2009 Ford Focus: engine stalls while driving

Filed Jan 5, 2015 · Acceleration, Engine · 60,000 miles · IL

Ever since we turned over sixty thousand miles on our ford focus se 2009 we have started to experience a problem where our car's check engine light will go on and the gas pedal will stop working. When this happens, the only thing you can do is: pull over, shift into park, turn the car off and start the car again. At this point the cel will go off and it will be like nothing happened. This is terrifying and extremely dangerous! The first time that the car stalled or went into limp mode was when the weather was damp, so we thought it was weather related. We decided to have the dealer look at the car. We brought the car into the dealership. We dropped the car off so that the mechanic could do a test drive. After an entire day of driving, they could not reproduce the problem, or pull a diagnostic code so they gave our keys back and said we cant do anything to help you. They then suggested that the next time our car stalls, idle the car to the dealership, but do not turn it off. Really!? The next time it happened we were taking a 500 mile road trip and experienced the car shutting down after about 250 miles. This happened twice, once in traveling to our destination and once coming home. The car shut down one time on the expressway going 70 MPH, having to make a double lane change and pull over to avoid getting hit. The other while exiting the expressway slowing down to a stop and pulling onto a crossing road.

Filed Oct 17, 2014 · Transmission · 30,300 miles · MI

While starting to drive out of the driveway and down the neighborhood street, the vehicle began to stall, the "wrench" light came on the instrument panel, and the vehicle had to be immediately returned home. Restarting the vehicle later in the day, the issue was gone. The issue happened again in the driveway after starting the vehicle. A call was made to the nearest dealership to schedule a repair. The issue happened again, while attempting to drive the vehicle to the dealer for repair. Three separate times the vehicle had to be shifted in neutral to restart the car during a three mile drive.

Filed Sep 30, 2014 · Electrical · 105,421 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 30 MPH, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence where a certified mechanic replaced the ignition cylinder. The failure recurred four weeks after the repair was performed. The dealer then replaced the ignition for the second time. Most recently, the engine failed to start due to the faulty ignition lock module. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 105,421.

Filed Sep 5, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 30,000 miles · TN

The car was on the interstate traveling at 55 MPH ; the engine stalled and restarted, when existing to see whether it would gain speed, the car slipped out of gear . It went into reverse, backing up. After trying to correct it . The car sped up almost causing a major accident, the car restarted with the shift out of drive, I drove the car three blocks to my home. I left the car wherever it stopped, the next day, I tried to drive it; the car placed in drive went in reverse backing up. I left it there and had wrecker company to take it to a transmission shop on union avenue. They inspected the car and said it would take $2,0000 to get the transmission repaired. Since, the car was under engine warranty from acura dealers of memphis, I had the wrecking company to take the car back to the dealership. They sold me a 2013 toyota corolla which is experiencing the same problem. Now, I have another car from the sane dealership which apparently sells used cars with transmission problems.

Filed Apr 26, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 15,000 miles · IL

Wrench light came on when starting...and went off..gradually came on and stayed on until I turned off engine and restarted...bob ridings ford here in decatur said they could not check it unless the wrench light stayed on...which never happened...gradually the light would come on when car was being driven...and stalled down at a place I could not get off road to restart...luckily not in heavy traffic which could have caused an accident. Next the wrench light went off and the engine light came on...before I could get it to the garage to be checked, all the lights went off...said palmer from palmer tire and auto checked it and got one code which he tried to get ford to help him with..before he could hear back (if ever he would have) I took it to bob ridings in taylorville (I had bad experience with one in decatur)and they called said to get his diagnosis..and discussed the fact that both had replaced throttle control on other focus cars which ford motor did not recommend doing! This cost me $569.10 which I believe would have been under warranty if it had been repaired in 2011; and this should have been a recall as it is a dangerous condition when driving in traffic., I think ford owes me...and probably others...and is a problem warranting a recall! I guessed at mileage and time but know this problem occurred the year after I bought the car and it only had 9000 miles on it when I purchased it...making it have around 15,000 when problem began.

Filed Mar 9, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 60,000 miles · MD

Exactly as described in other entries on this site, and similar to the problems described in the nytimes today about gm cars (although mine is a ford- probably the same faulty component is in both gm and ford). Numerous times and at various speeds, including on the highway, the car will inexplicably "stall out"- the engine completely shuts off and no longer accelerates. First time was with my wife driving with our babies on the highway. She was terrified, and did a heroic job of getting over to the shoulder. She turned the key off and then was able to restart the car. A few weeks later it happened to me on a country road- without any warning, the car completely shut off while going about 40 MPH. I took it to a mechanic. They drove it over a hundred miles and couldn't find anything wrong with it. In another week or so, it did it twice in one day, both city driving in heavy traffic. I'd put on the hazard lights, come to a stop and restart the car. Took it back to the mechanic. They drove it another 75 miles with the same lack of diagnosis. The next time it happened I was on an empty stretch of open road going about 40, and I was able to just shift into neutral while coasting and turn the key off and back on to restart the car while never actually stopping it. Realizing that this was actually better than stopping traffic and potentially causing an accident, this is how I have restarted the car and resumed acceleration in the several times it has done it since. But I am a very skilled driver- shifting into neutral and restarting the engine while coasting in traffic is definitely not a solution for the average person having this problem, and I am not advising anyone to do it. I've put a ton of miles on this car quickly, so other people with 2009 focuses may not have had this problem. But more will likely begin to experience it as their cars get older. Please recall.

Filed Aug 9, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 54,000 miles · MI

This happened on two separate occasions. The first occasion, my wife was driving the focus at around 50 MPH, when all of the sudden the car stopped accellerating (it didn't stall) and the wrench panel light came on. Luckily she wasn't in an accident, so she pulled over and restarted the car and it ran fine, and the light was off. Three weeks later we were driving on the highway at 75 MPH when the exact same thing happened, the car just stopped accelerating, the wrench light came on, and again we were lucky we weren't in an accident and were able to pull off the road. We restarted the car and it was fine again. At this point I called ford and they agreed to take a look at it and provide me a rental car. After a week, they said they thought it was a throttle body, but were unable to diagnose it because they needed to have it happen to them. I told them it was unreasonable because it happened three weeks apart, and the chances of it happening were slim within a week. I was trying to urge ford to cover this since the car only had 54k miles on it, and it was dangerous to drive. They said since they couldn't diagnose it, they couldn't fix it, and even if they could diagnose it, it wouldn't be covered since its not under the powertrain warranty. I feel like this is a safety issue that they are very aware of, and the fact that they are 99.9% sure its a throttle body (the dealership employees told me they're getting tons of throttle body repairs coming in and the parts are on back order), they should be responsible to fix them for the safety of the consumer. There was no maintenance we could have done to prevent these dangerous situations from happening. Now I have to find a way to pay for this repair on my own so my wife can drive a safe vehicle. So ford's defective part has already put my wife and I in danger, and now is costing me money I don't have!

Filed Aug 1, 2013 · Engine · 49,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 ford focus. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled without warning. The failure mostly occurred when accelerating. The contact stated that the vehicle would also suddenly decelerate while the accelerator pedal was being depressed with the illumination of the wrench warning icon. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The failure mileage was 49,000 and the current mileage was 50,700.

Filed Jun 15, 2012 · Transmission · 35,150 miles · MI

As I was driving on the freeway at 70 MPH in the middle lane, the vehicle lost acceleration power and the "wrench" light came on. While the car was slowing, I had to make several lane changes across heavy, fast moving traffic before I was able to stop along the shoulder. Upon restarting the car, the light was no longer on and the car resumed normal acceleration. The vehicle is currently being assessed at the dealership, as this issue could result in a major collision if it were to recur, potentially causing the car to stall in high-speed traffic without the ability to get to the shoulder.

Filed May 11, 2012 · Acceleration, Electrical · 59,000 miles · VA

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled and the power train warning lamp illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the electronic throttle body sensor needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was no longer under warranty. The failure mileage was 59,000. Updated 07/13/12 *bf the consumer stated the vehicle was under warranty at the time, but ford stated that the power train throttle body sensor was not covered under warranty. The vehicle was repaired. Updated 07/30/12 .....updated 01/14/13 *bf the consumer stated the vehicle was still covered under power train warranty. But, was told it would not be covered. Updated 1/15/2013 *js the consumer requested to have the component changed. However, the closest component, to throttle body sensor is vehicle speed control and electrical system. Updated 03/18/13

Filed Nov 21, 2011 · Engine, Transmission · 55,000 miles · CA

I was driving on the freeway at approximately 65mph, when the car lost power. Stepping on the gas pedal had no response. I put the car in neutral and coasted out of traffic and onto the shoulder. When I stopped on the side of the road, the car was shaking violently as if it was getting ready to stall. I tried repeatedly to step on the gas but there was no response. I turned the car off for approximately 30 seconds and tried to restart it. It started right up and the throttle was acting normally. Since that first incident, over a year ago, this has happened six more times with the last one being on 11/14/11. I was traveling at 70 MPH on interstate 15 going north up the hill from baker, ca when this happened. Trying to dodge the other motorists and the big rigs to even get to the shoulder was very scary. I have researched this problem and apparently it is not unique to my vehicle. Someone is going to get seriously injured if this issue is not resolved. As other complaints have stated there is no code left on the computer after I restart the car so my mechanic wants to drive my vehicle until it happens, but it only happens every couple of months. I can't be without my car for that length of time so I am very frustrated.

Filed May 20, 2011 · Transmission · 16,000 miles · NY

Tl*the contact owns a 2009 ford focus. The contact stated while the vehicle was traveling 50 to 60 MPH the transmission independently shifted and the vehicle responded as if it was stalling. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer, but they were unable to duplicate the failure. The failure mileage was 16,000 and the current mileage was 18,000.