The car has had 5-6 repairs over the last 6 years. 3 batteries and 2 alternators. The car dies out while driving and wont restart without a jumpstart, is dead randomly or only clicks.just spent another $200 on an alternator when the key wont turn and the real problem over all these years has come to light. Very dangerous situation with the car just dieing wherever and whenever.
2004 Ford Focus electrical complaints
Page 2 of 7: complaints 11 to 40 of 183, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford focus. While parked, the vehicle was not able to start. The failure occurred constantly. The contact had to jumpstart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the battery failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 142,000.
My car was turned off and my dash lights would flicker and beep, my radio goes on and off by it self, the rear wiper and third brake light do not work, and now everything does not work.
Car was inoperable due to key not working in the ignition and emergency repair service in parking lot had to be done. Read more: http://www.justanswer.com/new-question/optional-information.aspx?tqid=423907452&pt=630&catid=56411&r=autobeef&rpt=220#ixzz3bac4irxz
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact noticed that the failure recurred intermittently whenever a bump or a pothole was hit on the road. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000. Updated. 06/09/15
Ignition lock stuck. Key would not work. Car had to be towed. Ignition had to be replaced. Could have been very dangerous depending on where car was parked.
3/1/14: driver's side heated seat burned through upholstery and caught fabric on fire, while my daughter was driving vehicle. After searching the internet, I found that this has happened to other focus owners. There was a service bulletin (04b16); why no recall?
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH, the speedometer fluctuated continuously. The vehicle was neither diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 ford focus. The contact stated that after inserting the key in the ignition the vehicle failed to start. The contact tried approximately six times. The vehicle was later towed to the dealer for diagnosis. After diagnosis they advised him that the ignition failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure and current mileage was approximately 118,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The key will not turn in the ignition. This has been ongoing for two months. It takes several minutes of jiggling to finally get the ignition lock to release. I drive this car on business, including in remote areas. It is scary to try to start the car and have the key not turn. So far, I've always been able to get it to eventually work, but this is ridiculous. We've just started experiencing the same issue on my wife's 2007 ford focus. In researching this, it has been a problem on the focus since the beginning and apparently ford has refused to acknowledge the issue or change the ignition lock mechanisms on later focus models. Potentially getting stranded at night or in a remote area due to a faulty ignition lock is a serious safety issue. One should never have a problem in turning the key in the ignition. For what it is worth, I am a career safety and risk management consultant working in the commercial insurance industry with 35 years experience.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford focus. The contact stated that the vehicle would not start with the steering wheel locked. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnosis where the dealer advised that the ignition cylinder needed replacing. The manufacturer was contacted and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 94,000.
The 2004 ford focus has a problem where the key will not turn once inserted into the ignition. The only way to get the key to turn is to tap it with a hammer or other heavy object or spend over 300 dollars to get a new ignition lock. This problem has happened to me before on occasion but now it happens every single time I take the key out of the ignition. Numerous people are complaining about this problem yet ford has not issued a recall to address the issue. I'm hoping the federal safety agency will force ford to do something about this problem because I know I am not the only one that this is happening to.
Ford focus wheel and ignition locked up. Cant turn key or wheel! I have red multiple problems with this and cant believe ford has not recalled this issue!!! The best part about all of this is my car just got out of warranty! You suck ford and your cheap [xxx] dealers!!!!! Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
All of a sudden I am having trouble turning the key in the ignition of my 2004 ford focus. As of now I am able to get the key to turn by gently tapping on the key with a hammer as I try to turn. I have not replaced the ignition because when researching this problem I have come to realize this is a very common fault that ford is aware of, but refuses to take responsibility for.
2004 ford focus key will not turn in ignition.
The key would no longer turn in the ignition (but operated door and hatch without difficulty), creating an unsafe condition in which the car could not be driven and the owner was stranded with an inoperable vehicle. The local ford dealership required $400 for a replacement ignition cylinder. There is a known issue with poor quality ignition cylinders in this model year and they were subsequently redesigned by ford (perform a google search for "ford focus ignition cylinder" or see the discussion at http:forums.focaljet.comteam-tech497529-new-ignition-cylinder-help.html). Given that this is a known defect, the issue should be covered by a technical service bulletin or recall instead of requiring a significant out-of-pocket payment by the owner.
Attempted to start car and steering column and ignition was locked. I can't get either to turn.
The ignition is completely locked. I've been having trouble the past month being able to turn the key in the ignition and now I cannot turn it at all. My car is stranded at a local tire shop with the window down, which may cause even more damage from the weather or allow for easy theft. This problem is so unpredictable its scary, I could've been anywhere and been stranded. Then I looked up the problem and find that tons of other focus owners are having the same issue because ford used a cheap metal. Its time that they treated there customers right and recall this part.
2004 ford focus, key will not turn in the ignition. This has been an on going problem. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes, other times it has taken hours to get the key to turn. With less than 70k miles, this is a safety hazard when I have children in the car!
Battery failure due to a short in the ignition switch.
We have a 2004 ford focus 2.3l. Key wont turn in the ignition. The steering wheel is locked. We had to call a lock smith out to replace the ignition cylinder assembly. The lock smith said that he replaces two to three every week on the ford focus model. Lucky for us we were at home when the ignition failed. I read other stories where others were not so fortunate. It is unfortunate that ford still to this day dose not have a recall on this issue. Even a courtesy alert would be better then sitting in the dark and having to do your own research to discover what the fix is.
Parked car as always. Came out to start car to leave and key will not turn in ignition. Had to have it towed. The tow truck driver said they tow ford focus models with bad ignitions quite often. A woman in a focus wagon pulled up in the lot where I was stranded before the tow truck arrived. I asked her to not park there since a tow truck was coming; I also told her why. She said she had several times where her key would get stuck in her focus. Mine had done that a few times over the past 3 months, it appears based on the internet searches, and just my conversations in one day that this is a major issue. Mine is a 2004 model focus. So it goes beyond the thinking that it is only 2000 to 2003 models. This past weekend I could have been stranded in the henry m. Jackson wilderness area in wa. State, possibly with no cell phone service available either. Luckily this problem happened when I was in civilization. I was in the middle of nowhere this past weekend, in black bear & grizzly bear country.
My key ignition has locked up on my 2004 ford focus leaving me stranded and costing me time from work not to mention the cost its going to be to fix it. I have read many many complaints on this problem and as of yet there is no recall. But I strongly suggest ford considering a recall because it is a safety issue.... Who feels safe stranded on interstate, bad area of town, at night or whatever the case may be!
2004 for focus. Ignition occasionally won't start with the key. Got stranded a few times. It seems something is wrong either with the keys or the ignition area where you place the key.
The ignition switch failed to turn in my 2004 ford focus leaving me stranded. This was the first time this had happened and to temporarily remedy the situation I had to take a hammer and tap the key into the ignition and turn at the same time to start the car. The key must remain in the ignition at all times now to prevent a recurrence.
Yesterday evening, 6/22/10, after playing tennis at a local park, I got into my '04 ford focus wagon, put the key in the ignition, and the key would not turn. The steering wheel was locked, and no matter how I tried, the key would not work. I called my wife to come after me with her key. With some difficulty she was able to unlock the steering wheel and start the car with her key. I drove the car home and left the key in the ignition. Today, I drove the car to a local ford dealer. I was told that the focus ignition lock was a known problem. The ignition lock would have to be replaced at a cost of over $410.00. I googled 'ford focus ignition lock problem' and came back with numerous hits of people describing similar incidents. I believe this is a safety issue, and there should be a recall to fix it. Fortunately, I was not left stranded by this problem, but it has happened so many times to so many people, it should be recognized as a defect and a recall issued.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford focus. The contact stated while trying to start the vehicle, the key would not turn in the ignition. After repeated attempts, the contact banged on the key and the vehicle started. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the ignition switch was replaced. The failure did not recur. The failure mileage was 77,139 and the current mileage was 77,673. Updated 11/9/10
2004 ford focus. Consumer states problems with turning the key in the ignition switch
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford focus. The contact was driving with the cruise control set at 80 MPH. When she attempted to turn on the headlights, the vehicle began abnormally jerking as if she was repeatedly tapping on the brakes. The trans axle cooling system warning light illuminated when she turned the lights off and on. The cruise control then became inoperable. The vehicle had not yet been taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The failure and current mileages were 92,590.
The deck lid wiring harness breaks due to fatigue from opening and closing the hatch. In my case, 6 wires in the harness had been completely severed. Because of this, my tail light was out, the door ajar light was on and the brake lights were always on when the car was in drive. Besides the danger of being rear ended because the brake lights are always on, depending on which wires break or have their insulation crack open, there are a number of bad situations: * all rear lights could turn off. * the trunk could open when you apply the brakes. * the trunk could open when you use a turning indicator. This is a known issue with the 2000 focus hatchback, but there was no recall for the deck lid wiring harness after that year. I just wanted to let you know that it happened on our 2004 focus hatchback, and it can leave owners and other drivers on the road in a potentially dangerous situation. To correct the issue, I spliced the broken wires back together.
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