We lost the manaul to my wife's 2002 Focus. The car has 47k on it and it is getting very poor gas mileage. Not even close to what it should be. The airfilter was replaced. Not sure what else it could be. It doesn't have the ZTEC engine. Does anyone know if the PCV Valve or Fuel filters need to be replaced before 100k miles? Spark plugs? I'm trying to figure out what is the problem. This car has been through some rough winters and driving but the car just hasn' been as reliable as I would have hoped.
Ford Focus- MPG Problems
- Thread starter buster
- Start date
- Status
You can download the manual and the scheduled maintenance guide in PDF format here:
https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/owners_manuals/default.asp
I'd look at the long-term fuel trim on that car to see if it's operating on the edge of acceptable.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/owners_manuals/default.asp
I'd look at the long-term fuel trim on that car to see if it's operating on the edge of acceptable.
The focus we had was absolutely poor considering it had a 110 hp engine. If I was lucky I would get 30 mpg if I drove the whole tank down hill.
JHZR2
Staff member
Ive had a few rental focii. Ive found that the auto trans were terrible, not geared well for any sort of hills, etc., and the MPG werent all that good.
Are you sure you used to get much better mileage?
The EPA restricted gas quality standards for a while... maybe you got bad gas?
How about tires? Original ones? Maybe theyve worn down toa point where the rolling resistance has gone way up, even if there is extra air in there...
PCV needs to be replaced more often, use purolator or OEM Ford. Sometimes theyre good for a long time, other times they arent... Start there first. I think the plugs, etc are good for ~100k, but that doesnt mean that something cant go bad before... if the car has a distributor, maybe it needs to be replaced?
JMH
Are you sure you used to get much better mileage?
The EPA restricted gas quality standards for a while... maybe you got bad gas?
How about tires? Original ones? Maybe theyve worn down toa point where the rolling resistance has gone way up, even if there is extra air in there...
PCV needs to be replaced more often, use purolator or OEM Ford. Sometimes theyre good for a long time, other times they arent... Start there first. I think the plugs, etc are good for ~100k, but that doesnt mean that something cant go bad before... if the car has a distributor, maybe it needs to be replaced?
JMH
I always like to change plugs in a new car in the first year bc if you don't they get difficult to get out. They are probably O.K. but it doesn't hurt to replace them.
Buster,heres what i did for my 2.0L 80k mi auto escort which has the same non zetec engine as im told. the 1.9L on the earlier escort which we had(d@mn deer!)are virtually the same. cleanlyness seems to be the key on these motors. all this can be done in a few hours for around ~$30+ easliy.
1. change the air filter. if not done allready. $12~15
2. clean the maf. all the fords i've had have been sensitive to a dirty or lightly dirty maf. it may have a blob or glue like material over one of the screws. you'll need a security (t-10 or t-20 if i remember right) torx bit to remove or you can cut a small groove in the screw head as i did on the screw with the material on it. a dremel with a cut off wheel is your friend in that case. use a fast dying non plastic altering electronics parts cleaner to clean until it looks new. both can be bought at az/napa. ~$5
3. clean the throttle body and plate with a throttle body cleaner. glue or remove the spray tube. dont ask me how i found that out. ~$4
4. clean/replace the pvc valve which is located spliced into the hose right of the valve cover above it at least on my model escorts. ~$3
5. replace the spark plugs. i used a copper ngk tr55-1 on the last change. ~$5-8
6. i keep the tires right at 35psi.
my mileage as of this last fill up was 35.49 as of this mornings fill up and this was driven easy on only short trips using casey's 89 w/ethanol which seems to do better mpg wise than the citgo 87 across the street. not sure why? this is just what I do as a tuneup/annual maint. the 02 sensors get flakey too. my earlier escort had one (front) that was bad but it would not cut a ce light but mpg started to decline around 80k severly. mpg shot to over 30mpg once this was changed. my newer 2.0L was changed out(front and rear) around 78k once it started to dump also. it also shot backup. sorry for the long post but this sounded very familiar. good luck..
regards, mudd
1. change the air filter. if not done allready. $12~15
2. clean the maf. all the fords i've had have been sensitive to a dirty or lightly dirty maf. it may have a blob or glue like material over one of the screws. you'll need a security (t-10 or t-20 if i remember right) torx bit to remove or you can cut a small groove in the screw head as i did on the screw with the material on it. a dremel with a cut off wheel is your friend in that case. use a fast dying non plastic altering electronics parts cleaner to clean until it looks new. both can be bought at az/napa. ~$5
3. clean the throttle body and plate with a throttle body cleaner. glue or remove the spray tube. dont ask me how i found that out. ~$4
4. clean/replace the pvc valve which is located spliced into the hose right of the valve cover above it at least on my model escorts. ~$3
5. replace the spark plugs. i used a copper ngk tr55-1 on the last change. ~$5-8
6. i keep the tires right at 35psi.
my mileage as of this last fill up was 35.49 as of this mornings fill up and this was driven easy on only short trips using casey's 89 w/ethanol which seems to do better mpg wise than the citgo 87 across the street. not sure why? this is just what I do as a tuneup/annual maint. the 02 sensors get flakey too. my earlier escort had one (front) that was bad but it would not cut a ce light but mpg started to decline around 80k severly. mpg shot to over 30mpg once this was changed. my newer 2.0L was changed out(front and rear) around 78k once it started to dump also. it also shot backup. sorry for the long post but this sounded very familiar. good luck..
regards, mudd
If you've got a scantool that supports Ford enchanced data items, look at the "filtered baro reading in Hz" PID..the further away from 158Hz it is, the more likely it is that the MAF needs a cleaning.
The correct reading will change according to weather conditions and elevation, but 158Hz is the usual correct reading for sea level.
The correct reading will change according to weather conditions and elevation, but 158Hz is the usual correct reading for sea level.
Yeah replace the fuel filter, I think they said like 30K miles in the manual but I did my wifes at 25K and there was all kinds of black flakey crap in the filter. Also, it is a zetec engine with manual tranny and my wife gets approximately 26-28mpg mostly city so mileage is pretty good. Solid car so far.
- Status
