2001 Ford Focus: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Apr 7, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · WI · fire

2001 ford focus. Consumer writes in regards to electrical system failure. *smd the consumer stated the vehicle was a lemon. Over the past 2 years alone, he has spent $2,000 in non-routine repairs. Every time there was an issue, the vehicle was taken to the repair shop for the problem, but was never fully fixed. On one occasion, the vehicle started smoking and the wiring caught on fire.. The consumer was informed, the vehicle needed all new wiring, after the dash lights and tail lights went out 3 times. Also, the cruise control and all the lights inside the vehicle stopped working.

Filed Jan 26, 2013 · Brakes, Transmission · 153,000 miles · OH

I was driving to work and I turned on my cruise control, I had to barely brake for a caution when a car was coming in my lane, once I went around them...I left the cruise control off....but the car sped up on its own...approximately 65-70 miles an hour. My brakes were working just fine. I called my dad to see what he wanted me to do....I drove on to work (approx 20 more miles) and didn't have my foot on the gas pedal the whole time....the cruise was off...the pedal was stuck and the car continued going 60 miles per hour....once I came to my exit, I took it out of 5th gear (manual transmission) and the car revved up horribly...I pulled into work and shut it off. Restarted it and it was doing the same thing. These cars need recalled!!!!

Filed Jul 28, 2012 · Acceleration · 115,500 miles · WI

Driving with cruise control set at 60 MPH when car accelerated gaining speeds over 75. I pulled over, shut down engine, lifted hood and saw accelerator linkage was stuck. I cleared linkage, started engine and car ran normally. This happened 3 more times on later dates with cruise control engaged. Car starts accelerating until I stop vehicle, shut off engine, and free up linkage/metal.

Filed Jun 26, 2010 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 123,150 miles · WI

Sticking accelerator pedal 2001 ford focus se. 2.0l l4 dohc driving down the interstate heading to work and was going to set the cruise. I couldn't get it to activate tried speeding up and slowing down and setting - didn't operate. A few moments later a car merged in front of me from the on ramp. I slowed down let traffic on the left go by. I then merged to left lane and depressed the accelerator and it stuck at/near full throttle. I tapped the brakes to see if the cruise had engaged - no change, looked to see if there was an obstruction by the pedal - none found, tried pulling pedal back with my foot - no effect, tried stomping on accelerator to see if it would unstick - no change. I was now going over 80 MPH and close to rear ending a car in front of me I stepped on the brakes hard, it didn't slow down. At this point I turned the ignition off and merged to the right and off to the emergency lane. I opened the hood and inspected the accelerator linkage at the throttle plate. Found the cruise control cable had disconnected and got lodged between the cruise control cable mounting bracket and the throttle plate actuator keeping the throttle plate at or near full throttle. I reconnected the cruise cable went to work returned home and have set the car aside for further inspection.

Filed Mar 14, 2010 · Electrical, Fuel system · 30,000 miles · OH

My2001 ford focus zx3( manual transmission )with over 105,000 miles on it has had a electronic throttle problem since it had 30,000 miles on it. Intermittently the engine speed would not decrease when your foot is taken off the accelerator pedal. The car would act like the cruise control was engaged. The car could be controlled by heavy braking or depressing the clutch. It was taken into three different ford dealer at least seven different times only once did they claim to see the problem. That time the mechanic show me disconnecting a electrical plug under the hood caused the throttle controls to go to a fail safe mode making the problem disappear for period of time(days).I was told to bring it back in when it happened again. I did that, mechanic was know longer with the dealership. Several parts were changed several different times but did nothing to correct the problem. When the problem is present the engine speed will decrease to a fast idle once the car comes to a complete stop. The problem will go away sometimes after shutting off the engine and restarting but not always.

Filed Jun 11, 2007 · Lights · 99,000 miles · 00

The high mount bulbs did not work. The brake lights turned automatically on when the trunk lid was closed. Engine off. In the next day a noticed that the cruise control was unoperational.

Filed Aug 6, 2004 · Acceleration · 44,000 miles · NY

While driving down the montauk highway 27, I reached the speed of 50 MPH. Approximately 5 minutes after reaching 50 and placing my car in cruise control, the car unexpectedly began to rapidly accelerate. I could not slow the car down, had to turn the ignition key off and stopped in the middle of the highway.

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Engine · 49,500 miles · OK

Was driving the turner turnpike back from funeral, cruise control on at 76 MPH. Boom from under the car, oil light comes on, smoke billowing out from underneath. I pulled over, turn the engine off. The whole engine covered in oil. Behind is a trail of oil from over the hill to where I had stopped. I'm pretty sure the engine is gone. No knocking, temp was right, no warning light, just boom! Didn't even get to 50,000 miles. What a crock!

Filed Aug 13, 2003 · Acceleration, Body · CA

2001 ford focus displaying problems with transmission due to several leaks, cruise control, and trunk of vehicle. *mr water leaked onto the floorboard of the trunk which was only adjusted(problem repeated), the cruise control worked intermittently(new switch was ordered, the drivers side window squeaked and was fixed, the transmission leaked and was replaced but the service dealer was unable to determine the cause, water leaked in the front passenger side (problem repeated) then the r & l cowl grid was replaced to remedy the problem but didn't, coolant leaked from the upper radiator and the hose clamp was replaced, the trunk did not shut properly and the latch was replaced but did not fix the problem, the vehicle was taken in due to the parts being recalled, the real wheel bearings were replaced, the second recalled part was the pinch bolt torque and battery cable routing which was replaced, and the mechanics found that the brakes had worn out in the front and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken in for warranty repairs on 10 separate occasions and six attempt for the leaks, the problem in the front of the vehicle persisted. In addition, the entire transmission had to be replaced because of several leaks, several circuit and switches have broken down on the cruise control. The consumer was also concerned with the gas mileage which had consistently fallen and did not act as the promoted dealers sticker. The consumer requested a full refund for the purchase price. *scc

Filed Apr 9, 2002 · Acceleration, Electrical · FL

While driving at 60 MPH using the cruise control, all of a sudden vehicle lost power and stalled out with all lights in instrument panel coming on. Contacted dealer ,and the dealer could not find the problem. *jg

Filed Aug 6, 2001 · Acceleration · GA

I was traveling northbound on ga hwy 400 at 7:30 a.m. Traffic was lighter than normal, so I decided to use my cruise control. I set the cruise at 70 MPH & drove it for approx 5 miles. When I approached my exit, I pressed on the brake to disengage the cruise. The cruise light went off, but the cruise did not disengage. I fought it all the way up the ramp. I was very fortunate that the light was green & there were no cars ahead of me (normally extremely busy intersection). I exited at a high rate of speed as I continued to pump the brake. I got the car off to the side of the road, put it in neutral & once it was almost stopped, put it in park & turned it off. Every time I turned it back on, the engine revved back up like it was trying to reach the 70 MPH speed in park. I had it towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed as a bad servo. This could have been potentially fatal to me & others, had the normal traffic backup been at the off ramp. I could have slammed into one or more other cars trying to get mine stopped. I understand there are recalls on the 2000 focus cars, due to defective cruise controls, but have seen nothing on the 2001 vehicles. Needless to say, although I paid extra for cruise control, I will never be able to trust it enough to use it again.