While driving all the warning lights came on

JOANNE HALL

MEMBER
2008 FORD FOCUS
1.8L
4 CYL
AUTOMATIC
130,000 MILES

Driving home yesterday all the warning lights came on. It said engine system fault then power steering failure then transmission failure. I pulled over and stopped. After five minutes I started it again and all was fine. Then just before I reached home the engine light came on and stayed on. I had to drive to work this morning with the engine light on. Car is running alright does not seem to have anything wrong. Cannot see an auto electrician until next Tuesday. I have to drive thirty km to work every night until then. Is it safe to do so?

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,480 POSTS

Very difficult to say as Ford tends to use the dash cluster for a lot of control systems. It sounds like a system communication bus failure but without testing that is just a guess.
Basically it means the communication between modules has a problem and either is not talking or is reporting bad information. Sort of like many ten year olds having a tantrum!

IF the light is on but it still starts and runs okay and the other indicators are staying off, it should be okay to drive, but I would not push your luck and take a long trip with it.