While driving my 2000 ford focus sedan upon exiting the parkway saturday evening march 18, 2006, I heard a loud thud from within the front end, like something had snapped. Nothing looked to be wrong. A short time later, the vehicle started to emanate a loud high-pitched grinding noise and then a lot of smoke. What happened is the front right wheel suspension spring snapped off the strut and gorged a deep trough or groove in my tire. Fortunately the tire was brand new. If this had happened while I was driving on the parkway a few minutes before, no doubt the tire would have blown and sent me careening out of control. My mechanic put the car up on a lift so I could take photographs. My mechanic is making the repairs today. He reports the strut spring broke in three separate places. The front tire is destroyed and rendered totally useless. The odometer reading is 66,662 miles. The defective parts will be retained and made available for physical inspection. I am sending my photos as an attachment with my e-mail message to the federal safety agency at their following address: webmaster@the federal safety agency.dot.gov I have never experienced this type of mechanical failure in any other vehicle make or model and I have been driving continuously since 1965. You will observe that a number of identical mechanical failures involving the ford focus struts and springs are posted by others at the federal safety agency web site. *jb the mechanic informed the consumer the front strut broke which caused the front coil spring to break into three pieces. Updated 04/04/06. *jb updated 05/25/06
2000 Ford Focus suspension complaints
Page 4 of 14: complaints 71 to 100 of 390, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Had car towed after loud noise coming from front end. Front coil spring broke while car was parked(??). Dealer replaced the spring at no charge under recall 03m02b (coil spring corrosion warranty extension). Dealer said could not replace rest of coil springs until/unless they break. Is it dangerous to drive around with possibly defective coil springs?
Always noted a rattling, which I was told was a strut noise, but nothing was wrong. Two weeks ago the right side strut spring broke and nearly destroyed a tire. Had to be towed, and then had spring replaced. 10 days later the left side spring broke as I entered driveway. Many reliable sources have informed me that there was no way a 2000 vehicle with 67,000 miles should have these problems. The warranty expired. . Bottom line was that ford used either inferior or defective springs on a important part of the car.
Dt: the consumer stated there were multiple problems with the vehicle. The brakes make noises and pulsated when the pedal was depressed. The vehicle was taken to the service dealer where the brake light switch and ignition cylinder switches were replaced. The dealer also turned the drums, replaced the brake pads and resurfaced the front rotors. There was a vibration in the front end when braking. The lower ball joint, right wheel bearings, right front sway bar link, bone socket, steering rack column and tie rod ends were replaced in an attempt to remedy the problem. The tail light covers retained moisture and condensation built up. The dealer replaced the tail light covers and fuses that were blown due to the moisture. Lastly, the contact noticed the rear seat was loose and upon inspection the dealer discovered an anchor and hinge problem. The back hinge and pillar were replaced.
My 2000 ford focus began making a very loud rumbling noise along with a grinding noise while driving down the road. I took it into my mechanic and he said that both rear wheel bearings were totally shot and the rear wheels of the car were about to fall off. I called ford customer care and they said that since the car was out of warranty there was nothing they were willing to do. This was in spite of the fact that the car had been previously recalled for this problem. I feel that this is a serious and life threatening safety defect.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving at 70 to 75 MPH the vehicle started to sway. When he checked the vehicle to see what was wrong he found the rear wheel was loose. The vehicle was towed to the dealership. They said the rear wheel bearing and wheel shaft wore out and needed to be replaced. There was the federal safety agency recall campaign 00v303000 in 2003 concerning the rear wheel bearing, and the remedy repairs were performed. The manufacturer was contacted, and the vehicle has been repaired.
Mine is a ford focus 2000 se. The rear wheel bearing on the left side has gone bad and needs to be replaced on my vehicle. It is causing a loud rumbling noise at speeds higher than 20 mile/hr and wobble at speeds higher than 50 mile/hr. Apparently this is a common problem and can lead to the wheel coming off during motion. It seems like there was a service campaign by the ford company (the federal safety agency campaign id 01i017000) to address this issue. I also noted the federal safety agency action number pe 02016 for this same problem. I contacted the company to be told that my particular vehicle (according to the VIN number) was not supposed to be having this problem and thus not part of any service campaign or recall. It is very unfortunate that the company does not take responsibility of a common safety problem with their vehicle, just because in their assessment it is not their fault. I was wondering if I can take advantage of the above mentioned service campaign or the nhsta action number.
1) rear wheel bearings.. Both needed to be replaced on car with less than 62,000 miles. Ford said not their problem. 2) thermostat housing made out of plastic, needs to be replaced due to cracking (ford know about this problem will not do a recall). Engine light comes on every 3 months. Will never buy another ford again. Tired of putting money into what we thought was going to be a good car.
Wheel bearings in my 2000 ford focus have been replaced 8 times already. All parts have been ford factory parts. Recall from 2000 on the wheel bearings had been performed in 2001 but problem has persisted. Ford motor co. Has been contacted repeatedly in regards to this but no action has been taken. Dealership has also been contacted but the keep referring back to ford. Copies of all repair bills is available. It appears that wheel bearing #9 is about to go also. Breakdown as follows: right rear 3 times left rear 2 times right front 2 times left front 1 time in addition, rear drums have been replaced 3 times already (on the average of every 18-20 months). Most recent replacement of wheel bearing on 3/4/05 can you please help!
Dt: had sererall issues with the vehicle its metal causes premature failure. The coil springs had to replaced .they broke and the rear door latches were in the process of disingrating . They put in weather stripping. The rear wheel bearings malfunctioned. Contacted ford, they did two after warrenty repairs to the vehicle. Ford said it needed a new axle. This started on july 15, 2005. There was a real high pitch whining noise before determining the problem with the axle. *ak
The right front wheel bearing gave out. This is a known problem and one of the top 3 problems that people have been asking for a recall on this vehicle along with the ignition lock breaking. The rear wheel bearing was recalled, but ford won't recall the front. I have never had, nor ever known anyone who ever had a wheel bearing give out on a car, and certainly not one only 5 years old.
Dt: the front right passenger side coil springs broke. When this occurred it stopped the car and punctured the right front tire. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop. The repair bill cost $1000. The tie rod end was damaged along with the struts, upper bearing plates, front stabilizer rings, tire, a new right side axle, and control arm. They were replaced. The mechanic said there was a crack in the front coil springs that caused the aforementioned failures. In 11/04 there was a recall on the front coil springs and the consumer was notified by recall letter. Recall repairs had already been done in april when the incident occurred. Consumer took repair bill and recall letter to dealer, and they submitted it to ford. However, ford sent back a check for $480 but not the $1000 the consumer spent. They only paid for the coils and some other work, but claimed that some of the other repairs were unnecessary. The consumer wanted to file a complaint attempting to force ford to pay for all repairs that were done. *ak
At approximately 70,000 miles, I noticed a clunking noise while turning. After investigating the problem, my husband noticed that the driver side front spring coil was broken. If I would have continued to drive I'm sure it would have punctured the tire. We took it and had the spring coils in the front both replaced.
Dt: 2000 ford focus. The consumer complained about the rear tires wearing out on february 12, 2003. Bought two new tires for the rear. The next day I had a four wheel tire alignment. March 31, 2003 two more new tires blew out, and on september 23, 2003 was having problem with alignment, two tires were replaced. The tire company said rear end was out alignment and then went to the dealership and had a four wheel alignment again. In november or december 2003 a new set of four new tires were bought. Then, in june 2004 two new tires were bought. The consumer went to a new tire company and it took them four times of driving consumer's car to get it aligned. Was looking on the internet about recalls and I found information on silent vehicle recall. Called the manufacturer about this silent recall, they said they could not assist consumer on this silent recall. Then ,called ford world headquarters, they were still not telling anything on this silent recall. Consume r found tsb 03135 on a canadian website but could not pull up any information.
Supplemental information reference the federal safety agency odi # 10134021 the aforementioned odi # is the third in a line of situations where, in my opinion, metal fatigue has caused a defect. Excessive regrind material is being utilized in the manufacture of parts, leading to premature wear/failure aka planned obsolessence. The rh axle support bearings would possibly have never failed had good workmanship practices and standards been in place and utilized. Being a "proud ford owner" only since 1969 I have never experienced such a rapid / rampid parts failure rate. As a show of good faith, I expect nothing less than ford motor company to absorb any and all cost of replacing the rear axle in my 2000 ford focus. Your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated. Respectfully, paul a. Stadden
Both front coil springs broke during normal usage. The springs, struts and one strut bearings had to be replaced.
Dt: 2000, ford, focus. Contact states the wheel bearing was howling. The vehicle only had 47,000 miles on it. Heard this noise for one month. He thought it was the tires, but it was not the tires. Took vehicle to an an independent shop, and they told him it was the rear wheel bearings, and showed him a service bulletin regarding the rear wheel bearings which did did not apply to this vehicle.
Dt: without warning driver's side front coil spring broke . Ring that sits on top of coil spring that supports the car broke. Has not gone to dealer yet. Manufacturer has not been contacted.*ak the consumer contacted the dealer and manufacturer and they informed the consumer that the part had been recalled. However since the consumer had the part repair at a non-ford dealer they refused to reimburse the consumer for the repairs.
1) no known events lead up to the failure. We had no warning. We did nothing unusual. 2) we were driving and heard a loud noise. We hadn't run over anything and the car appeared fine. Upon taking it to be looked at we found that we needed a new spring. We also found out that this is a very common problem in the 2000 focus and also that the ford taurus had the same problem. However the taurus was given a safety recall. I was informed by my mechanic that had the spring punctured my tires sidewall, I would have blown a tire and could have lost control of the vehicle, which, even at lower speeds is undesirable. 3) the mechanic put in a new spring, but thinks that the other spring may be more vulnerable now having beared the extra load. Also, he says our struts may have been compromised as well... I don't have a lot of money so he replaced the spring on the front passenger side and that is all for now.
Consumer is afraid to drive the 2000 ford focus due to all the problems that have developed with this vehicle.***no answer required***.*mr the rear brakes, drums and shocks were replaced.
Right front coil spring broke without warning. Bearing on the upper ti rod froze up
During a routine driving, the front right spring of my 2000 ford focus, simply brook. As a result, the front shock was tilted to the right. I had to replace both springs and shocks. I was very lucky it occured when I was driving in the city at 25 miles per hour, otherwise I could be involved in an accident. On november 2004 ford issued an extended warranty for these front springs saying that " portion of the front coil springs may not have received adequate corrosion protection which may eventually lead to a fracture of the spring." I have called ford dealership to fix the problem, but they wanted me to pay for the expenses, saying that it is not a recall. Any requests for a refund were denided. Please, I need your help. Thank you.
Front passenger side coil spring broke and the sharp edge of the spring (created by the break) stuck into my tire causing a flat. The car came to a grinding hault. I was traveling at about 5-10 MPH, turning down a side street. I had been on the highway 2 minutes earlier. If this happened on the highway it would have been very dangerous probably resulting in serious injury or death. When I talked to the service tech. At my local dealer he told me that it was a recall item but ford did not send out notices and they were fixing the problem cars when they come in broken. The local ford dealer replaced both front springs and the one tire that was damaged.
While driving, rolled over high-speed speed bump at about 25 MPH, heard a loud noise. Afterwards, right front of car made very loud clicking noise as if it were binding during sharp turns at low speeds. Upon further inspection, found right front coil spring broken. Both springs had portions of the black coating missing, exposing rusty steel. Uncertain if driver's side spring broken. Broken right front spring tilted inwards, did not contact tire.
Dt: front coil spring broke on passengers side, the spring was locked on the tire and ruined the tire. Goodyear had never seen anything like that, and ford said they never had one come in like that. Goodyear said it could have been anything that made it break.
Events, just normal driving. Sway bar link disconnected causing sharp rightward pull at highway speed. Continued smelling of electrical burning from dash panel with intermittent instrument failure, and airbag lights flashing. Smoke came from the vent systems a couple times, but no fire noticed as of yet. Nothing has been done to correct failure, costs too much for me to have ford diagnose the problem, $500+ for dash labour costs to pull it and inspect.
Contact states: right front coil spring broke, causing loss of control, damaging right front tire.
Contact states; contact was on freeway and heard a popping or cracking noise in the front end. Tried to put into gear, made same noise. Have been in contact with dealer and there was a recall on the front spring, corrision problem. Driving 65 or 70, when incident happened.
I have had the inside front wheel bearing replaced at 50000 miles. I am at 61000 now and the soem thng needs to be done again. I think the same problem that was recalled on the rear wheel bearings is affecting the front wheel bearings. The seal corrodes and and the bearings go bad. I have also had both outside wheel bearings replaced at 50000 miles. I have had them done outside of ford at my own mechanic due to price. The inside whell bearing was a ford part and was difficult to come by, my mechanic need my VIN number to get the part. I have not had anything dangerous occur because of this but it makes a really loud humming sound while in motion.
Pe02-044 is the investigation number... This is information with a link to pictures to show how lucky I was not to be driving. This can happen without warning. Ford agreed to fix it. I have my tire replaced as well, however this should have been recalled for inspection. There was a letter sent, but I, as a second owner of the vehicle used had no way to know it was a possibility. How many more people are driving these case as lease turn ins and have no idea of the potential. Please make this a recall. I was lucky, if I was driving on the highway, I could have been in trouble. Copy of my letter to transport california. I have recently had both my front springs fail in my 2000 focus zx3. The right one failed and punctured the tire. Upon inspection, the left one was also shown cracked. The spring penetrated my right front tire and destroyed it as I reversed. What is concerning me, is there was never a recall on this issue. I am trying to obtain information from ford regarding this. After some research, I have found a letter from ford regarding an extension of warranty for springs for 10 years, 150000 miles.*ak I was very lucky. If this spring failure occurred while driving at highway speed, the affect on steering and control would have been incredible. Not to mention the damage to the car after wards. If this is a know issue, there should be a recall to have these items fixed, not just replaced after failure (I am not sure if they will replace mine yet). Links to damage in pictures: http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.hpguestlogin?user name=dawezilla&password=26544160
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2000 Ford Focus?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history