2000 Focus SE 2.0

[xjryan22]

Ok so the other day my wife complained that her car was chugging real bad while driving it. Replaced plugs, wires, ignition coil, and a vacum hose coming from the air filter box was split and batter terminals were also replaced. replacing all of these turned the check engine light off so i didnt do anything else. The car ran fine for maybe a day or two and then in the morning she started the car before work and waited for it to warm up. After about 5-10 minutes she went back to the car and said that there was smoke inside the cabin and the car was no longer running.

I tried to start the car but the engine would not crank. All accesories turned on so its getting power. The smell inside the car was like a wire had shorted but cannot locate it. I checked all wires under the hood and under the dash and still dont see anything that looks bad. All fuses are good. The ignition turns harder than normal. I had the starter replace maybe two or three months ago. I dont know were else to look for the issue so maybe you guys can give me a hand and point me in the right direction. Any information you need I can get for you. The car has 186k miles on it.

[Sponsor]

[xjryan22]

Sorry she just told me that there was no smoke inside the car and she didnt see anything comming from under the hood, it just had the smell of something burning.

[Top-Ace]

What engine is in the car, SPI or Zetec?

Sounds like it overheated and the computer shut off the engine to prevent damage. It will not let you start it for a while until the temp drops. The cooling fan resistor (usually the connector) might have blown, which is a common problem, you can search it.

[Donnyd21]

Check battery voltage and battery connections

[xjryan22]

It ended up that the brand new starter that I bought from Advance Auto 3 months ago burnt out already. Replace it and she is running like a champ now.