2004 LR Zetec R - The Red ***** !

[bunnyman1962]

Gday , In 2009 I decided to purchase a Focus for my daughter. I found a very smik little Red one with all the fibreglass bodykit extras and nice mags. As a bonus it was also a manual. Unfortunately it was a repairable write off - a victim of the brisbane floods.

Yep I know I shouldn't have bought it and to make matters worse I bought it online whilst the auction was live and with one ****** and very blurred interior picture ( couldnt really see how far the water got up inside.)

Anyway when the car arrived by car carrier and I opened the door I was greeted with water and mud marks over the dash. The car cost me 5 thousand. The body was unmarked. After stripping the car bare we eventually got it going with new battery, oil, plugs etc the fun really began. In fact I've been having fun with it ever since.

Replaced - Alternator, starter motor, dash board, aircon switches, power window switches, radiator, engine mounts, wiper stalk, indicator stalk, airbag module, radio ...the list went on and on.....

We got it roadworthy and running. Two weeks after handing it over to my daughter then aged 17 she left the handbrake off, in neutral - rolled down her girlfriends driveway and straight thru the loungeroom.......

Getting the car back repaired more trouble - the car kept chugging, stalling etc......so we dropped the fuel tank and replaced the fuel pump. Thinking stupidly that the car was now right the little red ***** had more in store.

The car suddenly broke down in Sydney ....the engine was dead.....verdict from the specialists - e10 fuel coupled with erratic computer making the engine to misfire led to cracked piston etc etc .......

So add another engine and computer to the shopping bill. I've now spent over 10 thousand on the little red "gem" in addition to the initial 5 thousand!

Roll on 2014 and now the "red *****" is really playing up. I've searched the net , read 120 pages here, spoken with mechanics etc searching for the reason why this car is doing the following to my daughter........

The car has just been serviced and has done this before and after the latest service.

The car just loses power on her. 5 times this has happened. In peak hour Sydney - the car was only going 5 minutes from Randwick to Redfern when in 4th gear there is no power , she feels the car pulling back so she changes down gears until she is in first and barely crawling. She stops , attempts to start which it does but no forward movement . She waits , it starts , it goes , no more problems. It was evening , it wasnt hot.........Fuel was just under half........This type of scenario has happened at least twice more.....

I take the car back , I drive it only short distances and for approx 1 hour around streets plus a short trip on the M1 . No problems . Fuel between 3/4s and full.

Confident the car is ok I give it back. She drives all the way from Newcastle to Byron bay last week . The car doesn't miss a beat. However driving back from BYron around Kempsey mid afternoon at 100 kmp/h with half a tank of fuel the car loses power , once again having to change down until crawling in first gear. My daughter rings me . I tell her to get out , lock the car up wait 5 minutes ( hoping the computer may reset who bloody knows). She jumps back in , it starts , it goes ..in fact it goes all the way back to Sydney.....

Two days later she is coming off Parramatta rd onto Silverwater road at 20 kms when it dies again. This time the red ***** wont drive . No matter how many times she starts it , no matter how times she puts it into first , the damn thing goes a couple of metres and stops . The engine is on and no ones home!

Eventually she starts and stops for an hour and a half and makes it home. She says it had a 1/4 n the tank......

I get down to Sydney next morning, start it , it runs, I fill it up , drive back up to newcastle no problems. Its back at the mechanics now. Whilst I have some mechanical knowledge I'm puzzled.

This problem appears to me and talking to some mates so far has no common circumstance apart from it only happens to my daughter and when the fuel is less than 3/4 full. Looking on the net and here possibilites are -

EGR, Fuel pump, Catalytic converter, accelerator sensor, clutch sensor, vacuum hoses, oxygen sensor, computer( again)

Well thats about it, I'm thinking about starting at the cat punching out the honeycomb gizzards off it but will that effect the oxygen sensor and computer?


Also when this car stops does the LR have this Limp mode that I read of newer models having?

I know I should cut my losses with the little red ***** but my daughter loves it, it does look good but I'm losing patience and money fast with it.

Any ideas , suggestions of what to look for would be appreciated. I dont think its mechanical. Emissions, Fuel or electrical is my guess but hey I'm open to anything!