2012 Ford Focus Check Engine Light

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your 2012 Ford Focus will usually 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 productive, and you did a lot 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 2012 Ford Focus light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that amount and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to David McDavid Ford so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a 2012 Ford Focus?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as pure as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a threatening problem that could cause threatening damage to your engine and come with a considerable repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A dependable glow generally means something less threatening but a flashing check engine light indicates that your vehicle’s engine is in threatening trouble and service is essential suddenly. If your check engine light is flashing in your 2012 Ford Focus, we incredibly recommend not to commute the vehicle and schedule Ford service at this moment. Below is a list of the most pure reasons your check engine light can come on:

• Your 2012 Ford Focus has a vacuum leak. Every Ford Focus has a vacuum system that performs a wide 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 dehydrated out and crack, notably if they’re exposed to extraordinary heat or extreme chilly.
• Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or additional item can wreak havoc on your 2012 Ford Focus if it’s not installed properly. These aftermarket elements and accessories can drain the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even stop the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound accepted, bring your Focus to Ford and have our team of certified mechanics ensure that your aftermarket items were installed properly and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, notably aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM elements 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.
• The battery is low or dead. The battery in your 2012 Ford Focus is every awful. 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 truly require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Ford you drive, but check our current service coupons and specials.
• Your catalytic converter is detrimental or going detrimental. The catalytic converter is a part of your 2012 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 commonly caused by neglected maintenance, which is why David McDavid Ford 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 2012 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 additional problems from overheating.
• One of the most typical and frequent cause is that your 2012 Ford Focus gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your 2012 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 detrimental fuel cap? If your gas cap is classic 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 2012 Ford Focus, first thing you should check is to make fearless the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.
• New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are needed for your 2012 Ford Focus. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel collection 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 detrimental or classic, 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, major to more expensive repairs.
• Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be replaced. The Oxygen sensor, accepted 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 less practical 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 2012 Ford Focus's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to read the polite collection of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A detrimental O2 sensor can also cause a car to fail an emissions test.
• 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 big changes, like altitude. If your Ford Focus is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a hasty change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a sign of a detrimental mass airflow sensor.

Check Engine Light Service 2012 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 microscopic because you have microscopic idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the price of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t represent 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 2012 Ford Focus checked as soon as likely. Ignoring that warning could end up causing admirable damage to costly engine elements.

When your 2012 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 equitable, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is normally 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 electrical observe tool that is used by our Ford auto repair mechanics at David McDavid Ford. There are also a number of comparably inexpensive code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you opt for that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced skilled to represent the issue and repair it.

2012 Ford Focus Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are countless likely causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are several fair causes including something as classic as a loose gas cap. Other fair reasons for a Check Engine Light are faulty head gasket, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, dirty mass airflow sensor, faulty emissions control part, damaged oxygen sensor, 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 needed 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 2012 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 logical systems. The sensors are continually detecting conditions while sending data to the electronic control unit. If the electronic 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 strictly is guilty nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; David McDavid Ford provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Extremely Qualified Service professional.

2012 Ford Focus Check Engine Light

A flashing light hints that the problem is combative and if not taken care of swiftly may result in main damage to the automobile. If the check engine light in your 2012 Ford Focus starts flashing, that means that the problem needs immediate attention and your Ford should be brought in swiftly. This flashing light usually hints a exacting engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be deposited into the exhaust system. There it can instantly enhance the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is likely, requiring an fancy repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can surely be the cause. A bad, historic or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If your check engine light is glaring, please contact our team of automotive experts at David McDavid Ford urgently by calling 8174207990. 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 particularly pricey repair.

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

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. If you check engine light is flashing, we recommend that you pull over and contact David McDavid Ford to help represent if your vehicle is safe to drive in or if we recommend a tow truck. Since each 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.

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

The central cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is consistently between $88 and $111. The satisfying news, David McDavid Ford offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help pick the cause of your check engine light. The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not correctly tightened to a more relentless failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it satisfying to get the apt code reading and diagnosis.

Is it safe to drive your 2012 Ford Focus with the check engine light on?

This question is not exceedingly noble because it all 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 drive. This is constantly 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 hazardous problem. If the check engine light is glaring, this means that there is a hazardous issue and it is recommended to service your Ford Focus abruptly. Call the experts at David McDavid Ford by dialing 8174207990 so you can describe the issues. Or lower your speed and bring your 2012 Ford to our certified mechanics as soon as available.

2012 Ford Focus Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that miniature light on your vehicle’s dashboard abruptly illuminates, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear polite away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just additional name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, also modern as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your Focus. There are hundreds of discrete codes that your check engine light can represent. While that sounds daunting, with a miniature patience, tackling prime diagnostics will give you congenial knowledge about your vehicle and will also allow that Check Engine Light to do what it is really supposed to do: be your guide. Unfortunately, disparate and favorable vehicle symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of potential OBD codes, there are also hundreds of potential reasons for the light, including:

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

This is why it is crucial for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. If the engine light comes on due to a remarkable concern, you risk damaging your car supplemental by not repairing the issue right away. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out abruptly by a certified Ford mechanic. Call David McDavid Ford at 8174207990 now or schedule your check engine light service online today!

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most often misunderstood lights or indicators in your 2012 Ford Focus is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in assorted diverse 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 variety of things for your 2012 Ford Focus. Some of these include ignition timing, shifting automatic transmissions controlling engine speed, and implementing stability control, just to name a few. With that being said, the check engine light can determine a variety of discrete things. It can be as conclusive as your gas cap being loose or as appalling as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your 2012 Ford Focus, contact David McDavid Ford. Our Ford service department can help you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or inspect why your check engine light is flashing. Contact David McDavid Ford today!