally trip an OBD code. P302 - Cylinder 2 misfire. I changed the plugs and wires with no effect. I thought I had it narrowed down to the coil or injector until my wife noticed a new wrinkle.
Under normal driving conditions the misfire is annoying, but my wife found that if she turns on the A/C, it is undriveable and will not accelerate past 30 mph without some patience and a neck brace for the bucking. My first thought was the A/C compressor was freezing up. I turned off the A/C and left the blower on and it would not stop missing. I turn off the blower and it smooths right out to the annoyance I described first.
Right now I drive the car without A/C and blower whenever I accelerate. If I'm going a steady speed, all is well and I can run the blower and A/C.
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I have a 2001 Accent, manual transmission 1.5L. The lady who had it before me overfilled it and stuffed the charcoal canister. She had this replaced, but when I bought it she reported that it still had a fuel issue immediately after refueling. She said it would stall and run rough and hesitate.
After I bought it I took it to refuel and confirmed the problem. I had read that the ECU may be trying to draw fuel through following refueling, but the new canister might be messing something up. She used to only drive it commuting distance in a city, so I took it for a long drive. Running at steady cruising state for a prolonged period seemed like a good idea, to allow any ECU learning. This partially fixed the problem! Now, most of the time, I can leave a fuel stop without a 20km drama before the car settles down, although the problem hasn't entirely gone away and it still does play up sometimes.
There's a more pressing problem which may or may not be related, however. When launching from idle, the engine goes through this 2-5 second hesitation of no power at all. If I rev up before letting the clutch out it's ok, but there's a certain minimum revs needed to avoid the problem. This is killing my clutch, and if I get it wrong it sometimes leaves me in the middle of a busy junction with no power for an uncomfortable period! During the hesitation, I've found the best way to force it is to put clutch back in and go full throttle. After 1 second or so the revs come back. The problem is much worse when the air conditioning is on.
So the clues are:
1. the previous charcoal canister issue
2. the full throttle thing might indicate something with the TPS
3. the worsening of the problem with the a/c on
Things I've tried so far...
1. prolonged cruising; seemed to improve things after refueling but overall fueling issues not fixed.
2. disconnected the battery -ve and applied brake light circuit to drain ECU capacitor, then left for any power-hold relays etc. then reconnected battery and took it for a normal drive for 30 minutes or so. No effect.
...and things I've yet to try (all gleaned from searching this forum)
1. checking / replacing plugs and HT leads
2. checking / replacing o2 sensor
3. checking the TPS plug connections. Checking the sensor itself sounds expensive - would it involve more than standard OBD?
4. checking vac hoses, in particular the hose which draws from the cannister
5. checking alternator (not sure how); the worsening of the problem with the a/c on could indicate low power getting to injectors etc? (bit of a wild guess)
In a former life I was a diesel engine calibration engineer, so I know the tricks which manufacturers can put into ECUs. What I don't know is the tricks specific to this car.
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I have a very strange electrical issue and CarMax is unable to find the source.
Detail of issue: It started 2 months ago before i left the country i took my car in to get the dreaded valve gasket cover and alternator and after taking the car back i left for Europe for 2 months. I was informed after 2 weeks that my car battery died and had to be jumped.
When I returned home I notice the following issues
1) Alternator Whine in my Sound System
2) Low frequency noise synchronized with engine rev that was triggering the sub low end making a very distinct wooom.
3) Sudden Power Loss for my secondary AMP. The base would cut on /off.
4) Light flicker in my Dashboard (only the GEAR LED) and the entire climate LCD. flicker also synchronized with engine rev.
5) POWER drop on the air con fans while breaking (the RPM would drop)
6) I saw the headlights where also flickering at the same frequency with the LCD and dash led a very noticeable flicker.
7) my headlights would dim when breaking.
8) My Car would start a bit slower (not as instant as before).
Initially i thought it was the my secondary amp that was causing the issue. I took the car to a great Audio shop and they said the On board Hyundai amp was sending weird signals. They said it was broken and i should have it replaced. I told them to disconnect the AMP from the car and leave it disconnected until i take the car back to Carmax.
I was hoping that was the cause ... it wasn't the lights keep flickering (at a far lower intensity probably due to the lower power consumption overall).
What could cause all of this. Alternator I had the alternator replaced two weeks ago (apparently it was broken). I changed 3 alternators in this car. Valve Gasket, Valve Gasket(they were retarded and didn't listen to what i told them) and broken.
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At 130,000 I replaced the transmission. Now, randomly the car has flickering lights on the dash while I am driving. The radio flickers, and the tach/speedometers drop to zero. After this happens and I turn off the car, the car will not restart. It is completely dead. If I wait 2.5 minutes, there is much clicking in the dash, then everything comes back to life. No one can figure it out. I will add that in the 9 years I've owned this thing, I have replaced 5-6 batteries. The transmission guy says something is pulling on the battery, but he nor Honda can figure out what it is.
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I went to get in car today, and the driver screen, needles, and dash lighting was flicking or pulsing.. like a wave rolling through the lcd. its got 1k miles on it, jsw tdi.
i did open the trunk, without unlocking from fob, just trunk button, then it auto locked again when i shut it. have never done that before, so maybe this causes it? i let it sit awhile, and all back to normal.
on a side note, got my 20% tint on all around today and looking good need a drop then wheels.
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Recently purchased a 2004 Toyota Corolla in August. Last night coming home from a show (I'm a musician), the airbag light came on, my headlights seemed to be very dim.Eventually my car radio started to flicker and the mph and rxp meters as well as the odometer started to go up and back down and up while no juice from the gas peddle seemed to go to acceleration. Pulled over, car kinda sputtered like it was a dying battery. Turned it off. Waited tuned it back on and it tried to roll over but sounded like a dead battery again. The interior lights worked fine, all the of symbols (oil, battery engine) flashed but no ignition, radio or lighter charge .
After a long while tried again and it started with some coaxing, made it two more miles down the road and same thing happened, radio lights flicker, dim headlights, airbag light comes on, meters go crazy, lose acceleration. Waited a while, tried it, turned on, it turned on and we sat with it idling and same process happened while sitting there after just a short time. Dim headlights, Radio flicker, airbag light, meters crazy, slow lose of juice.
It has a brand new battery, it's a used car, I've been driving it with the check engine light on but have gotten it looked previously to disclose it was a sensor thing. Recently took it to the Toyota dealership for three recallsOne had to do with the airbags. After it was worked on the second time by them for two other recalls (one had to do with the door and I can't recall the other but am looking for the paper) my battery light came on. And has come off and on for about a week or two but with no trouble. Mostly in town driving. This trip I took was about at 40mi trip back and forth, it did fine up but coming home not so good. I'm not sure if it's any relation but that's the only "repairs" I've had done since purchasing the vehicle
Alternator? Bad battery? Electrical stuff?
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My 2008 Ford Focus SE hesitates at highway speeds, seems to decelerate and accelerate, sometimes more, sometime less and sometime not at all. dosn't seem to affect the acceleration.
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