[Peter K Mayer]

I love my Focus SE until now. It has 900 miles and it started to shutter, like it was running out of gas. And the engine light came on. I am taking it back to Northgate Ford here in Cincinnati, but what in god's name could be going on with a car that has only 900 miles on it??? Help!![?|]

 

[Elizabeth]

A faulty injector?
Loss of fuel pressure? (to one cylinder)
failure of a coil on plug pack?
A squirrel chewed your ignition?

If the engine continued running and was sputtering. some. i would not be worried.
The fix will be painless (except waiting for a part maybe)
Certainly no permanent harm. Even if one cylinder was not firing correctly, it will not be harmed with a little normal easy driving.

If it were two cylinders the engine would not run at all.

Question: did it start to sputter and continue all the time from that point on? or doing it some, and then the check engine light, but it is running OK now?

I would assume it is doing it all the time if it is one of the items I mentioned

 

[Peter K Mayer]

It did it one time the other day and I thought "oh, it's were I had the pedal" and today it started doing it more and more and the light came on. And when I went up a hill, it seemed it wasn't going to make it. And yes, according to the guage, I have gas.

 

[Red 2012]

general question ... does the engine light come on when you run out of gas? I'm wondering what programming it uses to decide to kick on.

 

[Elizabeth]

general question ... does the engine light come on when you run out of gas? I'm wondering what programming it uses to decide to kick on.

No the check engine light does not come on in my last car anyway. i also do not think it would in the 2012 Focus either.
The check engine light comes on when one of the parameters measured is outside the prescribed range. It also sets the code for whatever measurement was off.
A lot of stuff gradually goes out of wack, but the CPU can keep it all within the ranges required. eventually the flaw moves too far out of wack and the check engine light come on.
(or it can be a sudden failure)

Where I live they are not even allowed to delete the light. They can correct the code, but the car itself has to do the multiple checks and then turns the check engine light off.

 

[deadend9009]

None of this matters. The car is under warranty...get it to a dealership.

 

[FordService]

I love my Focus SE until now. It has 900 miles and it started to shutter, like it was running out of gas. And the engine light came on.

Hello,

Taking your Focus to the dealer is the perfect first step. I responded to another post of yours, but PM me your info (VIN, contact information, mileage, & servicing dealer name/state) so I can help.

~Natasha