2001 Ford Focus: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Feb 4, 2016 · Suspension · IL

2001 ford focus with 146k miles. Adult driven one owner and well cared since new. Noticed clunking sound so took it in for brakes to the ford dealer. Was told by dealer they can't fix as entire subframe is rotted and "I was one pothole from the engine falling out". It appears that dealers use this line as I found other complaints with the exact same wording. How can you recall the escape and windstar for the same problem and not the focus? Because focus owners don't have the same money that those other higher end cars have? I was driving my new baby around in this car and thank god I didn't hit that one more pothole or both our lives could have been ended! All it takes is an internet search to realize that this is a common problem. The subframe is a very important component to a car that should not just rust away in 14 years! Clearly the design or materials used were at fault for this. Ford needs to recall these cars before more people are killed or injured!

Filed Nov 20, 2012 · Body, Suspension · 50,000 miles · RI

Heard clunking noise-rear subframe is completely rotted and broken on both sides.

Filed Nov 14, 2012 · Suspension · 122,000 miles · SD

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving 5mph there was a clunking noise coming from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnose that the front coil springs fractured. The vehicle was being repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not offer any assistance. The failure mileage was 122,000.

Filed Feb 8, 2012 · Suspension · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford focus. The contact was driving 40 MPH when the steering wheel became loose and a clunking noise emitted from the front of the vehicle. The power steering also failed, causing the vehicle to steer to the left abnormally. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the private mechanic confirmed that the front spring from the struts had detached and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 44,099.

Filed Apr 8, 2010 · Suspension · KY

2001 ford focus, front strut spring broke in 2 places. I just got in the car and it sounded like a rifle shot went off....started to drive off and stopped for the 'clunking' sound. Drove to near by repair shop, said the trouble was the spring. Checked recalls, in case...2000 models had recall for spring breakage, but not the 2001 models. Have written to ford and am submitting vehicle info tomorrow for consideration.

Filed Mar 17, 2008 · Suspension · 60,000 miles · NV · crash

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford focus. While driving 2 MPH the vehicle hit a patch of ice, slid into a curb, and caused the suspension front control arm to bend. A new suspension front control arm was installed by the dealer. On march 14, 2008, while making a turn the vehicle made a clunking noise, the steering failed, caused the vehicle to hit the curb and the suspension front control arm was bent again. The failure mileage was 60000 and the current mileage was 87587.

Filed Apr 2, 2007 · Suspension · 81,900 miles · WI

I drive a 2001 ford focus. My car was parked overnight, and as I went to back out of my parking space to go to work, I heard a loud clunking noise and my car struggled to back up. I left my car parked as I thought it was a problem with the brakes. I drove the car to work the next morning (going 65 on the freeway), and the noise continued to worsen and I started to smell burning rubber. I brought the car to a repair shop. The next day they said I was very lucky the tire did not blow because the spring had broken and was rubbing against the tire. This is a problem I know ford is well aware of. I don't know what I would have done had anything happened to me and my family as a result of this gross negligence by ford. Repairs ended up costing $570 to replace both front springs, struts, and mounts.

Filed Apr 18, 2006 · Suspension · 75,000 miles · MI

Yesterday morning as I was backing out of my driveway I heard a clunk in the front end of my ford focus and when I drove the car pulled to the left. I drove my car to the dealership about 3 miles away. After explaining the problem to the service rep he told me it might be a spring failure that is covered by a recall. I was surprised I had not been notified of this recall and he told me they only do something about it if the consumer complains! This is crazy! What if I had been going 70 MPH when the spring broke? This is the second recall I haven't been notified about this year. Earlier is was a fuel pump that failed causing the car to lose acceleration, this time as I was driving 70 miles an hour! The part was replaced free of charge as it was covered by the recall.

Filed Oct 12, 2005 · Fuel system · 75,028 miles · CO

Was driving vehicle home early in the morning of the 12th when I heard a loud clunk, and then the sound of something dragging under my car. I pulled over to see my gas tank had fallen out and was being dragged under the car. Another car pulled up behind me because he had seen sparks coming from the mounting bracket as it was being dragged along with the tank. A policeman also pulled up behind me and looked at the car, then helped me move it out of the street. Later that morning my father temporarily wired the gas tank to the frame so we could bring the car home. He put it up on ramps and looked underneath to see that the bolt which held the gas tank in place had stripped completely out. He spent the next 3 hours remounting the tank. It was a blessing that the sparks from the broken frame did not ignite the gas tank. If it had, my car could have either caught on fire or blown up and I could have been seriously injured or killed.

Filed Jul 28, 2004 · Suspension · 58,000 miles · NY

While driving on the nys thruway, for no apparent reason, there was a loud clunk from the front of the car. There were no immediate ill effects but within a few days I began to notice a shimmy. Within a few weeks my tires were showing excessive wear. My mechanic found that a front coil spring broke. Both front springs had to be replaced, the front and back had to be realigned, and I had to rotate my worn tires all as a result of this spring failure. A friend informed me that this model auto had been recalled for this problem. Upon investigation of the recall I found that the model year before had been recalled but not my model year. Same problem. No recall.

Filed Jul 1, 2002 · Body, Electrical · NY

At no particular speed, vehicle jerks hard and stalls. Consumer had vehicle checked and repaired by dealer with no resolution.*akthe dealer is having consumer to monitor the vehicle when it starts failing, by pushing a button. This is supposed to pinpoint where the problem is occuring. The vehicle was downshifting while in motion, the sending unit was replaced. Also the jerking and stalling were caused by an erratic fuel pump driver module. This module has also been replaced. The ignition lock was replaced, there was a clunking noise present in the door assembly which was repaired, the wheel was out of alignment so dealer adjusted the upper ball joint, and the sun visor was broken which was also replaced.

Filed Jun 11, 2002 · Engine · CA

I was stopping at a light to turn. As I was slowing down I heard a big clunk. I thought I ran over something so I checked but nothing was there. I noticed my battery light was on but the light turned green to turn so I started to go and had no power steering. I pulled over at the liquor store and had my friend look under the hood. Upon pulling on the serpentine belt, the tensioner pulley fell right out of the bottom of the car. After looking over the incident we found a snapped off bolt in the street. Snapped neatly at the beginning thread. Also on the pulley, the mounting arm was snapped in half. I know ntsa is investigating many parts on the focus, so I thought I'd give a heads up about this just incase it could pose any serious problems later on. Thanks and have a nice day.