Ford Focus cutting out when braking.

Strider590

Buttonmoons wrote: »

Hi I've got an X reg Focus that just passed it's MOT last month - It needed a new coil pack and some other bits - however I noticed this issue before the MOT - basically when I brake going down a hill the battery light on the dashboard sometimes flashes up - but more recently - on two occasions, all the lights on the dashboard have came up and the car just shut down, lights and everything - It always restarts fine, and the clutch is right in so It's not because I'm stalling it.

Any ideas? I thought it was the battery :rotfl: because it was always that light that appeared - and it's always on the same hill near my house that it does it

You drive down hills with the clutch disengaged?:eek:

I think driving lessons are in order, preferably before anyone dies...........

The fault itself sounds like a lambda sensor failing.

arcon5

IanMSpencer wrote: »

The basic point he makes though it right, cars are designed to manage the engine so that when the engine is on overrun it will not use fuel. Dipping the clutch when driving along is not the right way to drive, loss of control and higher fuel consumption being the two obvious downsides.

It may be that the electronics are getting confused and stalling the engine. Only dip the clutch when coming to a halt at traffic lights when the engine is about to get lumpy.

If the OP is habitually coasting, then it is not necessarily surprising that they are having problems with the engine cutting out, but in the end there is an underlying idle problem that a decent garage should be able to identify.

(Now I did have a friend who had an LPG converted Vauxhall that would cut out under power - that was a scary ride).

Op "hapitually coasting" does not mean the engine should stall!
Whether engines are designed to run optimally when coasting is irrelevant, the simple fact is, when you drop your clutch on a hill the car should keep running without issue.

Ops so called bad driving isn't the reason his car is cutting out - his car is cutting out because a fault has developed. Making the point of ops driving style moot. So you defend the silly comment about ops driving style basically causing the problem all you like, but the simple fact is the poster is wrong!

arcon5

Strider590 wrote: »

You drive down hills with the clutch disengaged?:eek:

I think driving lessons are in order, preferably before anyone dies...........

The fault itself sounds like a lambda sensor failing.

:rotfl:
Jesus christ, before someone dies? Ignoring the fact op said the clutch is disengaged because he's changing gear, are you for real ??!!!

:wall:

My god the quality of the content around here is seriously dropping.

Richard53

If it only happens on a hill, the first thing I would look at would be the battery, and if it is secure or moving about. Secondly the battery terminals. I had a problem with my Dad's car when I was still at home, random cutting out, losing engine, lights and everything. We narrowed it down to happening only when the car had hit a bump with one of the front wheels (can't remember which). It always started again after a little while. A bit of Sherlock Holmes-style deduction, and found one of the battery terminals was loose. Good thing too, because he thought I had wrecked his car and was about to remove all driving privileges.


Check the simple stuff first.