Dorset7

Due to an unfortunate wind related incident at the weekend I'm now in the market for a drivers door mirror, fresh air bonnet and scuttle panel for a Metric car. Thanks in advance Chris

I think you're right - having done some extensive searching and testing it looks like the ignition circuit relay in the immobiliser could well be the culprit. My ECU is currently with Mick Attree for testing and a remap to ensure it has no faults and a new immobiliser is being fitted next Wednesday, hopefully this should clear it up and the car will be running again!

Hi, My ECU is dead - I'm looking to see if anyone has upgraded or swapped and still has their original they'd like to sell? Thanks Christian

I don't suppose you've still got this have you?

So......I think I've worked it out! I think the shift lights were the issue - I just spoke to the nice people at SBD who produce the MBE ECU on my car. When fitting shift lights the ECU needs to be configured for the additional item if you use a feed from it. I simply spliced into the signal wire that runs to the tacho from the ECU this, it would seem, confuses the ECU as it doesn't recognise the shift lights and can cause issues. This all makes sense given that I had NO running issues until the DRE shift lights were fitted. Unhelpfully Caterham lock all their ECU's and so SBD are unable to perform any retrospective programming or other work. I've disconnected the shift lights now and all seems well at present - I'll come back with any further issues if there are any.

I did have a look and reset the inertia switch but it appeared to have no effect on the starting issue, I was hoping it would be something simple along those lines. The immobiliser is a potential I guess but, as I understand it, the Ford system is pretty good and faults are unusual but it's always a possibility! Sadly I have visions of the car on a trailer to CC and a huge bill for diagnostics!

The AA guy plugged it in but the MBE ECU wouldn't talk to his computer, I'll have to get it to a specialist I guess but i really wanted to try to sorrt it out myself to avoid the expence!

Well, I thought I had things sorted but it would now seem I don't! The car drove faultlessly to Windsor from Dorset yesterday morning but on the way home I had the same issue - on the M3 the car just cut out, I lost all power and it wouldn't restart. Once I was recovered to the services I tried turning it over again and it fired up nicely. I drove it all the way home with the AA guy following and it never missed a beat! I'm at a loss to think what it might be. the new coil pack made the car run more smoothly for sure but it seems it was just a happy coincidence and not the root of the problem. I'm starting to wonder if it's linked to fuel as when the car died I had about a quarter of a tank left and before heading home with the AA guy I filled up. The only other explanation is something to do with the shift lights I fitted recently using the signal feed to the tacho and the + and - feeds to the tacho. I really need to get this sorted but I'm stumped - does anyone have any ideas?

Well after 1.5 hours of hard blatting things seem to be tip top. The car is running better, smoother and more responsively, whether it was the MAP sensor pipe or the coil pack I don't know, maybe a combo of the two but who cares - PT Sports Cars here I come!!!!!

Update - new coil pack fitted and car runs nicely now. Whilst the bonnet was off I had a look about and found a vacuum hose (?) running from a sensor (I think) to a port on the underside of the throttle body - both ends of the pipe were split and not sealing very well allowing air to escape. I trimmed both ends of the pipe back and refitted - seems to have done the trick!

After the car started again the second time the idle had returned to where it would've been normally. I recently changed plugs to the 1mm gap type as per the Focus modification but the car had been running on 1.3mm gap plugs for it's whole 6 year life (to include two years racing). Other than plugs (new), leads (newish) and coil pack theres not much else to change, unless I've an ECU problem. The new coil pack should be here today so I'll report back after a day of testing tomorrow (weather dependent!)

Hi John, I'll have to post as two packages I think but I really can't see it being more than a tenner. If it comes to any more than ten pounds I'll suck it up - can't say fairer than that can I? I'm after a quick sale so I'm happy to deal on that if you are? Christian.

Due to a slight change in plans I now have a RiF Carbon Aero screen for an S3 for sale complete with non-carbon mirror set. It's in very good condition with only a couple of minor marks. Mirrors are fitted to the pre-drilled holes. Collection from Dorset or postage at cost - I could bring it to the PT Sports Cars open day on Sunday if required. £200

Just a return to this one - zipping along yesterday and the car died, just as if the ignition had been switched off. Restarted after a couple of tries but idle revs were high. The car then died again (thankfully on my road) so pushed it onto the drive. I removed a plug lead, fitted an old plug and cranked the engine - very weak, yellow and intermittent spark. I checked all the leads the same way and I've come to the conclusion the coil pack has given up the ghost. Having researched online it would seem this is a pretty common fault on a range of Ford cars with the Sigma (Zetec SE) engines. New coil pack ordered (but not from CC at £62!) - I'll post more on the results.

http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/oil-pressure-switch/fae-12610_g805_a24012610.html It's not a part made by Ford but a part fitted to many Ford cars - your local dealer should be able to get one, I can't imagine they'd not be able to supply one for a run of the mill Focus. Remember when looking that the Sigma engine is actually a Zetec SE - no common parts to the black or silver top Zetec. Try giving Burton Power a call.

Have you tried a Ford dealership - pretty sure it's a standard Focus sender.

Anyone got any idea what size the thread is on a standard type 9 (5 speed) gearbox gear knob? Cheers.

Ian Payne of PT Sports Cars can now supply FIA roll bars direct from Caged - probably worth giving him a call.

That does seem to make sense. The issue has prompted me to sort a couple of bits though - new pugs, HT leads and probably battery, I don't know if any of them have been changed since the car was built so a few new bits won't cost the earth and would benefit the car regardless.

Thanks for the reply. I was kind of thinking along the same lines, the shift lights shouldn't have caused the issue, they don't draw that much and weren't actually active at the time (tick over). The battery is the original (as far as I'm aware) so might not be in the greatest of states now but it does turn the car over. Tick over might be a bit low (800 -900RPM) but I'm not sure how I could bring it up a bit. I did notice the temp and oil pressure gauges swinging to full deflection and I seem to remember that being an indication of a suffering battery? I'll get the voltmeter on it later today to see what standing and running voltages are and take a view from there. I suspect this might just be an oddity and chances are it'll never happen again!

Thanks for the reply but I'm referring to DRE shift lights (change lights) not daytime running lights.

A question for the collective - the 7 has been running fine all day but tonight I went out for another quick blat and decided to stop to take a couple of photos. I left the car running and when the fan kicked in the car died. It didn't want to restart for a couple of tries but then fired up fine and drove home faultlessly. I fitted DRE shift lights yesterday but only tapped into the + - and signal wires to the tacho so I don't think that's the culprit. I'm suspecting a less than optimal battery given how long the car has been stood over Winter without a battery conditioner - thoughts anyone?

Probolt