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Is it safe to drive your 2021 Ford Focus with the check engine light on?

If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a dangerous issue and it is recommended to service your Ford Focus urgently. This question is not exceedingly straightforward because it any depends on the severity of the issue. If the cause is a minor issue, such as a loose gas cap, it should be safe to travel to work. This is regularly indicated by a steady glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the vehicle, it could be an indication of a more exacting problem. Call the consultants at Coggin Ford Jacksonville by dialing 9047478996 so you can describe the issues. Or lower your speed and bring your 2021 Ford to our certified mechanics as soon as possible.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a 2021 Ford Focus?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as straightforward as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a momentous problem that could cause momentous damage to your engine and come with a important repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A dependable glow usually means something fewer momentous but a flashing check engine light implies that your vehicle’s engine is in momentous trouble and service is needed immediately. If your check engine light is flashing in your 2021 Ford Focus, we greatly recommend not to drive the car and schedule Ford service today. Below is a list of the most evident reasons your check engine light can come on:

  • The battery is low or dead. The battery in your 2021 Ford Focus is every hopeful. Without a car battery, your car won’t start, light up the road ahead, play the radio or charge your phone. Today’s car batteries last much longer than they did a few decades ago, and they don't certainly require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Ford you drive, but check our existing service coupons and specials.
  • Issues with all aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or alternative item can wreak havoc on your 2021 Ford Focus if it’s not installed correctly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can discharge the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even prevent the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound commonplace, bring your Focus to Ford and have our team of certified mechanics ensure that your aftermarket items were installed correctly and aren't causing all issue. Getting accessories, especially aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM parts first place might cost a little bit more but could save you money from having to get low work and damage caused by low installation work corrected.
  • One of the most commonplace and frequent cause is that your 2021 Ford Focus gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your 2021 Ford Focus serves multiple purposes. It prevents gas fumes from being released when you aren't driving, it seals the fuel system and helps maintain pressure within the fuel tank. What happens if you have a bad fuel cap? If your gas cap is historic or has a ruptured seal, you can lose fuel through evaporation which will result in more trips to the pump. Luckily, to replace a gas cap isn't expensive. If your check engine light turns on immediately after you put gas in your 2021 Ford Focus, first thing you should check is to make sure the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.
  • Your 2021 Ford Focus has a vacuum leak. Every Ford Focus has a vacuum system that performs a expanded variety of functions. The vacuum system also helps lower harmful emissions by routing the fumes as gasoline evaporates through the engine. If you notice that your RPM is high in idle or randomly surges, a vacuum leak could be the cause. Over time, vacuum hoses can dry out and crack, especially if they’re exposed to mammoth heat or extreme chilly.
  • Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be replaced. The mass airflow sensor in your Ford Focus is what determines how much fuel is needed to run your engine efficiently by measuring the amount of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to original changes, like altitude. If your Ford Focus is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a swift change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a sign of a bad mass airflow sensor.
  • Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be replaced. The Oxygen sensor, known as the O2 sensor, measures the amount of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns faster and your vehicle will be fewer direct when it comes to fuel economy. So what happens if I don’t replace your O2 sensor? A faulty sensor can not only affect your miles per gallon, but it can cause damage to your catalytic converter and your 2021 Ford Focus's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to determine the right mixture of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A bad O2 sensor can also cause a car to fail an emissions test.
  • New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are needed for your 2021 Ford Focus. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of your vehicle. This explosion is what moves the pistons and makes the engine run. The spark plug wires deliver the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs or spark plug wires are bad or historic, you will experience low performance and reduced power. In some extreme cases, your engine will have trouble starting or continuing to run. Worn spark plugs and plug wires can cause clogged catalytic converter or damage to ignition coils and O2 sensors, principal to more expensive repairs.
  • Your catalytic converter is bad or going bad. The catalytic converter is a part of your 2021 Ford Focus’s exhaust system. The catalytic converter's function is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A damaged catalytic converter is usually caused by neglected maintenance, which is why Coggin Ford Jacksonville offers a complimentary multi-point inspection with every Ford service. If you have an issue with your catalytic converter and don't get it repaired, your 2021 Ford Focus will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your car may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause alternative problems from overheating.

2021 Ford Focus Check Engine Light

If the check engine light in your 2021 Ford Focus starts flashing, that means that the problem needs abrupt attention and your Ford should be brought in quickly. A flashing light hints that the problem is strict and if not taken care of quickly may result in dominant damage to the vehicle. This glaring light frequently expresses a strict engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be dumped into the exhaust system. There it can rapidly raise the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is attainable, requiring an expensive repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can totally be the cause. A bad, erstwhile or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If your check engine light is shining, please contact our team of automotive consultants at Coggin Ford Jacksonville swiftly by calling 9047478996. If the problem is ignored or you continue to drive, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a very pricey repair.

Check Engine Light Service 2021 Ford Focus

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Ford Focus and promptly, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re like most Ford owners, your heart sinks a little because you have little idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the cost of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t mean you have to pull the car over to the side of the road and call a tow truck, but it is recommended that you get your 2021 Ford Focus checked as soon as likely. Ignoring that warning could end up causing main damage to costly engine components.

When your 2021 Ford Focus's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electronic control system that it can’t careful, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is typically labeled “check engine” or “service engine soon”, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word “check.”

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or “trouble code” in its memory that identifies as the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electronic scan tool that is used by our Ford auto repair mechanics at Coggin Ford Jacksonville. There are also a number of relatively modest code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you choose that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced professional to designate the issue and repair it.

How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?

If you check engine light is shining, we recommend that you pull over and contact Coggin Ford Jacksonville to help represent if your vehicle is protected to drive in or if we recommend a tow truck. It could be anything from a bad sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy accordingly. Since every check engine code has its own level of severity, it is difficult to predict how many miles you can drive with the warning light on.

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most frequently misunderstood lights or indicators in your 2021 Ford Focus is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in a few odd ways. It can say "Check Engine", it can be a symbol of an engine, it can even be a combination of both. This light illuminates in either an amber or red color and is part of the diagnostics system found on your vehicle. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored vehicle performance since the 80s and do a range of things for your 2021 Ford Focus. Some of these include shifting automatic transmissions ignition timing, controlling engine speed, and implementing stability control, just to name various. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of distinctive things. It can be as uncomplicated as your gas cap being loose or as important as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your 2021 Ford Focus, contact Coggin Ford Jacksonville. Our Ford service department can help you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or diagnose why your check engine light is flashing. Contact Coggin Ford Jacksonville today!

2021 Ford Focus Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are countless attainable causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are bountiful dominant causes including something as common as a loose gas cap. Substitute dominant reasons for a Check Engine Light are damaged oxygen sensor, faulty emissions control part, dirty mass airflow sensor, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, faulty head gasket, or defective spark plugs to name a few. No matter what is the root cause of the Check Engine Light, we have the Ford Certified Technicians and the certified service protocol to isolate the root problem and repair it as basic to restore factory specifications. When this happens, the Check Engine Light turns off, and you can leave the service center knowing that your Ford issue was fixed.

Every 2021 Ford Focus was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the vehicle on its vital systems. The sensors are continually detecting conditions while sending data to the professional control unit. If the professional control unit detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light illuminates telling you that there is a problem. However, that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light – it won’t tell you what exactly is erroneous nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; Coggin Ford Jacksonville provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Incredibly Qualified Service professional.

2021 Ford Focus Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that scant light on your vehicle’s dashboard rapidly illuminates, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear right away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just another name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, also admitted as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your Focus. There are hundreds of different codes that your check engine light can opt for. While that sounds daunting, with a scant patience, tackling basic diagnostics will give you legal knowledge about your vehicle and will also allow that Check Engine Light to do what it is truly supposed to do: be your guide. Unfortunately, unmistakable and legal vehicle symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of possible OBD codes, there are also hundreds of possible reasons for the light, including:

  • Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
  • Old Battery
  • O2 Sensor
  • Fuel and air metering systems problems
  • Bad Spark Plugs
  • Computer output circuit issues
  • Ignition system faults
  • Emissions controls issues
  • Transmission issues

This is why it is daily for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out quickly by a certified Ford mechanic. Call Coggin Ford Jacksonville at 9047478996 today or schedule your check engine light service online today! If the engine light comes on due to a precarious concern, you risk risky your vehicle further by not repairing the issue right away.

How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?

The average cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is constantly between $88 and $111. The correct news, Coggin Ford Jacksonville offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to aid learn the cause of your check engine light. The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not properly tightened to a more precarious failure like a aggressive catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it correct to get the willing code reading and diagnosis.

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your 2021 Ford Focus will frequently shut itself off if the issue or code that caused it to turn on is fixed. For example, if the cause of your check engine light coming on was a loose gas cap, if it's tightened, the light will turn itself off. Likewise, if your catalytic converter is going functional, and you did various of stop-and-go driving, that may have turned on the check engine light due to the high usage of the converter. In most cases, your 2021 Ford Focus light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you travel to work over that amount and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to Coggin Ford Jacksonville so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.