Ford Focus stumble, erratic speedometer

[prb_nearnorth]

2004 Ford Focus, base model S, 2.0 SPI engine, 5 speed manual trans., 68000 km

History: Bought the car last summer from a dealer, the speedometer would work intermittently, otherwise the car ran fine. Dealer replaced the instrument cluster and that fixed the problem. Used the car all summer with no problems and then in the fall I put it in storage. Filled the gas tank, added fuel stabilizer, ran the engine for 20 min. and stored it for 8 months. Winter is cold here, -30 degrees Celsius at times. This spring, I unwrapped the car. Battery was dead -- charged it up. Car started fine BUT it stumbles at idle PERIODICALLY. Also when I am cruising along at VARIOUS speeds and I attempt to accelerate, the car will stumble and misfire. I can avoid this issue if I accelerate very gently or I can aggravate the stumble by accelerating aggressively. Whenever the car does stumble (at idle or cruising) the speedometer swings erratically to the maximum. I have been running the car to work and it usually cruises along just fine. This stumbling does not occur all of the time. It doesn't seem to occur with a cold engine but rather is more noticeable when the engine has warmed up. At times the check engine light will come on and I have read the following codes:

059 - my code reader does not show a P but I assume this means P0059 which is the oxygen sensor heater resistance (Bank 2, Sensor 1). However, I thought that Bank 2 would be the oxygen sensor AFTER the catalytic converter. From my reading I expect that this sensor monitors the condition of the converter but I did not think that the sensor would affect the running of the engine.

0182 - which I assume means P0182 - my reading indicates that this is a fuel temperature sensor A circuit low input. However, some articles indicate that I do not even have this sensor. Apparently the Focus Zetec engine (which I don't have) can have this problem. So I'm not sure if this code means anything.

07E5 or 07ES - can't tell if that last digit is a five or a letter S. Either way, I couldn't find any information on this code.

Thinking that the gas may have deteriorated over the winter (even with the gas stabilizer added), I replaced the fuel filter when I had run the tank down to almost empty. The car STILL stumbled at idle - I haven't taken it out for a run yet. I plan to fill the tank with fresh gas, add some fuel injector cleaner but I'm not hopeful. I tested the FRONT (upstream) oxygen sensor and it SEEMS to be working, both the heater circuit and the signal circuit. Checked the plugs - platinum plugs all in good condition.

At this point, I haven't a clue what to do. Aside from possibly replacing the oxygen sensor. Any suggestions that you might give would be appreciated. Thanks.

[bill_midmo]

I am having the exact same problem. I was wondering if you were able to find the solution to this issue.

Thanks for any help you could provide.

[prb_nearnorth]

Hi. My problem turned out to be a cracked ignition coil. At night you could see sparking across the coil. Also spraying SALT water on the coil caused a stumbling. The cracks were not very obvious while the coil was installed but were very evident when the coil was removed. Weird error codes that were generated. Hope that this helps.

[bill_midmo]

Thank you so much for posting your fix. After taking out the coil I could see some small cracks throughout the casing. I ran to the shop, put a new one in, and low and behold, the car is working perfectly

Thanks again for posting and helping me out with this problem.