2000 Ford Focus rough idle now stalls

my 2000 focus se, 2.0L SPI, with 82k began to recently run rough at idle then progressed to stalling at longer lengths of idle. The condition starts once the engine warms after 2-5 minutes. I 1st tried gas treatment. I replaced the ignition coil as suggested in the other threads, but it has not improved the problem. I had the fuel pump recall-replaced 2 years ago. I would guess that a bad fuel pump would exhibit loss of power at all engine speeds? Before I proceed to replace plug wires and plugs, any other helpful suggestions?

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My 2000 zx3 does the same thing. At first it would just idle rough for a few seconds and then return to normal. This didnt happen that much so i didnt think too much of it, but now it idles rough every time i stop at a light and sometimes completely stalls on me. It starts back up but this is getting frustrating. Ive been sort of reluctant to take it to the dealer because they never can seem to fix the problems with my car and it always ends up costing me a ton of money. Id be interested to see what anyone would have to say about possible solutions to this problem.

Could be bad idle air bypass valve, bad cold start valve or even bad fuel pressure regulator. Will engine stay running with light tap on gas? If yes, then idle air bypass valve is faulty, if no, rule out bad idle air bypass valve. Does the stall occur only when engine is cold? If yes, there's a problem with the cold start valve. If no, rule out bad cold start valve and that leaves one possibility. Faulty fuel pressure regulator. A Haynes or Chiltons manual would come in handy to locate these valve locations and their subsequent R & R. I'm looking at the years and mileage of your vehicles and it's about that time. When you find the solution, please keep us informed as to what it was so as to help as many people as possible. :cool:

This problem has been the source of much frustration for many Focus owners...the dealer never seems to be able to track down the problem, and I've even heard conspiricies that the rough idle is actually Ford making the comp change the idle to hide another problem...the most likely cause is something in the EGR system, or could be a vaccum leak. There are a lot of things on the car that could cause it, and tracking down and replacing each and every one is very frustrating, and can be costly.

rough idle turned out to be a vacuum leak, requiring a new PCV hose. Interesting that the dealer suggested this change and many others that would have been very expensive. Took it to a local garage who narrowed it to only needing a new hose.

Now, I have a new problem. The power door locks with not operate.

bkwfocus, thank you for your post. Cars can be really scary when things go wrong. Actually, anything in life can be really scary when we don't understand them. But it seems as though that you navigated the uncharted waters of this repair with wisdom and you should be proud of your accomplishment, having avoided unneccessary expenses. I'm happy for your successful conclusion. Now about those power door locks. Fuse or maybe a bad switch/relay?... I don't know about your city but the better independent garages tend to be Triple AAA sponsored operations. But it does sound like you found a good honest garage anyway! :smokin:

PCV hose...hmmm sounds like a cheap fix that could help me with the problem that is slowly reoccuring in my car.
I had a similar problem with my power door locks over the summer; when i pushed the button on the key fob, the lock motor would make a real loud whirring sound, but the driver's door wouldn't open from the outside. The dealer took the door panel off, totally cleaned and lubed the entire system for me, now it works fine.

rough idle turned out to be a vacuum leak, requiring a new PCV hose. Interesting that the dealer suggested this change and many others that would have been very expensive. Took it to a local garage who narrowed it to only needing a new hose.

Now, I have a new problem. The power door locks with not operate.

I read this and got all paranoid. I thought you were driving my car so I ran outside and checked to make sure it was still there. I have the same rough idle and stalling so now I can make a suggestion when I bring it in. And funny how my locks sound like they are starting to go at the same time. Used to lock all nice and orderly at the same time, now it sounds like they are considering whether or not to lock (WHACK, WHACK...WHACK.........WHACK).

Thanks for the update.

Welcome aboard and a great first post! :smile:

rough idle turned out to be a vacuum leak, requiring a new PCV hose. Interesting that the dealer suggested this change and many others that would have been very expensive. Took it to a local garage who narrowed it to only needing a new hose.

Now, I have a new problem. The power door locks with not operate.

How much did it cost you to get the PCV hose replaced? I am really trying to avoid taking my car to the dealership and shelling out hundreds of dollars just so they can replace a single hose.

where is it and how much is the part, is it hard to do in your garage at home?

sorry for the long delay in reply....door lock problem turned out to be triggerd from rear driver door lock "hanging", causing looks not to work, blowing the fuse. I corrected by spraying plenty of WD40 in the lock assembly and did not need to remove the door panel.

How much did it cost you to get the PCV hose replaced? I am really trying to avoid taking my car to the dealership and shelling out hundreds of dollars just so they can replace a single hose.

sorry for the long delay in reply....door lock problem turned out to be triggerd from rear driver door lock "hanging", causing looks not to work, blowing the fuse. I corrected by spraying plenty of WD40 in the lock assembly and did not need to remove the door panel. The vacum hose replacement was less than $50.00 installed....included the diagnosis as well.

Since that time...I recently turned on the A/C for the 1st time since this work, and a differnet rough idle returned...took it back to my shop and they next cleaned the throttle body...much improved and it cost me less than $50.00. Throttle body cleaning is a common thread with this issue.

How much did it cost you to get the PCV hose replaced? I am really trying to avoid taking my car to the dealership and shelling out hundreds of dollars just so they can replace a single hose.
Do you still need help...I can attempt to take a photo of the area and post it

that would be helpful. thanks.

the pcv valve is behind the exhaust manifold.

after 2 of working on 2 of these one a 2000 and the other an 2001 i have replaced 2 oyxgen senors on both cars and these seem to fix the problems

I have the exact same model, when I was having that problem and found out about the recall after i replaced the spark plugs and wires and fuel filter. I took it to ford 2 times and they couldn't tell me anything. 6 months after I replace the fuel pump it began doing it again, it turned out to be a leak in the vacum hose. You gotta watch out for that though. My car was running fine and one day I drove it about 10 miles from my house and the engine crapped out on me. It wasn't making any funny noises, not running hot, had all it's fluids. I stopped somewhere for about 15 min, went to leave and it would't turn over without a load banging noise in the engine. It had only 80,000 miles on it and Ford said "we don't know whats wrong with it, but you need a new engine" they are absolutely no help!!! I hope you have gap insurance cuz full coverage won't conver "standard wear and tear" on a vehicle. I spent about 2g's putting a new engine in it! and mine wasn't the first case I've heard of doing it!!!

Hi, ideas about an online service manual with pics? I'm cheap, and am replacing the PCV Valve & Hose for my friends 2000 Ford Focus...

Thanks,
Me

oyxgen sensors my friend had the same problem

Just fixed this type of problem on my moms car it was the crankcase ventilation hose in addition to the pcv hose

Hello everyone. For starters let start simple DO NOT USE HEATER HOSE ON CRANKCASE VENT TUBE!!! Go to ford dealer have then order the correct tube for 28 bucks and install it urself very simple to do.. ford dealer here in my town are very trained on this issue and parts department told me the other day they get about 3 or 4 focus weekly with fire damaged motors cause ppl put heater hose on the crankcase vent and as it heats up it bends and causes a kink which then causes ur ruff idle and loud bang noises when the motors dosent run and that loud bang is not good that is unburned gas inside ur motor exploding cause the vapors are not exscaping... don't know about u but I would rather not blow up in my focus. And as for the door lock issues I belive it is a short problem in the wiring cause my best friend her car started out only locking passenger door now that its hot outside her passenger + rear passenger door locks and also her rear windows will only go down on good days so it is def a short in wiring somewhere. Hope this helps!

my 2000 focus se, 2.0L SPI, with 82k began to recently run rough at idle then progressed to stalling at longer lengths of idle. The condition starts once the engine warms after 2-5 minutes. I 1st tried gas treatment. I replaced the ignition coil as suggested in the other threads, but it has not improved the problem. I had the fuel pump recall-replaced 2 years ago. I would guess that a bad fuel pump would exhibit loss of power at all engine speeds? Before I proceed to replace plug wires and plugs, any other helpful suggestions?

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hey on this problem i replace the fuel filter, fuel pump, coil, and the rest of the the tune up. same thing happen to me so i was thinking a little bit run rough it had a pressure regulater so what i did i took it off and no fuel came out or just a little bit witch made it run ....but mine a dealer part and its a high dollar item ... what can do is go get a flow control valve and in stall it same thing that does and it works wounders until u get the money and the hose was allso pinch that u cant see ...

I need some help too please!

I have an 01 focus zx3, I had to replace my alternator because it was shot. Now my car has a very rough idle and when I'm in neutral, drive, park whatever it will stall. But when I do play with the gas pedal it stays running. When it stalls it starts right back up. The battery light is on and my battery is brand new. Any ideas?! Please help!

I had very similar issues, thankfully I have a local independant & very reliable garage who diagnosed a faulty PCV (valve) which was £50 to replace & £25 to fit and crankcase ventialtion hose (£15 to source & £25 to diagnose & fit). TOUCH WOOD my issues are over now... The car does seem OK.
It seems I was (hopefully :-)) lucky 'cause both of the above parts were relatively cheap to supply & fix. The faulty PCV should have lit the engine warning light straight away but didn't :-(
From all the reading I did it seems that Ford used slightly "dodgy" hoses throughout the Focus engine - hopefully your issue can be easily found & cheaply fixed!

AUTO RECALL Vehicle:
2001 FORD FOCUS
42458, 03V482000, FORD, FOCUS, 2001, 03N01, FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP, FORD MOTOR COMPANY, 19990505, 20010613, V, 671000, , ODI, FORD MOTOR COMPANY, 20031120, 20031120, ,
Problem:
ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, CONTAMINATION OF THE FILTER IN THE FUEL DELIVERY MODULE (FDM) CAN REDUCE, AND EVENTUALLY BLOCK, THE FLOW OF FUEL TO THE ENGINE.
THIS MAY CAUSE ENGINE HESITATION, LOSS OF POWER, SURGING, AND OTHER SIMILAR SYMPTOMS. OVER TIME, THE FILTER MAY BECOME SUFFICIENTLY BLOCKED TO CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL, WHICH COULD RESULT IN A CRASH.
Location:
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP
Recommendations:
THIS ACTION IS DEEMED A SAFETY IMPROVEMENT CAMPAIGN AND IS NOT BEING CONDUCTED UNDER THE SAFETY ACT. ALL OWNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FDM WITH A NEW DESIGN AT NO CHARGE IF THE OWNER REPORTS THAT THE VEHICLE EXHIBITS ANY OF THE IDENTIFIED SYMPTOMS. THE FREE REPLACEMENT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR A PERIOD OF 10 YEARS FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE OF THE VEHICLE, WITH NO MILEAGE LIMIT. OWNER NOTIFICATION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING NOVEMBER 2003. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT FORD AT 1-800-392-3673.

Here is more info = http://www.motobild.com/ford/2001-2002-ford-focus-fuel-delivery-module-fdm-replacement.html

My car was running fine and one day I drove it about 10 miles from my house and the engine crapped out on me. It wasn't making any funny noises, not running hot, had all it's fluids. I stopped somewhere for about 15 min, went to leave and it would't turn over without a load banging noise in the engine.

The loud banging was probably a dropped valve seat. My daughter's 2003 just did that. She came home, let it sit about 15 min and when he went back out to start it it was shot.

Insurance does not normally cover mechanical break downs, only crashes, etc.

experiencing the same problem. had a valve seat fall out of #4 and trash piston. replaced head, replaced piston and con. rod. ran great for a month and now has rough idle to point of stalling. cold start is fine for 30 seconds then a dead miss. all vacuum lines good. new plugs, wires, power pack, problem persists. can pull #1 plug wire and problem persists. can pull #1 fuel injector connector and the problem persists. could it be a wiped lobe on #1? can it be #1 injector? when you pull #1 plug it does not smell gassy. highway fuel economy is not effected. just sputters and almost dies at traffic lights. no hesitation, no loss of power. thoughts? Thanks !

Hi everybody. Just joined having read the thread. I have a 2000 Focus that I bought 3 months ago. It had been in Dundee which is a high corrosion area. The alternator was shot. When the alternator went and I was recovered by the RAC, I told the mechanic about my other problem. Car starts and runs well but at low revs she displays signs of fuel starvation or incorrect gear selection and he concluded the same vacuum pipe problem that you've all been discussing and I've found your comments helpful. Hears an odd one. I think the rear shoes are badly worn out as I'm getting a rotating rubbing noise from the rear left which starts after you first touch the brakes and goes away upon full application. Before I change shoes here are two other symptoms; 1, it gets worse when turning right and 2, the rear tyres were a little soft and the noise and it's frequency reduced after inflating them. Any clues?

I used to work at a dealership at a Ford Parts department down in Austin. I sold fuel pressure regulators very frequently. My best educated guess given the amount that I sold would be the fuel pressure regulator hands down. I sold those all of the time. Since I don't work at that dealership anymore, I usually buy my Ford Parts from http://www.oemcarpartsonline.com (http://www.oemcarpartsonline.com/search?q=fuel+regulator) just search fuel regulator, these regulators go for as low as $21 to about $90. Rather cheap fix for the problems that this little booger caused.

My recent experience: After finding this thread and reading through it all and trying pretty much all suggestions, and finding several problems, it was eventually the ignition block/distributor module that was bad.

It was also the very last thing I swapped out. Go figure.

I started with all the easy stuff like fuel filter, plugs, wires, vacuum lines (found a leak there but repairing it actually made the problem worse somehow), cleaned IAC, MAF(was rather dirty actually but no change once it was cleaned with MAF cleaner), Throttle Body and even swapped out the PCV but it was still stumbling at idle so bad that it sometimes stalled. It got down to either the coil block or the injectors and I figured it couldn't possibly be the one that was easier to change so I bit the bullet and went with the injectors first.

Now, I had it pretty easy really since I have a complete spare engine to swap parts from. I bought a wrecked '02 Focus a few years ago and stripped it for parts. That was the best money I ever spent as I got it all back by parting out the good stuff and keeping the wheels which is what I bought it for in the first place. I figured if I have a spare engine on hand, mine will never drop a valve seat the way some of them have in the past.

My car is a 2000 Focus SE, 4door, 2.0Ltr SOC engine, in case anyone is wondering.

I'd really like to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread as it really helped me muddle through the process of elimination. I'm an aircraft mechanic so I'm good with the tools but stuff like IAC and 'black box' ignition modules aren't so easy to troubleshoot.

Cheers!