ford focus fucked? Engine died then restarted

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Got a 5 year old Focus 1.8 petrol with about 70k on it. Just had coil pack replaced the other week after lumpy running over 80mph and shitty idle.

Was fine for a while but yesterday at about 30mph in 4th the fucker just totally died with no warning at all. Okay, wait - I was decelerating, so no fuel going in. But the bastard literally died - everything. Radio, warning lights - all electrics and mechanicals went down.

Then just as suddenly - about hundred yards of coasting later - everything came back. Now, it was very sudden cos there was a guy right up my arse who was getting really pissed off wondering what I was playing at. So I was a bit stressed cursing the focus, but iirc I didn't turn the ignition to off, and back on. It was like the car just came back to life again.

Anyway, regardless of precisely what I did to get the fucker going again, does anyone have any idea what's going on?

Let's say the new coil pack's knackered - might there be some deeper problem that's causing it to fuck coil packs?
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[iooi]

Start at the battery and check ALL the connections.

Could be as simple as a connection being lose....
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[Hetzer]

Take it in and have a diagnostic done on it, shouldn't cost more than about £30. The ECU might be flaking out, amongst other possibilities.
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Yeah I'll get it back to the guys that MOT'd it and bunged the new coil pack on.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Rigga]

Are there a load of relays and fuses etc under the passenger side glove box? Around the footwell area? If so check all these are in securely, iirc they can be knocked with people's feet. Think there is also the speed sensor under there which can cause similar problems if faulty?
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Current bike: Honda CBR 1100xx

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

I'll have a butcher's. Cheers man.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[chickenstrip]

I just recently had similar on mine. Firstly, the speedo started to drop to zero for a few seconds at a time. Might have been my imagination, but when it did this it felt a little sluggish. Then the speedo would come back. This started to happen more often, then it would cut out when decelerating for slow turns, and I had to be ready to switch ignition off then on again, as it would start again immediately. Also lost the power steering when it cut, which made for some interesting moments!

Turned out there were 2 problems - speedo sensor knackered, and also clutch switch. As I understand it, both feed info to ECU (or whatever) to give idle info. Wrong, or no info and the engine cuts.

Sorry, I'm no car mechanic, but that's what I recently experienced, maybe it helps.

Edit to clarify - it was the faulty clutch switch causing it to cut in this case, as when they replaced the switch, it stopped cutting out.

[tracks]

Earth grounding strap from engine...

[Al]

My bike did a similar thing but it turned out to be a bad contact on the main fuse which was arcing.
It eventually got too hot and melted stuff, big disaster! we don't talk about it anymore.
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Yamaha FZR400RR 3tj
My Instagram Thingy

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Man - that sounds pretty drastic. Was that on the Yamaha?
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[chickenstrip]

Sorry, have just read your post again, and don't think it's the same problem, or not entirely. Mine didn't cut at 30mph or anything like that, only when slowing right down to take a junction, so almost at idle, or entering a roundabout at similar. It would do it then when I took my foot off the clutch.

Strange thing was, when I lost the speedo, I knew it had happened without even looking at it, as I "felt" kind of a click, and it would get that slightly sluggish feeling. Sometimes it would pick up again if I floored it, and always when the speedo came back.

But 2 different problems have me a little confused

[Al]

Yeah it was, probably wasn't as bad as I made it sound. It melted the fuse/holder some wires and started to melt the rear panel but you can't notice it from the outside.

It just died a couple of times completely then jumped back into life after a few seconds. I carried on riding home and as I was moving the bike into the garage it stank of melted plastic. Didn't expect a lose fuse would cause such a problem!
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Yamaha FZR400RR 3tj
My Instagram Thingy