lwhi7610

Hi,
My 2006 manual Ford Fiesta has on a number of times since i'v had it in the 6 months, completely cut out often as I am travelling 100km/hr on the freeway. The whole computer shuts down and the car won accelerate. The radio and indicators still work (as does the break thank goodness) but nothing else. I have to pull right over and come to a complete stop and then turn the car off and off again but its fine after that. Help please?

Lauren

matt2704

hi,
first thing i'd do is check and clean the air filter. it should look like a big black box under the bonnet/hood. usually you can just unclip the top and clean the paper filament by bashing it about gently, or get a hover on it.
so does it only stall at speed? not maybe when your pulling up at lights?
if it is just at speed it may be summit to do with your cooling system, are there any warning lights that come on your dash when this happens? where's the temp needle pointing at?
let me know, matt

lwhi7610

Hi Matt,
Thanks for the reply. Yes it only happens at speed always in fifth gear going about 100km/hr. Never has it happened in any lower gear or pulling up at lights or anything. My Dad only did the air filter a couple of months ago so it shouldnt be that? When it shuts off, the whole computer in the dash goes dead but the radio and indicators still work. When I turn the key fully off to turn it back on again when I have slowed down and pulled over, there are a couple of lights that flash on for like 2 seconds. One of them is the oil light and the other one I think was the battery light. Hope this helps get an idea. Thanks again for your help :)

matt2704

sounds like it may be a problem with your ECU.
you could take it to a dealer to plug in a diagnostics machine, but can be expensive.
you can download the required software (not sure where from though) and buy a lead to plug a laptop into your car and try and figure it out yourself
but first i would try disconnecting your batteries for a few hours, if you don't need your car then 24 hours. this should reset the ECU and usually clears most problems.