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ZETEC Engine stumble - SOLVED

277K views 218 replies 125 participants last post by  breakit 
#1 ·
So, I've been having the delightful experience of stumbling at idle, as many many Focus owners are blighted with. It finally got to the point where I was annoyed enough to fix it. So i got into my grungies and started rooting around (deep) under the hood. First I took the upper intake off and cleaned the MAF sensor. The back hot wire was very dirty. That made the problem a little better but it didn't go away. So I pulled into the drive and let the car idle. I opened the hood and started blindley poking around the back of the intake manifold, to see if any hoses were loose. As I'm running my fingers over the PCV hose (just as it makes the 90 degree turn into the manifold), my index finger gets sucked into (into) the hose! I pulled it out cause it scared the crap outta me. But when I covered the hole back up the engine started sputtering. AH HA!! The vacuum leak was causing the hose to fold over itself and the engine wasn't getting enough air from either atmosphere or PCV. So, since it's getting late and I don't feel like going down to Ford to pick up a new part at that moment, what do I do? that's right, Duct tape. worked beautifully. My baby purrs like a kitten once again. I'll post pics of both the failure and the fix when I get the new part.

As an aside, any other Auto/Duct tape stories?
 
#105 ·
Thought i fixed my idle when i did the battery reset today only to find out that it wasn't fixed so after work in the dark i leave the car running stick my hand around thinking im not going to find anything and what do you know i find that very hose collapsed at the bend, problem was right in front of me the whole time, guess ill stop by the stealership again tomorrow
 
#106 ·
replaced hose sucessfully car is still running like crap after cold starts and almost stalling when i come to a stop, rpm climbs and dips goes from rough to smooth almost in a throbbing pattern
 
#108 ·
This information is awesome. 150,000 miles and I have been living with the CEL going on and off for a while, stumbling at idle, irratic idle, stalling, sloooooow a take off, It's gotta be the hose. I'm going to check asap.
[cheers] [loveff]
 
#110 ·
quick question, my idle bogs just like you guys are explaining, but i have an SVT...does anyone know if this is a fix for an svt too...if it wasnt late right now id check it out myself!
 
#114 ·
my car had a rough idle it would go from 1000rpm down to 300 rpm almost stalling i had to keep reving it for it to not stall...the other day i installed an new CAI and problem solved....i assume a shoty stock intake?? idles nicely around 500 rpm now
 
#115 · (Edited)
Great thread, didn't even think about that hose, will have to check it out today. I was thinking more on the lines of the throttle position sensor for the rough idle at a stop(in drive). Like most here, mine would wanna die as I am coming to a stop, it would idle way down(somewhere around 3-400 RPM's and then jump back up to 700 with a surging idle. Like I said earlier, it will be checked out today but if that's not it I'm gonna have to hunt for a TPS for an automatic(most parts listings only show for a manual tranny) which could make for a difficult search without going to the dealer.

Any thoughts on the the TPS(throttle position sensor) would be helpful, and FYI, I work at a parts store and that's why I know about the the TPS listings. Might even have to pull mine off to get a look at the part # on it.

UPDATE: I, like the rest of us in this thread, have a collapsed PCV hose. Soon as I get the part we will see if it cures the problem.

@ copper67440: You have my sister for an avatar...LMAO!!!
 
#116 ·
I Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to the OP.

After coming across this thread last night I just today found the bad hose that has for a few weeks been causing a rough idle and stalling when coming to stops on my 2002 Focus. It will be fixed this weekend, but for now a little duck tape has my car idling smooth again.

Thanks again. Hermitt
 
#119 ·
Just bought this car...

My newest employer sold me their oldest delivery car...
2002 ZX3 Zertec with 165,000 miles...
$1500.00 ( $100.00 every payday, every two weeks)
It ran PERFECT the first week...
Then I decided to clean it up a bit...even under the hood...
On the way home from the car wash, (I've already read that entire thread), it lost power gradually, the CEL came on, eventually having to "floor it" to get home..like only running on one cylinder...

I'll be checking this "hose thing" first tomorrow, and I want to take a few pics of some "under-the-hood-thingy's" that I want identified...

Looking forward to some help from all you guys...
 
#123 ·
My newest employer sold me their oldest delivery car...
2002 ZX3 Zertec with 165,000 miles...
$1500.00 ( $100.00 every payday, every two weeks)
It ran PERFECT the first week...
Then I decided to clean it up a bit...even under the hood...
On the way home from the car wash, (I've already read that entire thread), it lost power gradually, the CEL came on, eventually having to "floor it" to get home..like only running on one cylinder...

I'll be checking this "hose thing" first tomorrow, and I want to take a few pics of some "under-the-hood-thingy's" that I want identified...

Looking forward to some help from all you guys...
Sounds like you got something wet...dry it all out, change the plugs & possibly the wires also & for god's sake use die-electric grease to prevent this from happening again. [cheers]
 
#122 ·
Its most likely you just got one of the sensors too wet, I'd check the coil, plug wires, MAF sensor and the throttle position sensor.... one of those is most likely the culprit.

Also get the codes read.... they will help narrow down the issue quickly.
 
#125 ·
I changed the hose also including the PCV elbow hose in the front and my car still runs like crap. Not sure what else to check. One things that I did notice is that once the cars warms up it will run nice an steady.

Weird I am not sure what else to check...
 
#126 ·
Can someone please take a picture of the whole engine and show an arrow of where the hose is located. I keep looking but I can't find it. I have a 2002 ZX5 ford focus. I hear a vacume leak but I cannot locate the hose, maybe mine is good. I have 60,000 miles. I believe my motor mounts are going too wich is why I also believe the hose busted due to engine vibration. Again please take a picture of the whole engine and show where the hose is at. Thanks to whoever does this.
 
#128 ·
Just thought you guys should know that I went ahead and ordered that hose from my local ford parts desk the other day ... took one day to get it in and it cost $23 with taxes ofcourse... The new part comes with a heat sheild around it prolly because the old ones failed so often ..Anyways i took of the big plastice hose from the air filter box off and you can clearly see the part for repair on the back of the motor ... one end is bigger than the other and the bigger end has a really weird hose clamp on it ...i put a smaller pair of channel locks on it and squeezed and it popped right off ... the smaller end needed more convincing ... this end has just been slid on over the steel pipe but the pipe has a rib on it to keep the hose on ... i played with this forever prying every way possible without luck ... so the I made a cut with my knife right at the end and it peeled back easily ... now when replacing the hose i put some wd-40 on both endsof the new one ...i got some plumbing hose clamps that fit snug and tightened them down ... problem solved this car stopped idling rough !!! Easy Fix... and cheap !!!
 
#129 · (Edited)
Just stopped my 2003 ZX5 from stalling a stop lights. Located the famous PCV hose and where it made the 90 degree bend into the engine it was collapsed. I was lucky and popped the hose clamp open with the tap of a small hammer on the end of a long screwdriver aimed at the clamp. I first had to get underneath and turn the clamp with small channel lock pliers so that I could see the clamp mechanism from the top. I just hit it and it popped open. Maybe that is how Ford does it. Got the hose off and no hole or crack. So for now until I get a new hose, I just put a 3 inch section of a spring that I had in the junk box, into the collapsed section of the hose and wrapped some electrical tape tightly in that area.. The spring isn't going anywhere without the tape but since it was so hard to get the hose out, I didn't want to find out that there was a hole that I couldn't see. Needless to say, I didn't re-use that strange original clamp.

The car now idles better than I can ever remember and no more stalling. It's like there is a V8 under the hood.

Thanks to everyone for their inputs on this topic.
 
#130 ·
XD Wow interesting how im blasted weeks ago for saying the stumbling/bad idle may have something to do with the PCV yet look at these guys they temp fix/replace that pipe and there stumbling/stalling stopped

please keep in mind I said before it MAY, not IT IS

I need to inspect my new cars PCV if its the old style im going to replace it anyways with a new one I ordered from Mike.. Im going to hit EVERYTHING that went wrong with my last car right away before it starts acting up in the future XD
 
#134 ·
Hello!
This thread is great... I am wondering if all this info relates to my car (wife's, actually).

We have a 2005 Ford Focus ZXW (wagon). It has a 2.0l engine with 58,000 miles on it. It has developed what I consider to be a rough idle, seems like it has gotten worse over the last 6 months or so. It runs fine, no stalling or stumbling, just a rough idle.

I went to check the air filter... surprise! It is permanently mounted in the bumper I guess? Who (and why?) thought of that design? The air filter air flow indicator (the clear plastic thing with the yellow indicator that moves the more the air flow is restricted) is barely visible, meaning I assume the air flow and air filter are fine.

I have removed and checked (then put back) what I believe to be the MAF sensor, and it looks totally clean.

The collapsed PCV tube that is being talked about here, do I have the same design or has it been changed? For the life of me I cannot find it, the pictures posted are great but maybe they don't relate to my engine? Looking from above my engine, should I be able to see it, or do I have to go under the car and look up?

Thanks!
 
#136 ·
Hello!
This thread is great... I am wondering if all this info relates to my car (wife's, actually).

We have a 2005 Ford Focus ZXW (wagon). It has a 2.0l engine with 58,000 miles on it. It has developed what I consider to be a rough idle, seems like it has gotten worse over the last 6 months or so. It runs fine, no stalling or stumbling, just a rough idle.

I went to check the air filter... surprise! It is permanently mounted in the bumper I guess? Who (and why?) thought of that design? The air filter air flow indicator (the clear plastic thing with the yellow indicator that moves the more the air flow is restricted) is barely visible, meaning I assume the air flow and air filter are fine.

I have removed and checked (then put back) what I believe to be the MAF sensor, and it looks totally clean.

The collapsed PCV tube that is being talked about here, do I have the same design or has it been changed? For the life of me I cannot find it, the pictures posted are great but maybe they don't relate to my engine? Looking from above my engine, should I be able to see it, or do I have to go under the car and look up?

Thanks!
Take a picture of your engine and I can show you. to try and answer your question you can see the pcv valve looking from the top of your engine but it wraps around your engine from the front to the right side then to the back. The rubber line becomes a metal line for about 3 or 4 inches then turns right back into a rubber line and goes behind the engine and twards the bottom and may be a little hard to reach or find if you don't trace the line. Also keep in mind that the line looks way smaller than what it seems; it's about as wide as your finger.

The line on the left is the new one the one on the right is the old one. This is the line that is on the back side of the engine. If you were to trace from the PCV valve that rubber hose goes to a metal line on the right side of your engine (driver side) the after about 4 inches of metal line turns back into a rubber line, that the line in the picture.Mine was collapsed so it was hard to tell if it was bad until I found it and noticed it wasn't round at the 90 degree turn



PCV Valve and start of hose



This is a modded engine but if you look at where it says Zetec, to the right you will see a silver cap and below that is where the pcv valve is located (to the right of the heat shield with x on it. The red line represents how your pcv valve line will run. Just look at all these pics together and you will find it.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb194/xxdomesplit/pcv2.jpg
 
#135 ·
um ok well that's what i thought to.. mainly since i had 2 boots.hoses that were closing themselves. but i've replaced then with nice hard plastic.. so they can't crimp shut no matter what. but i'm still having the issues.

an thoughts??
 
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