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Car periodically dies, kind of. Help?


Dr. Pomade

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The car in question is a 2011 Ford Fusion SEL. It has approximately 48k miles on it. I have used it as a daily driver since July 2013 with zero issues previously.

 

A few months ago, as I was driving on the freeway, the car kind of "shuddered," the check engine light came on, and the car lost all rpms. Like, I would hit the accelerator, and it would sound like it was revving, but no rpms. So, with the car now lacking any means of powering itself, I had to coast to the side of the road (which was kind of dicey given I was on the freeway) and there I turned the car off. Notably, all the electrical stuff stayed on - the radio, AC, etc. After pulling over, I waited a few seconds and turned the car back on. It acted funny - like the car didn't want to turn over - but eventually it did turn on. I drove off and, just a few minutes later, it did the same thing - lost RPMS, etc. and I had to coast to a stop. I called a tow truck and had it taken to a Tuffy's nearby my house.

 

Tuffy calls me and verifies the check engine light was on, but says they can't find anything wrong with the car. They said something about it maybe being the injectors? In this vein, they also said the injectors for the make and model of this car were apt to fail, or something to that effect? They kept it overnight, drove it around the next morning (as they thought it might have had something to do with the car being cold), but still nothing. They said it was driving fine. I picked it up later that day. (Tuffy didn't charge me anything, FYI.)

 

Since then, the problem has reoccurred about 10 different times. So, that's about once every 10 days or so. Each time, the problem is the same: the car will shudder, the RPMs stop, I have to coast to a stop, I shut it off and then start it back up, and every time it acts like it doesn't want to turn over. Notably, it starts up and drives fine at all other times. It's just during those weird instances.

 

They typically occur in the first few minutes of me starting to drive. Like, I will get in the car, it starts up fine, I start driving, and then - bleh - it dies. It has never died on me more than twice in a row at any given time. Sometimes, it happens in the morning, at other times, it happens in the afternoon. The constant that is, each time, the car has been sitting for a while.

 

Sometimes, it happens when the car is in first gear. At other times, it has happened when the car is in fourth or fifth gear. When it happens, I swear it feels like something weird is going on with the transmission. Of course, I know about zero about cars, so this could be me just making stuff up.

 

So, does anyone know what is going on with it? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to try to offer as much detail as possible.

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I'd like to see the code if its's stored, but it sounds like the throttle body is your issue(electronic side of it), a couple years ago I had a customers 2010-11 fusion that was doing the same thing.

 

 

does this fit your description?: The Check Engine light (CEL) is on, the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) sets Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) P0316 and P2112. There is no throttle response when stepping on the accelerator pedal.

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Throttle body. My GF's car did the exact same thing on her '11 Fusion SE and ford has a tsb out for it. They are covered under a recall I'm 99% sure. I bought it and missed the window to get my money back but I think the recall is ongoing.
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Thanks for the replies, guys. I called Tuffy to see if they still had the codes saved from when they checked it out before, but they didn't. The Tuffy tech said that it sounded like a throttle bottle issue to him.

 

I just did a quick search, and came across this. The comments from people describe exactly what's going on with my car - and how it's kind of fucked up that car does into limp mode at any time, including in heavy freeway traffic (that makes it kind of dicey to pull over and get out of the way).

 

http://www.fordproblems.com/trends/electronic-throttle-body/

 

I'm going to call Ford later today when I have my VIN handy and see if I qualify for the recall. I would think that I do. Also, I vaguely remember getting some letter in the mail from Ford about some issue. I saved the paper (I think) and I'll check it when I get home to see if it's the ETB issue.

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http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM463527/CSC-10056183-3464.pdf

 

My 2010 Sport with the 3.5l V6 has had it's engine light on/off and now on again for months. I may have take it in this week considering I'm about to hit the road again.

 

Love the car, but am anxious to ditch it in December.

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We've had good luck with Coughlin Ford in Johnstown.

 

Between the Mustang, my company Escape with it's 7+ actual recalls (not just TSBs), and a few things on the truck, they've been the best to deal with.

 

Ricart, Dick Masheter, and Krieger have all been a PITA to deal with and/or shady.

 

I have no experience with Germain or Bob-Boyd.

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This happened to my 2010. I was in the middle of nowhere and stuck on the side of the road. I unplugged the battery so the ECU forgot about it and made it back home. Got it fixed at Ford later that week, but received a letter in the mail a few months later alerting me of a recall.
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We've had good luck with Coughlin Ford in Johnstown.

 

Between the Mustang, my company Escape with it's 7+ actual recalls (not just TSBs), and a few things on the truck, they've been the best to deal with.

 

Ricart, Dick Masheter, and Krieger have all been a PITA to deal with and/or shady.

 

I have no experience with Germain or Bob-Boyd.

 

Copy that.

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I'm struggling with the fact that you own a Fusion. It doesn't seem possible.

 

LOL, I love this car. I do a ton of driving and I am constantly in downtown parking garages. The Fusion is great because it gets decent gas mileage and I don't freak out when I come out to the parking garage and see that it has four new door dings. I couldn't say the same about the S5, which turned out to be a horrible daily driver for me.

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I have no experience with Germain or Bob-Boyd.

 

I've had good luck with Germain. Stupid thing, but they do a great job cleaning it up inside and out for me too at No Charge whenever I simply ask. Not just a shitty drive through wash but rather a nice cleaning.

 

I even took our minivan there one time rather than the dicks over at Dennis Hyundai. I'd rather pay a few hundred at Ford vs free(warranty) at Hyundai if that tells you how bad they suck.

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Got the verdict: camshaft phasers are going bad. $1300 to $1500 estimate.

 

No thanks. Getting rid of it in a few weeks and based on all that I've seen happen to people here and with my Ford I will not be buying another one for a while.

They said it will take a few months to cause any major issues. I hope so and will likely get rid of it in early December now.

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Got the verdict: camshaft phasers are going bad. $1300 to $1500 estimate.

 

No thanks. Getting rid of it in a few weeks and based on all that I've seen happen to people here and with my Ford I will not be buying another one for a while.

They said it will take a few months to cause any major issues. I hope so and will likely get rid of it in early December now.

Ouch. Just got a letter in the mail about my Equinox being part of a service campaign/customer satisfaction program for premature ring wear. Sure enough, my car burns 1 qt of oil every 1000 miles. I hope they take care of it.

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