I had a mechanic change my oil on my used Focus. He put motorcraft 5w20 synthetic blend and a motorcraft oil filter. Before he changed it, the dipstick was showing the oil was overfill, above the max and dirty. Also, don’t know what the previous owner used. After it was changed, I drove to a restaurant and when I finished, and started the car, the engine light began flashing and the car shaking or chugging. When I stepped on the gas it finally stopped. No engine light. I read online that could be a spark plug, but mine are still good, the engine oil being overfill, which it is again! idk why the mechanic put the whole 5 quart bottle in there! but the car was already overfilled before the change. or changing the viscosity, which I don’t know what was used before. Anyone know what might be the problem and could it happen again? I know is bad to overfill so I’ll have that fixed. Also, after the oil change, I noticed a burning smell coming from around the engine, I don’t think oil because the dipstick smelled like new oil.
If the CEL is no longer flashing, I suggest that you drive to an Autozone, Advance Auto, or NAPA parts store, where they will check to see which Diagnostic Trouble Codes have been stored. Without knowing the stored codes, nobody can tell you with any accuracy exactly what the problem might be, and whether it will recur.
Also, it would be helpful if you included the model year and the odometer mileage of this mystery Focus.
A flashing Check Engine light means a major misfire is occurring. Continuing operating the vehicle with a flashing Check Engine light can result in engine damage or a damaged catalytic converter.
Tester
Was this before or after the sea foam???
It will be wayy easier to keep your last 2 treads together and not separate…
Its a Ford focus 2009 with the PZEV air system.
With a 16 year old vehicle that has an unknown maintenance record, the possibilities are… numerous. Get those trouble codes read, and then be sure to bring the car up to date with its maintenance.
Unless you have access to all of its maintenance records, you have to assume that it isn’t up-to-date with maintenance. Find the highest mileage maintenance interval that you can find listed in the factory service manual (100k, probably) and have your mechanic perform all of those maintenance tasks.
The shaking and engine light flashing was first but then it stopped. Car is runing fine again. Has not happened again. Then later is when I put the seafoam.
time frame between??
About 2 hours. This was yesterday.
Thank you ill go ahead and do that!
IMO you should take your Focus to a shop you trust for a post-purchase inspection. You’ve had enough problems to warrant it. I’m guessing you didn’t get a pre-purchase inspection to identify problems before you bought it. Get a prioritized list of things that must be done and those that can wait.
Does your oil look a bit like chocolate milkshake? Is your coolant level dropping, too? If yes to either of these questions, maybe you have a blown head gasket.
An unexplained overfilled oil-sump could mean gasoline is getting into the oil as well. The suggestion above to check for stored diagnostic codes is a good place for a diy’er ot start. Note that it is possible the car’s expensive-to-replace catalytic converter is being damaged while this problem remains. Booking your focus into an experienced pro-shop for diagnosis is probably the best path.
Knucklehead diyer opinion, no ford focus experience.
No nothing.
I took it to an autone zone. No codes and no stored codes. I told the employee what happened and all of the sudden the car is fine. He said, well its a Ford. Dont know if he was joking or something but I do want an F-150 one day.
There still that burning smell after running the car. Sometimes it smells like burned rubber. One thing i forgot mentioned, idk if the seafoam helped but some noise coming around the engine when steeping on the gas pedal is now gone. It was there after the oil was changed.
The outcome was predictable.
The misfire must occur during two consecutive trips for a misfire fault to be set and stored in the computer’s memory. A single occurrence will result in a “pending” fault, but that would be purged from the computer’s memory before you reached the auto parts store (2 ignition cycles).
Could this be just a sensor digital issue and not mechanical? I mean if it was mechanical it will just continue? Ill have it check next week by a mechanic. Sorry for the dumb question.
That’s weird the engine oil was now overfilled twice? Could there be something mixing with oil, water, fuel maybe? They would be pretty obvious if there was an overfill due to this. If water the oil would appear a slight milky (tan) apperance, and fuel, you would smell fuel.
Take it back to the guy who changed the oil and ask.
The blinking light could just be a misfire from plugs and/or wires, distributor, etc. Turn it on at night and look for a short, jiggle the wires, etc… Sometimes the plugs seem new but are shot or are loose.
All fluids look fine at level. Oil looks fine, no fuel smell. After oil change, The only smelly thing there is after runing it, is that rubber burned smell and The other thing is a sterring wheel fluid leak, and its really small, small drop, size of my thumb nail, but no continuous drops. Thats another fix on my list beside getting new front tires and double check that misfire, which I hope its not something big. I got this car for $3200. 123,000 miles. Runs well and a little better now after new back tires. Was it a good deal? Idk but its flipping a coin with used cars for someone that doesnt now that much and im been learning more after I purchased it. I really wanted an old Toyota or Honda but these days people want allot for them.
even if its over 200,000 miles. I just read my engine was design by Mazda.
Is it or is it not going up in volume?
You also stated you could see the gas gauge going down, the gas has to be going somewhere fast. either into your crankcase or on to the ground. I can drive my V8 truck at 70+ MPH and not see the needle moving, have to drive nearly 20 miles to consume a gallon, your Focus should be getting well over 20MPG.
Misfires are usually caused by dirty spark plugs or failing ignition coils. Brief misfiring after start-up can be cause by a leaking fuel injector or from coolant entering the cylinder.
The next time you provide the engine oil for an oil change, ask for the remaining 1/2 quart (bottle) to be placed back into the car.
Also, you added nearly a pint of oil additive to the engine, this will ensure that the oil level is too high. If you plan to use an additive, ask the shop to only use 4 quarts during the oil change.