Hi you say it warms up then splutters. Do you mean it starts to misfire. How long is the warm up !. The ford focus is fitted with a smart charging system. I.E: The e.c.u controls the charge rate & tells the alt when & when not to charge. You say the gauges go dead. This happens when battery voltage is low & the dash cluster can go into self test. The needles on the rev,Speedo etc sweep the full scale & return.
FirefighterA16
January 2009