Ford Focus spluttering

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14 Oct 2008
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Location
Yorkshire
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United Kingdom
I have a 2litre 51 plate Ford Focus Zetec. On Friday i pulled up at the lights and smoke came from under my bonnet. On inspection there was water all over the engine and floor due to a split radiator coolant pipe. I parked up and let the car cool down for half an hour before i made the short journey back home(1 mile). The car stayed in my drive until Monday when i got chance to replace the pipe. Once i'd done this i tried starting the car but the battery was totaly flat so i took it out and put it on charge for a few hours. Now i've replaced the battery and the car started up fine but when i'm driving it splutters like hell. In the owners manual it says the car may not run very well for the first 5 miles when replacing the battery due to the engine management system resetting itself, so i ran it for just over 6 miles but there seems to be no sign of it getting better. Can anyone give me some advice please as the car was running fine up until Friday. Is it possible that water has got in to something?
Thanks in advance.
Mark
 
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Are the EHT leads wet (spark plug leads)? Is there any water in the hole where the spark plugs go?
Might be worth replacing the leads as the water which has leaked out all over the engine will have anti-freeze etc in it, a steam clean under the bonnet may not go amiss either.
 
From what I remember certain models of Focus can run on 3 cylinders after a loss of coolant - alternating the dead cylinder continually to act as an air pump and provide cooling for a 'limp home' mode as it were. Would expect the engine management light to be on if it were doing this however?
 
Thought i'd take the car to work last night(1 and half miles) for a little run which might dry it out. It's mainly downhill so it didn't seem too bad unles i accelerated. On the way home this morning though it seemed to struggle up the hill more. When I got home I opened the bonnet to see if i could see anything unusual. Forgive my lack of car knowledge but underneath the engine it was glowing red. Don't know what it was but it's freaking me out now. All this happened before I saw your replies so i've now sprayed WD40 around the plugs and other electrical parts. Should i risk starting it up again to see if there's any change?
Cheers
 
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If it was glowing red then no, dont starts it, call a mechanic/garage etc.
(have you no friendly neighbours that know about cars?)

"Glowing red" sounds like a technical term for "oh bugger - something's wrong" :D

What you don't want to do is cause more damage than is already there.

Is this the Zetec engine?

Plugs & plug leads were a common cause of problems on mine when they were wet.

You had a coolant leak, are you completely sure that you repaired it, glowing red may well be because there is insufficient coolant, have you filled it fully & checked the water level since then?
 
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