Can the Ford car Manual be driven in "free gear"

[jtan]

Hi: I want to check if the Ford Focus car which I have is the manual version. Can I let it coast in "free gear"? Ford claims that crusing it in free gear may cause the engine to stall....

Is there any recommendation from Ford officially on coasting in "Free Gear"? Anything I can do to resolve this? I been driving this Focus for 6 years and all along I cruise in "free gear" - suddendly this issue crops up and I am told that all along, you cannot drive in "free gear"!!

john

[carlos80]

Never heard of this. Where did you hear this from? As far as I know coasting neutral is ok, don't see how your it would stall engine.

[jtan]

Originally Posted by carlos80

Never heard of this. Where did you hear this from? As far as I know coasting neutral is ok, don't see how your it would stall engine.

Some person from Ford told me this in response to an issue about my engine stalling so I thought I confirm this... I am newbie, can any one help on the issue of engine stalling? What avenues do I have? I understand that there is a technical issue with the Ford Focus Year of manufacture between 2000 - 2001?

thanks

[carlos80]

Is the check engine light on? What model year and engine do you have?

[jtan]

Originally Posted by carlos80

Is the check engine light on? What model year and engine do you have?

yes the engine and battery light if I am not wrong -

Year of manufacture - 2001
Model : Focus 1.6M 4DR
VIN: WFOFXXWPDF1D83906 (Chassis No)
Engine no: 1D83906

What can I do to fix this issue?

[carlos80]

Start by having the codes pulled from the pcm. If the battey light is on as well it could be that your system is not charging properly(should be around 13.5v), maybe battery terminals ahve excessive corrosion.

[JDFFMechanic]

I assume, that you are talking about coasting in neutral (no gear selected). Could be the alternator is going bad, but charges some while you have it above idle. When do the lights come on? It could also be the idle air control valve, which is a common failure. They get a lot of carbon build-up on them, and then they cannot move quickly enough to regulate idle when coming down from higher RPMS, but it may re-start fine.