2006 FORD FOCUS CAR PROBLEMS

Let's start off by saying I know absolutely nothing about cars. So bear with me.

This problem ALWAYS happens after I stop the car and then try to accelerate again.

I will press the gas pedal and it will JUST start to accelerate and then the car will jerk and the O/D Off light will start flashing. And even though I'm continuing to press the gas pedal (the rpms shoot up HOWEVER the speedometer stops working and stays at 0), the car will not go faster than about 2 mph. Then after a minute, the car will kick again, the light will go off, and it will accelerate.

Just the other day, I was stopped at a light, and when it turned green I hit the gas pedal and the car didn't move AT ALL. The rpms went up, the speedometer didn't move, and I stayed in one spot.

NOTE: If I restart my car, it runs fine again.

This has been happening for a few months now (started out happening maybe once a month) but now it is happening daily. I'm not sure what the problem could be so any advice would be helpful. Obviously I'm going to have the car looked at, but I would like to hear what you THINK it sounds like, just so I can get an idea of maybe what I'm dealing with.

You might check the automatic transmission fluid level - otherwise it sounds like your torque converter.

I'd, take it to the mechanic

You need to take the car to a trustworthy mechanic. Ask your friends/colleagues for recommendations. It may just be low on transmission fluid or a fluid change may be needed. I doubt there's much wrong with it or it wouldn't move at all.

You can get some info by having a free OBD2 code check done at a car part store. Write down the codes verbatim and look their definitions up. That will not tell you how to fix it and you still need to hire a mechanic, but you will at least have some information. My wild guess is expect code P07xx to be included in the trouble. Those cars are notorious for transmission trouble. However, the car has many tears and miles of wear on it.

Get a "tune-up", get the transmission fluid changed (drain and fill only change) and see if the car issues go away. Have them check for fault codes. If the issues do not go away, it is time to take the car to a reputable indepedent garage.

Sounds like throttle body

This sounds like the problem Ford was having with their defective Throttle Bodies. Drive by wire cars don't have a steel cable connected to the throttle body. There's a foot pedal sensor that sends a signal to the microchip in the throttle body and it tells an electric motor how far to open the throttle plate to let air into the engine. If the cars serial number has never been entered into the system for a throttle body replacement at Ford's expense, then you might get a free throttle body from the dealer, installed.