The contact owns a 2017 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the check engine and oil pressure warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that while attempting to exit the interstate, there was an abnormal ticking sound coming from the engine before the vehicle stalled. The contact pulled off the Interstate, turned off, and restarted the vehicle; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that a dealer was contacted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired by an independent mechanic. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 69,921.
2017 Ford Focus: engine knocking or ticking
7 of the 900 complaints about the 2017 Ford Focus describe engine knocking or ticking.
- owner complaints
- 7
- of this car's complaints
- 1%
- recalls
- 1
Engine knocking or ticking by model year
What owners say
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Focus. The contact stated that since purchasing the vehicle, the check engine light had remained on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed with a defective engine hose. The contact was unable to repair the vehicle. Since the initial failure, the contact stated the engine Auto Stop/Start feature had failed to operate as needed and the engine failed to start as designed while at a stop light. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle was jerking upon depression of the accelerator pedal. There was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine. The vehicle had been towed to several dealers where multiple repairs were performed; however, the failure returned after each repair. The vehicle was eventually diagnosed with engine failure and the contact was given an estimate for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 200.
I was recently driving on the highway in a 70 speed limit zone when the transmission suddenly failed. One minute I was going 70mph with normal feeling and then suddenly the gas/acceleration stopped working and the car went down to around 20 mph within a second, suddenly it felt like being in neutral and I had no control. It would not respond to pressing the gas pedal. It started to buck and shake. Braking felt really erratic and strange and it lunged as I tried to get off the highway. Red transmission failure light came on with red blinking message to stop car immediately. It was terrifying and I could have been killed. I was thankfully able to get to the shoulder to let it stop. We let it sit for about 15 minutes and turned it on again but it was the same. Gas did not respond normally. It was unable to go over 8mph and Reverse no longer worked. It was towed home. It is dead now, nothing improved after sitting. Not worth the repair. Ford claimed this issue was fixed on the 2017 but clearly not, and some are a ticking time bomb like mine was. There was no prior indication of any problem- no strange feeling, no noises, no warning lights, no acceleration problems, etc. It was obvious that it was the transmission that completely failed. A family member who is a mechanic confirmed it. I had been planning to drive this for several more years. Now I need to suddenly get a new car without getting the benefit of having this as a trade in. But at least I am alive! Never getting a Ford again!!
Car has 61,000 miles on it, after leaving home and getting on the interstate my wife and I felt the car lurch and the oil light came on. We pulled over and the lifters were ticking and we shut the engine off and had the car towed home(about a mile) I drained the oil and there was rubber chunks in it. Dropped the oil pan and the oil pump belt tensioner is broken, cogs are stripped off the belt and it became apparent that our oil pressure dropped to zero at highway speed, had we not been in the right lane and pulled over quickly the motor would have locked up at 70mph. I did some research and found the problem to be somewhat widespread. I contacted Ford hoping for a goodwill gesture considering the miles and was told there will be nothing they can do about it. We made the last two car payments on it and it has sat untouched on jackstands in the driveway since then.
After a routine oil change i was driving and oil light and engine light suddenly came on. Car then begin to make knocking noise and was towed to local mechanic. Engine is stated to need replacing and car no longer driveable.
I was accelerating from a stop sign when the car didn't want to go forward, the rpms just idled as the engine revved but I couldn't drive forward, then the vehicle lunges forward, as if the transmission was stuck in neutral. After it jumped forward it began making a terrible grinding noise and lost control, almost driving straight into another car. I then proceeded to pull over and turned off the car, then it made these loud clicking noises and the emergency transmission light flashed red and said 'transmission overheating, stop and turn off the engine.' I left the car sit for 2 am hour, then went to turn it on and it would not start. It only made the ticking noise again. After trying to start it 3 times, it finally turned on, but continued to get stuck as the car would not move even though it was in drive. The next day I took it to the dealership but as I left my house and got on the freeway, the vehicle started rolling backwards on the inclined on-ramp even though it was in drive. Oncoming traffic swerved around my immobile car as I panicked and floored the gas petal. It finally lunged forward, seconds before a semi came barreling through the lane. I got it to the dealer as it flashed the transmission overheating light. The check engine light was on as well each time. The car had already been serviced 4 times prior to this, for transmission issues and multiple recalls. Each time I took it to get serviced, it got worse. When I finally picked it up, I couldn't even get it home because it broke down half a mile away. The dealerships service department refused to do any repairs to the vehicle even though the transmission failed and nearly killed me. They printed me the papers stating the clutch, actuators a & b, the t/o bearing, and another part need to be replaced and it will cost me $1800. In other words, I have to pay them just so I don't die in fords faulty car
When I first purchased my vehicle 8 months ago there was 5 recalls on the vehicle I was in aware of . Since I've found out about these recalls the local lincoln shop keeps informing me that ford has not been sending them the replacement psrts to fix my vehicle I've contacted ford multiple times to figure out what they are going to do about this junk of a car . I'm paying for a car 30k for this 2017 and it's slowly but surly breaking down the car putters there's a loud ticking the idling is rough the clutch and computer has been replaced twice since I've had the car and I never use the manual part of this vehicle I'm to the point to where I just want them to buy this trash back so I can get into something better and more reliable.
Service bulletins that may apply
- Certain 2021-2024 Model Year Bronco, 2021-2024 Model Year Bronco Sport, 2020-2022 Model Year Corsair and...
- Certain 2015
- Certain 2015
- For 2015-2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles equipped with turbocharged engines and customer concern of an...
- Some 2014-2017 C-MAX Energi, 2014-2020 Fusion plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), 2015-2017 MKZ/MKZ...
- Some 2016-2018 Focus and 2018-2019 EcoSport vehicles equipped with a 1.0L EcoBoost engine, 6F15 automatic...
- Some 2015-2021 Ford and Lincoln vehicles may exhibit an illuminated MIL with diagnostic trouble codes...
- Some 2016-2018 Focus and 2018-2019 EcoSport vehicles equipped with a 1.0L EcoBoost engine, 6F15 automatic...
Related recalls
Engine and engine cooling: engine: oil/lubrication: pump
- What is wrong
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Ford Focus and 2018-2022 Ford EcoSport vehicles. The oil pump drive belt or drive belt tensioner may fail, resulting in a loss of engine oil pressure.
- Risk
- A loss of oil pressure can result in an engine stall and a loss of power braking assist, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the oil pump tensioner assembly and oil pump drive belt, free of charge. If engine failure occurs due to a damaged oil pump belt and/or oil pump belt tensioner, Ford has authorized dealers to replace the engine assembly as an interim repair before the availability of remedy parts for the final repair. This repair will be free of charge (parts and labor). Owner notification letters were mailed August 11, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1‑866‑436‑7332. Ford's number for this recall is 23S64.
Recall number 23V905000 · Recall details
Questions about the 2017 Ford Focus knocking
Is engine knocking or ticking a common problem on the 2017 Ford Focus?
7 of 900 owner complaints about the 2017 Ford Focus (1%) mention engine knocking or ticking. The model year with the most reports is 2000.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2017 Ford Focus?
There is 1 recall and 35 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2017 Ford Focus
Check engine light 201Stalling 165Shudder 117Jerking 98Hesitation 78Transmission failure 65Slipping 63Overheating 50Engine failure 45Loss of power 37Won't start 25Grinding brakes 24Won't shift 24Misfire 11Harsh shifting 10Sudden acceleration 10No deployment 8Power steering loss 8Fuel pump 7Fuel gauge 6
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