ECU Calibration Issues: This Time It's Focus - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Aussie Pete · 04-29-2003, 16:22

Seems that if you bought a Ford Focus 1.8 manual or 2.0 non Zetec you may be struggling along with a car that is as much as 1.0-1.5 seconds slower to 100km/h than it should be. This is being caused by calibration cockups and temperature related problems.

The answer: go to your Ford dealer and get your calibration checked.

Not good. How many people responded to the significant Focus marketing unleashed by Bruce and the team only to test drive one and go "Where's the power?". How many sales were lost?

Mr Sparkle · 04-29-2003, 16:50

You gotta love the EEC-VII ... has really proved to be a huge hit in all corners... a bringer of frustration and stonewalling to the aftermarket, and a provider of questionable accuracies for the stock flock.

:

BammasAUIIIXR8 · 04-29-2003, 19:07

I don't know this as fact but my opinion is that the Focus engine was never mapped for our crappy fuel. After our first tank (as provided bythe dealer) of standard unleaded and being mightily unimpressed with the performance compared to the test mule we drove, we have since put nothing but Premium in the car and the difference is astounding. The car has excellent pick-up and there is no more need to drop two gears when a hill comes at you. The difference in fuel eceonomy is also remarkable - mostly due to the fact you don't have to push it to hard.

When I approached the dealer about whether they put premium fuel in their test cars, he queitly replied with 'most of the time'.

We rarely put standard unleaded in our Commodore and always planned to fill the Focus with premium anyway, but a 'heads up' from the dealer would not have gone astray. I wonder how many Focus owners aren't aware that they could actually save money by filling them with Premium.

By the way, my wife absolutely LOVES the car and we haven't missed the VT one bit.

Bamma

russellw · 04-30-2003, 00:58

The issue is caused by overcompensation of high underbonnet temperatures by the ECU which leads to ignition retardation and a subsequent drop in performance especially between 750-1500 rpm.

In this wonderful age of electronics the fix is a simple reflash of the igntion mapping contained in the PCM.

Cheers
Russ

Cobra · 04-30-2003, 02:18

Quote:

Originally posted by russellw
The issue is caused by overcompensation of high underbonnet temperatures by the ECU which leads to ignition retardation and a subsequent drop in performance especially between 750-1500 rpm.

In this wonderful age of electronics the fix is a simple reflash of the igntion mapping contained in the PCM.

Cheers
Russ

Exactly right. I have "flashed" (as we like to call it) many Focusus. This should be done to Every Focus in Pre-delivery with a build date before the 4/11/02.

Bammas: How long have you had the car for? I'd be checking the build date and if it is biult before the date i posted above then go talk to you dealer.