I have had problems ever since I bought my 2000 ford focus with all the recalls - I have had my brakes redone and here under a year they are needing done again - not enough mileage - window mechanism not working on two windows - engine and airbag light on - constant problems with a car that everyone is having problems with the same things.
2000 Ford Focus engine complaints
Page 6 of 18: complaints 131 to 160 of 492, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving vehicle stalled.
Engine stalls at different speeds. Taken to dealer twice, last time new updated fuel pump put in as per recall. Still stalls even after that.
Took my 2000 ford focus to dealer for 30,000 mile service, and to have them fix whatever was causing the engine light to blink and the car to idle roughly, and to fix the problem with the car engine turning off while driving. The service was done and the fuel filter "recall" would fix the engine problem. Was told the computer did not register an error code and that the rough idleengine light problem was likely fixed as a result of the fuel filter replacement. The next morning, the engine light came on and stayed on and the car was still idling rough. Drove straight to the dealer and was told that my car had excessive carbon in the cylinder head and that the cylinder head might need to be replaced. They would try to clean the carbon, which they did and billed me $205. Don't understand why such a problem wasn't noticed the day before when I spent over $500. The problem is that this car has less than 30,000 miles on it and it makes no sense that not only do I possibly face having an expensive cylinder head repair, but I have already replaced the front pads and rotors (at 25,000 miles) and have had numerous recalls. I have consistently followed the scheduled maintenance plan and am concerned that not only is this car defective, but that it is unsafe. What are my options and what can be done to ensure focus owners that the car is safe? Is there some way to make this car reliable? It has some really great features (like the interior roominess), but it is proving to be a major disappointment.
While driving consumer noticed black smoke coming from the engine. Consumer pulled the vehicle over, opened the hood, and noticed that engine was on fire. Consumer was unable to put out the flames. *ak consumer was driving at 25 MPH when smoke was noticed.
Ford as a tsb on a problem that I am having with my tsb. I just found out that on my focus the valves are sticking in the guides on the cylinder head and it needs to be replaced. Ford has admitted to me and the car dealership where I purchased the car that this is a default on their part but they refuse to be of any assistance to me. There is much more to this story and I am desparately seeking assistance from someone to guide me as to what to do next. When I spoke to the customer service department at ford they told me there was nothing they could do and eventually hung up on me.
(2000-ford focus zts - 29,536 miles) in addition to a prior incident when my car stalled on highway 635 when I was going approx. 60 MPH in the center lane, it has stalled "twice" today within just 1 hour during my lunch break! In all incidents the car lost all power and the engine stopped without any prior warning whatsoever. In both occurences, I was driving at the posted speed limit and was neither accelerating nor decelerating when all of a sudden, the radio went out, warning lights came on and the engine died. I was stuck in the extreme left lane of 'us 75' and narrowly missed being hit by multiple vehicles.
The "malfunction indicator lights" failed to work after the oil cap was forgotten to be replaced. The car was driven (not knowing the oil cap was not secure) and no signs or warning signals (malfunction indicator lights) were displayed on the dashboard that would denote some type of caution/malfunction. The car had smoke billowing out from under the hood and the interior filled w/smoke. The car then began to buck and blue smoke was blowing out of the exhaust pipe after adding oil, and again, no malfunction signals were highlighted on the dashboard.
While driving 15 MPH the vehicle stalled. The driver attempted to restart the vehicle when she noticed steam coming from under the hood. The driver lifted the hood and saw steam and smoke coming from the battery compartment. The vehicle caught on fire and was towed by the insurance company.
Consumer received a recall notice for stalling.
I received a notice of a recall on my 2000 ford focus concerning the defective fuel pump design. The notice recommended waiting until the new design was available in january 2004 before taking the vehicle to the dealer.the vehicle was not showing any symptoms at this point but did so shortly afterward.shortly before getting a schedule to take it in,the check engine light came on and stayed on. The dealer replaced the recall fuel pump system but found the engine light was on because of a sticking exhaust valve on one side of the engine which would have to be replaced at a cost of $1900.this was in addition to a $100 diagnostic fee.the condition was described as not likely to cause stalling or furthur damage if the vehicle was driven. I took the car to the dealer where the car was purchased. Prior to arriving at the 2nd dealer's shop the check engine light was no longer on.the diagnosis was similar and the cost was put at $2100 plus an $85 diagnostic fee.after requesting an explanation of why this damage would occur on a car with just 28k miles and only after the fuel pump symptoms started,the repair cost was reduced to $600. Because the car was purchased a little over 3 years ago the 36,000 miles engine warranty did not apply.the car was running fine and appeared to have no problems until the fuel pump malfunctioned as ford expected. I am certain this caused the engine damage. I will also file a complaint with ford .
While driving 20-25 MPH consumer heard a loud noise coming from the engine. Vehicle was taken to the dealer, and mechanic determined it was an engine problem. But, there was no recall.
Without any warning, the engine stalled while being driven 15 MPH. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the mechanic indicated the timing belt was broke. Please provide further information.
Timing belt broke due to defective belt tensioner bearing, causing engine to stop, vehicle had to be towed and timing belt and belt tensioner assembly were replaced. Incident occurred at 39,324 miles.
Defective front brake rotor. *ph during the inspection the consumer was told that the defect was not covered under the vehicle's warranty. Other vehicle components also malfunctioned. The vehicle's trunk latch broke, the check engine light illuminated twice, the cd player became inoperative and the steering wheel locked up.
Recall #03v482000 regarding stalling. Dealer charged consumer for a diagnostic of $60.00 concerning this recall.
Around 6:00 a.m. On 01-14-04. While taking 9 yr. Old daughter to school and myself to work, driving at aprox. 55 MPH. My 2000 ford focus engine suddenly caught on fire.
This is a salvaged vehicle. Consumer received a recall notice from ford. However, dealership refused to honor the recall, claiming it was not a sfety recall.
My car has a constant bad vibration that intensifies on right turns, going up grades, and over bumps. I have taken it to jim click ford in tucson, az for a total of three times. Each time they come up with a different excuse and it never fixes the problem. I have been told at first it was, my tires, I replaced all four tires with top of the line michelins, then I was told that my fuel pump was going out and that is the cause of the vibration, now it is the coils. Not one of these has fixed the problem, I am still waiting on the pump to get in stock at jim click, and they did replace the coils at a charge of $370.88. In addition to the vibration it sporadically tries to stall and hesitates when turning. I also have my taillights, and back up lights constantly burning out, I have replaced them 3 times and the last time I had jim click replace them. (the back up light, passenger side is out again) I was also told the first time I took in my car to jim click ford (before the fuel pump recall), I needed to replace a failing fuel pump and that would cost $680.00 to replace. (parts and labor) I could not afford it and took it out of their shop, I then brought it in after the recall and they told me that the fuel pump was not the problem that it was the coil and they could not replace the fuel pump since it was not failing. I then fought it out with them and they said they would replace the fuel pump when it came in stock late january 2004. They did replace the coils and the engine check light was on when I brought it in and that is how they determined that it was the coils. They fixed that problem and I got my car back and guess again the engine light came on the very next day and the vibrations are getting worse. I am starting to feel that this car is a lemon my car only has 64,000 miles and has so many recalls and service bulletins it is scary.
I purchased my 2000 ford focus se from merlin motors in saskatoon. Production date - may 2/2000, stock no. Pp24941, r.o. No. 155631. I believe this car was previously owned by someone in british columbia. Here is a chronological breakdown of repairs. April 17/01 - took car in because driver mirror vibrated badly when driving - so badly that I could not look into it, it was shaking that much. Also, the trunk would not open from the release inside the car. Parts were ordered at this time. Vehicle kilometers- 32854. June 19/01 - they checked for driver mirror vibrating when driving and replaced driver side exterior mirror. The also checked for trunk not opening from the release inside the car, they replaced the trunk stop and adjusted. Vehicle kilometers- 35222 june 20/01 - they checked for power steering leak and replaced steering rack and set toe. Vehicle kilometers- 37782?? (this is obviously an error - I know I did not drive 2, 560 km in one day!) I also did not complain about the power steering and don't recall why my car was in there at the time. Sept 21/01 - they repaired rattle in right front going over bumps, tightened all assemble bolts in front end, removed right caliper and rotor, lubed all bushing, adjusted front splash shields, found tie rod bolt loose and tightened. They also fixed molding on window belt, which was loose and checked inside rear view mirror and found it flawed - part on order. Vehicle kilometers- 43170. Nov 3/01 - we were driving in saskatoon when engine started to boil. We knew this because of steam coming from the hood, all gauges in the car read normal! We took car to merlin - they could find nothing wrong with the car after their checks, and told us to bring it back if it happened again! Work order for this date states: customer saw steam coming from under hood, antifreeze pooled on engine, gauge read normal, steam coming from overflow tank - fill with a/freeze, pressure test for leaks, no leaks found.
Stalling,coughing,sputtering
My vehicle has a stalling problem. It gives no indication that this will occur. It can happen at high or low speed. I have contacted my local dealership and they do not have any indication of what may be causing the problem. What is strange to me is that if the engine sits then it will start up again with no problem. This first occured in april 2003 and now it occuring more often. All I want to know is what to fix or what can be done. I really love my car but getting stranded is no fun.
When driving car after so long the engine gets hot and speed reduces. When pushing on accelerator to try to pick up speed, it continues to lose more speed and starts jerking. After it continues to keep jerking and speed keeps going down engine shuts off, leaving me sit in the middle of town with two children under the age of two. When car stalls and you try to restart, it turns over but will not start. Once it does start it shuts back down until it sits for a couple hours. Had this problem for a long period of time. Ford refuses to fix even when under warranty. It supposed to be such a reliable car but is very unsafe to drive when it acts up. Could cause serious accident. I don't feel safe driving a car that I'm paying so much money for to keep breaking down. I find this to be a seriuos problem. I don't believe anyone that has children would want this happening to them and ford not doing anything about it, telling me there's nothing wrong with it .
On october 10th 2003 I was driving in the ford focus 2000 wagon from new york city to cleveland, oh, about 500 miles. It drove well for about 300 miles, but started to choke and sputter on hills, like it was about to stall. I was hoping I would make it to cleveland for repairs, but it stalled out on me going 65 miles an hour 60 miles outside of cleveland. I was able to restart, and limped into the nearest town and found a ford dealer in ashtabula oh. He said it was the fuel filter and repaired it. It drove fine for the rest of journey into cleveland. But I then headed to new york city a few days later, and again after 200 miles, it started sputtering on hills. Then outside of binghamton, ny it stalled again. I again restarted, and terrified of a fatal accident, I called for road side assistance from verizon wireless. They got a tow truck to get me to a garage, but they were closed. The next morning, I waited for them to diagnose the problem and repair the car, but they were unable to replicate the stalling problem. I drove the rest of the way into new york city terrified, and almost stalled out at the foot fo the george washington bridge. It was after 5:00 pm so the dealership was closed that I bought the car from. So I am planning to have them look at it. But they said that unless they can see the problem, they can't fix it. I also called ford and they said they never heard of this problem. Which I later found out is a major problem with this car, and there is an active investigation underway at the federal safety agency. I am hoping to get by under the lemon law in ny, but fear that the dealership will claim there are no problems with my car. Thank you for listening to my complaint.
At 148 miles told ford there was a problem with trans, did not believe road tested fro 2 miles and had car for day and a half. Said they designed trans to slip. I continued to drive it in that condition and repeatedly called customer service back and questioned dealers about slip and they said it was designed that way. To say the least trans replaced. Trim and other items falling off car and frod would not replace. More brake jobs than you can shake a stick at. Just got done putting 600.00 into it when engine threw rod and now has to be replaced for a cost of 3,700.00. Ford made a bad car nd they know it , but will leave us focus owners out to hang.
Started experiencing problems with the vehicle after purchase. Suddenly in august, all power systems/computer type items began to fail -- power locks, trunk release. Then, car began (and still does) to sputter and shake when stopped/idle until it would shutdown. Also, the radio/cd player would shut off. Checked for tsbs for the vehicle model & year and found at least 15. When I took the car to the dealer (world ford sandy springs) we were told that they are technical service bulletins and that we would have to pay to have the car repaired. Only official ford recall notices, not even ntsa recall notices, would be honored. On top of this, we would be expected to pay $90 per complaint batch (the tsb list was batched in to 3 main areas)for diagnostic purposes and if any of the complaints were related to a recall, the $90 would be refunded as applicable. I expressed that if ford issued a tsb and the ntsa issued a recall notice, then I should not have to pay to have the car worked on.
Engine stalls then restarts. Occurs under all driving conditions. Occurs in warmer weather vs winter. Dealers tend to indicate fuel pump over heating as problem. Fuel pump is in gas tank cooled by 12+ gallons of fuel. The catalytic converter is right long side fuel tank. Fuel tank has temp insulation on side that favors fuel tank. The mass of the fuel tank has to exceed operational temp spec of fuel pump to contribute to anomaly.
Let's see, where shall I begin. Within month or two of purchase of 2000 focus sedan it was back in the shop for the front a panel trim. It took 3 times to finally get that right. Also less than 5 months after purchase, windshield had to be replaced due to a stress fracture (was a 1-1.5 hairline crack which appeared in windshield). The windshield has since been replaced again. While adjusting the rear-view mirror the windshield cracked around the base, apparently from slight pressure of mirror. And just recently, august 2003, I've noticed water drops flying up from above the dashboard. Not sure if windshield is leaking around the bottom base or maybe a.c. Haven't had it checked yet, but it will be in the shop this week for other problems I haven't mentioned yet. It was in shop in late 2001 or early 2002 for throttle problems. While the car was sitting still the engine would race between 2.5 and 3000 rpms. Fortunately I never used the cruise control during that time. Late 2002 the trunk lock mechanism apparently broke preventing the trunk from shutting properly. It wouldn't latch at all. I have yet to have the wiper motor cover recall fixed. And on different occasions the fuel gauge has read empty, no matter how much fuel you have in the tank. And just when you think nothing else can go wrong, it happens. Me and my wife were shopping this morning on labor day saturday. We got in the car and I went to start it. My key somehow would not go into the ignition completely, no matter how hard I tried. We eventually call our triple aaa insurance and arrange for a locksmith to come and take a look. He looks at it a second and declares what we fear the worst. Our focus is the 7th focus this month he has seen with the same problem. He said that the ignition would have to be replaced by ford. I believe that this should be a recall. I will never buy another ford.
Flange brakage on the egr valve assembly. The pipe breaks at the flange where it connects to the side of the exhaust manifold. Causeing a sputting sound and emitting exhaust fumes into the automobile. It also causes problems with (3) sensors. I called the service and parts department at three local dealers and was told by all three that this is a common problem with this part but there was no recall. So I had to have a new one installed with a one year warranty on the part. But if this is common whats to say after a year it will break again? The part is not well made as it's made out of copper with a small weld at the flange. I have been to other focus owners group sites and found several had seen this same problem. I would be thankful for any help you can give me on this matter. John garner
While coming home from a house warming in tucson, az on 06/21/03 me, my 2 nieces,and my daughter were on the fast lane of the freeway coming out of tucson when the engine started losing power, the car started slowing down to about 25 MPH we had to cross 3 lanes to get off the freeway with other cars coming at 65 to 70 MPH we almost got hit on the last lane before exiting the freeway. The car then sputtered the rest of the way off the freeway. After sitting for a while we were able to start it again. And continue home but we used frontage rd all the way. I am afraid to take it on the freeway anymore. Sometimes it does want to start at all. The door on passanger side also doesn't unlock with power button. Service engine light comes on with battery light and oil light. I feel someone will eventually be seriouly injured unless they find out what is wrong here.
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