2000 Ford Focus: wrong fuel gauge reading

Filed Mar 30, 2006 · Fuel system · 57,000 miles · PA

I was driving at 65 MPH, while the engine of my car started loosing power and rpms. I immediately shifted to neutral and pulled to the side of the road. I tried to restart the car, but it was running pretty bad, almost as if not enough fuel was going to the engine. I shut the engine off for 5 minutes. I restarted again and it worked ok for another 10 minutes, when the problem occurred again. This is not the first time this is happening, usually it happens when it's a warm (not hot) day, and with half tank or less. However the problem got worse, so it happens regardless of the fuel level. The fuel pump seems to overheat.

Filed Feb 14, 2005 · Fuel system · 20,000 miles · PA

Fuel gauge is not registering the proper amount of fuel. The fuel gauge shows a quarter tank of fuel, but in fact, the tank is empty. Dealer was notified.

Filed Nov 10, 2004 · Fuel system · NC

Consumer noticed on numerous occasions that fuel gauge would indicate that fuel tank would be half or more filled. Then, vehicle stalled. Consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that fuel tank needed to be replaced. Consumer informed the mechanic that fuel tank was replaced five or more times but problem recurred.

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Fuel system, Wheels · 22,000 miles · NY

Rear wheel bearings wore out within 22,000 miles. The bearings had been replaced under recall 01i017000 , but failed again. *ak the consumer stated the fuel gauge started at half a tank and then went to the full mark. The dealer replaced the fuel pump.

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · NC

My radio has failed for the second time and is no longer under warranty. It was already replaced once as it went on or stayed off despite what I did. The fuel gauge sending unit also malfunctions from time to time. Because I have been unable to drive it into the dealership at the time it malfunctions they have been unable or unwilling to remedy this situation. This has been ongoing since the day I bought the vehicle. Count me in as another person who will never again risky buying an american car and certainly not a ford.

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Engine, Fuel system · 820 miles · CA

Extreme amount of problems and recalls, vehicle has low mileage. In addition to listed problems, severe rear tire cupping at 7000 miles, may be attributed to loose rear wheel bearing. Power steering pressure hose leaking, A/C still not fixed correctly cold lasted for about a month drivers door lock wont lock interm. Rear trunk latch wont release from inside car. Fuel gauge erratic, caused driver to run out of gas on a bridge. Maf sensor failure, caused driver to be limited to 15 MPH on freeway till next exit. Vheicles radio stuck on with key removed causing battery drain---happened twice and was fixed. Vehicle is a lease due back for return in august. Cant wait to be rid of this headache but feel sorry for whoever buys it... I would still like ford motor co to reimburse me for the lease payments made for the amount of downtime and time vehicle spent at the dealership to fix some of these problems......thankyou

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Body, Brakes · NC

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.

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Brakes, Fuel system · 80,000 miles · UN

I have nothing but grief with my 2000 focus. 1) most recently I had was traveling at 50 km/h when my front right coil spring dropped out of the front end. I phoned ford repeatedly and even though I discovered a program covering my the coil springs on I was given the run around saying that I was outside the program recall date by a few months even though the car was made at the wayne assembly plant; where other program recalls were coming from. I ended up in a field when the coil spring broke, narrowing missing the car next to me. I was thankful that I had escaped with my life but not to be covered by ford was a slap to the face. I am very upset about the way they handled this situation and I am determined to let everyone know about this situation. My alignment is also out because of the accident but can't afford to fix it right now. 2) four times since I've owned the car, the car has stalled. Twice rounding a corner going onto a highway and 2 twice on a straight away highway. It always happened when the gas gauge was below 1/8 of a tank and so I thought it was my fault because I was running out of gas. Of course I blamed myself. But four times ? I began to become suspicious when the car began chugging uphill on a recent long distance trip. I barely made it to my destination. When I took into a ford dealership in sudbury ontario the serviceman told me that knows of the problem though most of them came in under warranty. Of course the problem at first only presented itself when the tank was near empty and so I always or nearly always made sure to have at least half a tank full of gas when driving. Today the problem is present regardless of how much gas is in the car. Very convenient for ford seeing as though I am outside the 60,000 km warranty plan. Again I do not feel comfortable driving on the highways anymore. I am hoping that ford will hear me out a pay for the repair.

Filed Dec 4, 2003 · Fuel system · 58,000 miles · TX

On the 2 ford focus zx3s I owned both exhibited a hesitation problem when the fuel gauge read 1/4 tank of gas or less. One focus was sold, while the other focus had the fuel pump replaced (both vehicles' warranties had expired). There were never any accidents due to the problem, fortunately the problems arose in the neighborhood or on the open highway.

Filed Nov 28, 2003 · Fuel system · OH

Fuel gauge light came on and tank indicated empty even though tank had just been filled. Dealer checked system and found no fuel system problem but said the problem was caused by leaving the key on (listening to radio) while filling the tank. Within 1 week of dealer visit the same problem reoccurred at least 10 times. However, key has been in off position during refueling. Dealer has not been notified of latest incident.

Filed Nov 14, 2003 · Electrical, Locks · MA

I noticed the doors squeaking soon after I purchased the car. The noise became progressively worse over the next year. The dealership brushed off my questions telling me the doors just needed grease. Now that the warranty is up they tell me it will cost $405.00 for them to fix. The doors have not squeaked for over a year, now they don't lock and both rear doors fly open when I take a corner so I keep them tied shut with bungee cords and ropes. All the junk I used to keep in the back seat is now gone, it flew out of the car while I was getting on the highway. Thank god I didn't have passengers. I have had trouble with the gas gauge since I bought the car, and the ignition locked and had to be replaced. The tow truck driver knew what kind of car I had before I told him-he said they pick up a few ford focus's every week due to the ignition problems. I have also gone through brakes and tires at an alarming rate. The accumulation of brake dust on the front panels is unreal all I do now is wash this car and write checks to pay for repairs.

Filed Nov 12, 2003 · Acceleration, Body · 58,776 miles · NC

Leaking water into passenger foot-compartment. Isolated problem to plastic cover that sits beneath windshield, and is mostly accessible with hood open. The problem is that the plastic comes away from windshield due to some buckling in the plastic. Fixed problem by applying pressure to plastic to bend it back to shape so it snagged-up closer to windshield. Not seen problem since. Mastic to adhere plastic to windshield might be an option to other people. The fuel gauge sometimes refuses to work. Found this to be case when key is put into ignition and key-turned to start engine was done too quickly. If entering key into ignition and then turning key each click, giving each click a half-second, then gauge appears to be more reliable. When engine goes into slow-idling state, engine idles very erratically and is not smooth. Sounds like only some of cylinders are firing. This has only started to occur today and since reading comments on this website, I'm concerned. Have tried adding fuel-injector-cleaner to fuel tank, awaiting results of that. The trunk would not close. The problem here was fixed by removing the locking assembly from the trunk-lid and simply dowsing the mechanisms with wd40 and then bending some spring-loaded components.. There are 2 moving components in the lock. First is shape of a loop that you can easily move with finger/screwdriver. This component locks onto stub that you can see when opening trunk. The other component is hidden within casing and moves in front of other component to hold it in a locked position. Problem was with this component. Problem was component had "somehow" gotten bent and not free to leave casing and block other component. Bending this to a position freeing it of casing fixed problem. Engine lacked power when under load when accelerating, vehicle would shudder and decelerate instead of accelerate. Problem resolved when ford dealer replaced spark-plugs plus leads and a full engine tune-up. $230 plus but fixed problem.