Seem to have a problem with my car "shuttering". Was in first gear, got up 15 mph, car starts to shutter. Switched to second gear, car shutters again. Drive on a little in fourth gear, car shutters again. Fifth gear, the same. Not continuous, just every once in a while. Car was fine this morning, have no idea what this is?

Any help?

 

Try to describe more of the symptoms. Does it only occur only when the vehicle is at partial throttle? It is more of a hesitating/surging feeling at partial throttle? Does the problem go away when the gas pedal is to the floor?

If it is more of a part throttle stumble/surge/hesitation, chances are it is the DPFE sensor gone bad. Good information on this simple fix can be found here:
http://www.focushacks.com/index.php?modid=80

 

When I was on the way home, it only shuttered when I was cruising at 65, fifth gear. My foot was on the gas, but it wasnt to the ground.

I felt it before it happened, kind of like a second of coasting, then it would act like it wanted to turn off, so I would give more gas.

Not doing it often, only 4 or 5 times today.

 

My 2000 ZX3 had quite a bad surging issue, as does practically every non-SVT Zetec Focus. The DPFE and EGR system is the culprit the majority of the time.

Before you do anything, yank the vacuum hose out of the top of the EGR. Plug the hose so that you won't have a vacuum leak. Your check engine light will come on, but this may cure the issue. Drive it around for a bit over the next couple days. If the stumble is gone, then the DPFE sensor is most likely bad. I think they are still only like $10-15 new from Ford.

I also found that regardless of the status of the DPFE sensor's functionality, that my car still had a partial throttle stumble. Putting a vacuum reducer onto the vacuum hose coming out of the EGR helped quite a bit on my car. I'll try to find some more info on this for you.

You can also get a custom tune to disable the system all together...but obviously that is the more expensive route.

 

thanks alan...this is my gf's car...and my first time messing around with fords....I might be posting more questions later once we mess around with it tonight.

 

o...well...that was easy....I thought it was going to be more to it than that......so far so good....check engine light is still on though

 

Is the car still hesitating/stumbling?

 

Car was stumbling very badly this morning. she was at the bank today and it died. She got back to work, and our friend told her to disconnect the battery to reset the computer. She did that, and the check engine light went off. We got halfway down the driveway, and the car died completely. Restart, in neutral, has to have the gas to the floor for it to even stay on. The car is sputtering, almost like its not using all of its cylinders. Our friend thinks it could have somehow fouled out the spark plugs??

 

Is the vacuum line still disconnected from the EGR? If so, make sure that line is plugged/sealed off well. The new stalling issue sounds almost like a possible vacuum leak since it just started happening since you disconnected that hose.

Also, how old is the car and how many miles are on the motor?

Was that check engine light on before you disconnected the EGR hose? Didn't see this info in your original post. If it was on before, hook the EGR back up, reset the computer, and see if you can get a code scan on the car. The symptoms still sound like a failed DPFE sensor...but a code scan will tell you for sure.

 

Depending on the age of your girlfriend's Focus, it could also be the fuel pump. I believe there was a recall on the failing fuel pumps on the earlier Zetec Foci. Best way to notice this issues is if car tends to stumble heavily while accelerating out of a right hand sweeping turn with about a quarter tank of gas.

Also, check out the wiring harness going into the bottom of the coil back. There are quite a few aged Zetec Foci who have seen melted wires from contact with the EGR (harness is too loose) or stretched/broken wiring coming from the plug (harness is too tight).