Good morning,
Questions for all you mechanically inclined Outdoorsmen and women out there.
We have a 2003 Ford Focus 5 speed manual transmission. Sometimes when I am starting out in 1st gear, the car goes slow and then finally seems to kick into gear. And even when I switch gears there seems to be a hesitation. The engine never stalls.
I tried testing the clutch by putting the emergency break on and slowly letting out the the clutch in 1st gear and then again in 2nd. Both times the gear did engage causing the engine to stall.
The other thing is the engine light came on a while ago. I brought it into Autoparts to just have them read the issue. Problems came up with oxygen sensors. So like a fool, I replaced both oxygen sensors without checking other possibilites. However, the engine light stayed on and it still indicates the oxygen sensors have a problem.
So my questions are:
1) Can bad oxygen sensors cause the car to hesitate when starting off in 1st gear and also when switching gears?
2) If the engine does stall doing the emergency break test with the clutch, does that mean the clutch is ok, or could the clutch be on it's way out with the symptoms described?
I have never replaced a clutch so all feedback is welcome.
It is a perfect little car for booting around town, so if I can fix it, it is a win. If not, the car owes us nothing at this point.
Thanks