Board logo

Focus engine light
adz h - 8/2/06 at 11:18 PM

Hi, the engine light on my girlfriends tin top focus (2003) keeps coming on. The mechanic tells me that a previous owner has probably put diesel in it instead of petrol and this has contaminated the cat convertor. With my limited knowledge of ECU's I think this is rubbish. So has anyone had any experiences of this? Is it possible on the focus to find out the fault codes using a multimeter? And does anyone have the fault code list? Does anyone know of a focus forum that may be able to help?
Thanks

donut - 9/2/06 at 07:26 AM

It's probably to do with emissions. i had the same thing in my VW the other day. I have been doing alot of short runs and not letting the engine warm up properly. The MPG has been going down from 26mpg average to 20mpg average!! I have now done some long runs and the light has gone out plus the mpg is improving.

A friend said that where he gets his cars MOT's there was a renault that had to run for 20 mins at high ish revs to get the cat hot enough to pass emissions.


[Edited on 9/2/06 by donut]

britishtrident - 9/2/06 at 07:35 AM

The Focus is EOBD 2 using the ISO PWM prtocol easy enough to get the codes but you need to use a sacanner

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Reader-Scanner-OBD2-KKL-OBD-2-II-OBDII-diagnostic-GS100_W0QQitemZ8036649212QQcategoryZ30921QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PC-Diagnostic-Interface-for-Ford-cars-EOBD-OBD-II-NEW_W0QQitemZ8035379390QQcategoryZ30921QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PC-Diagnostic-Interface-for-Ford-cars-EOBD-OBD-II-NEW_W0QQitemZ8035379390QQcategoryZ30921QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OBDII-OBD-II-OBD2-OBD-2-Scanner-Code-Reader-GM-FORD_W0QQitemZ8034444139QQcategoryZ30921QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.gendan.co.uk/

http://www.onboarddiagnostics.co.uk/



[Edited on 9/2/06 by britishtrident]

britishtrident - 9/2/06 at 07:47 AM

quote:
Originally posted by donut
It's probably to do with emissions. i had the same thing in my VW the other day. I have been doing alot of short runs and not letting the engine warm up properly. The MPG has been going down from 26mpg average to 20mpg average!! I have now done some long runs and the light has gone out plus the mpg is improving.

A friend said that where he gets his cars MOT's there was a renault that had to run for 20 mins at high ish revs to get the cat hot enough to pass emissions.


[Edited on 9/2/06 by donut]


Nothing to do with cold weather or short runs --If the engine check light is coming on something is wrong -- usually a sensor returning readings to the ecu that are out of range. If the MPG is down the odds are it is either a temperature sensor or the lambda sensor(s), retrieve the codes and fix it and your mpg and performance will improve and it will pass the next MOT.

pbs - 9/2/06 at 02:20 PM

Have you tried disconnecting the battery for about ten mins. This should reset the ecu and may clear the fault.

Also I cant see how you could put diesel in a petrol Focus as the fuel filler opening is smaller then than the diesel fuel nozzle.