My car has a mystery illness (to me)

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sicbeing

sicbeing

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Cribanox
So I have a 02 Ford Focus. Earlier this year, I started to notice a "stalling" feeling my car gave when I switched gears (it's manual). Now whenever I travel in a higher gear (say anywhere from 3-5), after shifting and letting off the clutch entirely, the car gives this shakey stalley stuttering when I accelerate. The more I push the pedal, the more often it shakes. It happens more often in higher gears than in lower gears, although it does happen in 1st and 2nd.

Anyone have any ideas what the hell could be wrong with my car? I dont have the money to get ripped off by a body shop yet.
 
A variety of things can cause that issue. Try the simple stuff first. Is the car on the original fuel filter? Over time, crap can clog up the filter, interrupting fuel. Or you may need new plugs or plug wires. Or a faulty injector. It sounds fuel supply related, though.

Do you have a CEL light on? You can have a tech scan the computer, read the codes and have a better idea where the problem is.


M
 
I had a similar problem with my Golf. It was the air sensor which was faulty and meant the engine would hold back as there wasn't enough air being fed to through. It was relatively cheap.

Have you registered on an Focus forums? Every problem I've ever had has been resolved because of a fan based forum.
 
Also, check your motor mounts. When you crank the engine does it shake violently?
 
sicbeing
So I have a 02 Ford Focus. Earlier this year, I started to notice a "stalling" feeling my car gave when I switched gears (it's manual). Now whenever I travel in a higher gear (say anywhere from 3-5), after shifting and letting off the clutch entirely, the car gives this shakey stalley stuttering when I accelerate. The more I push the pedal, the more often it shakes. It happens more often in higher gears than in lower gears, although it does happen in 1st and 2nd.

Anyone have any ideas what the hell could be wrong with my car? I dont have the money to get ripped off by a body shop yet.
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Right, I can not help you here, but bloody hell you drive a manual. You dont see many automatics in England, most people drive manual. But from what I know most people in America and Flordia are so lazy they just go and buy an Automatic. Here is proff that there are such things as manual drivers in America!

PS: I did'nt mean to offend anyone who lives in America of Flordia, so I f I did offend you then I am terribley sorry! :)
 
Skid Mark 33
Right, I can not help you here, but bloody hell you drive a manual. You dont see many automatics in england, most people drive manual. But from what I know most people in America and Flordia are so lazy they just go and buy an Automatic. Here is proff that there are such things as manual drivers in America!

PS: I did'nt mean to offend anyone who lives in America of Flordia, so i f I did offend you then I am terribley sorry! :)
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Lol, i liked this post.

Ok so ye i know it'snot my engine mounts, the engine is stable. My check engine and check fuel lights have been on, I remember running the computer thing on it and it was a crack in the gas cap,but I replaced it and the lights came back on anyway.

Also,when the car seems to want to stall, the spedometer jumps up, anywhere from an extra 10 to 100mph. The tachometer stays put though.

I hope its not much though, I can't afford anything big time.
 
Where do you get your gas from?
 
I would say try some seafoam before you go buying parts. The stuff works wonders 👍
 
if it turns out it's not a fuel related problem try checking the flex discs, they are rubber discs at each end of the drive shaft usually and if they break it can cause heavy vibrations at certain speeds that might feel like the engine chugging
 
Skid Mark 33
Right, I can not help you here, but bloody hell you drive a manual. You dont see many automatics in england, most people drive manual. But from what I know most people in America and Flordia are so lazy they just go and buy an Automatic. Here is proff that there are such things as manual drivers in America!

PS: I did'nt mean to offend anyone who lives in America of Flordia, so i f I did offend you then I am terribley sorry! :)
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So where is this "Flordia" place you speak of? [/sarcasm]

How would you know that people in America are lazy?

And actually, more people by auto's here manly because it's bumper to bumper traffic a lot in the morning, and clutching ever 5 seconds to go 3 inches gets a little tedious.
 
Dad's Neon did this for a while, and it went away after he replaced the headgasket when it blew the first time. So maybe it is the precursor to a blown head gasket.
 
Skid Mark 33
Right, I can not help you here, but bloody hell you drive a manual. You dont see many automatics in england, most people drive manual. But from what I know most people in America and Flordia are so lazy they just go and buy an Automatic. Here is proff that there are such things as manual drivers in America!

PS: I did'nt mean to offend anyone who lives in America of Flordia, so i f I did offend you then I am terribley sorry! :)
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That's alright, we Floridians make up for it with spelling and grammar.

Well, once in a while.

Do a search: Demand for manuals are dropping in the US, so the supply is lower -- it's a viscous cycle.

Anyhow, the change in speedometer readings is really weird; a "wheel speed sensor" problem will trigger the check engine light/MIL and a speedometer readout issue, so that's a place to look as well.
 
Best thing is as M-Spec suggested, have it fault diagnosed by a technician and take it from there. Try to get a second opinion if you can as sometimes they can come up with multiple faults and the garage could lead you up the garden path to eventually solve the problem.
 
Prosthetic
So where is this "Flordia" place you speak of? [/sarcasm]

How would you know that people in America are lazy?

And actually, more people by auto's here manly because it's bumper to bumper traffic a lot in the morning, and clutching ever 5 seconds to go 3 inches gets a little tedious.
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I meant to say some, not most. I nearly repeated the sentence before that, so I got rid of the words that I had repeated, but I forgot to get rid of the word most, sorry. I know there are loads of lazy people in America because a person I know has been to America and has told me about it, but dont worry, I am not saying you are one of them. And anyway, you Americans rule, and dam you you beat is in the olympics in 2004.
 
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