2018 Ford Focus: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Oct 5, 2025 · Engine · VA

My wife was driving her car home from work when her car suddenly overheated in light traffic. She pulled over and called me. I came by and we saw that the coolant level was low, so we filled it up to the normal level and she drove it another 20 minutes back to our home. She said it was shuddering the whole way back. I started it in the driveway later that evening and a large amount of white smoke came out of the exhaust pipe and the engine still seemed to be misfiring. I tried starting it again the next day and it would crank but not start. It seems to be an issue with the engine, my guess is a ruptured head gasket. The shuddering caused by the misfires made the car unstable to drive especially if it died while she was at speed with other cars around. The car was towed to a dealer over 30 days ago and they said that it may be related to the open recall, but they won't know until they tear it down. Which they still haven't done. There were no engine codes or prior lamp indications until the overheating event.

Filed May 5, 2025 · Engine · 141,000 miles · MS

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating, and there was white smoke coming from the exhaust, prompting the contact to discontinue driving the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that there was coolant intrusion into the cylinders, causing damage to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the federal safety agency Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 141,000.

Filed Apr 17, 2025 · Engine · MO

The contact's niece owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact's niece received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that after his niece started the vehicle, the engine was misfiring significantly. The contact stated that there was smoke coming from the exhaust pipe, and the vehicle stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the failure was related to the recall. The dealer had not provided any diagnostic information and informed the contact that the part had been ordered for the repair. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Filed Mar 10, 2025 · Transmission · 53,000 miles · NJ

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The driver pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission was blown due to the leaking of the transmission clutch fluid. The dealer determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the clutch canister was previously replaced while the vehicle was owned by the previous owner. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 53,000.

Filed Jul 19, 2024 · Engine · 126,000 miles · MO

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started shuddering with smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The contact stated that the engine was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer however, the cause of the failure could not be duplicated. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 126,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Filed Jun 18, 2024 · Engine · 65,000 miles · SC

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the engine was replaced. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated to respond. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that there was a significant amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the turbo charger had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, where the same assessment was made. Additionally, the dealer determined that the failure was related to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Filed Feb 22, 2024 · Engine · 59,909 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, there was smoke coming from underneath the hood, and the vehicle lost motive power. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an Auto Collision Center. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the oil pump drive belt had fractured, causing engine and turbo charger damages. The dealer determined that the oil pump drive belt, the engine block, and the turbo charger needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was sold because she could not cover the cost of the repair. The contact later received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) which she related to the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 59,909.

Filed Aug 1, 2023 · Engine, Fuel system · IN · fire

As I was driving my 2018 Ford Focus, the check engine flashed on. Almost as soon as I noticed it flashed on, it went away. Several more miles down the interstate, it came on again. Almost as soon as it came on, a warning displayed stating Engine Temp Hot, Stop Safely. As I started to pull over onto the shoulder, the power steering went out and then the brakes became extremely hard to push in. As my car slowed down I noticed smoke and as soon as we stopped flames came out from under the hood of the car. I called 911 and the Indiana State Police came and Incident # 2023-00344031 was filed after Pike Township Fire department extinguished the flames. State Farm Insurance was contacted and my car was deemed a total loss. I have photos but the website wouldn't upload the photos.

Filed Aug 10, 2022 · Engine · TX

Engine just stopped working and white smoke came out the exhaust.

Filed May 3, 2022 · Engine · FL

Engine, and computer that controls check engine and low oil pressure lights. Car started ticking, had appt but not until may 18th dealership where I bought it. On Friday April 15th when I turned car off and got out smelled burning smell. Husband lifted hood and let cool down for an hour, when to go check fluids and no oil, looked under neath no leaks. Have video of all and everything. No alert senor came on to say low oil pressure, or check engine especially since it was bone dry no oil. Bought car with 11800 or so miles on it 6 weeks before. When bought car had oil in it. At 13510 miles no oil. Safety was at risk because it could have caught fire with running it with no oil in it, until app time of May 18th 2022. Took to key scales ford where car was bought, and confirmed no leaks, no oil, no warning lights. Was towed to them on Monday April 18th, was inspected wensday April 20th. No warning lights what so ever came on at all. Car information stated no warnings no messages. Again I have video taken from Friday April 15th when we found car to have no oil. Ford after 2weeks finally decided to replace engine but no answer on computer for warning lights as of now. Engine on back order.

Filed Dec 26, 2019 · Airbags, Body · 31,000 miles · VA · crash · fire

On december 12th, 2019, I was involved in a three-car fender bender on fairfax county parkway in virginia. I was traveling in slow-moving traffic at 7:20am, close to reston hospital, when the two cars in front of me slammed on their brakes unexpectedly and I unfortunately could not brake in time to avoid hitting the car in front of me. The car directly in front of me was a toyota SUV and had a tow-bar, which took most of the impact of the crash and caused damage to my vehicle. Aside from some minor scratches, both of the other cars involved in the accident were fine and the two drivers were able to continue on their ways to work. My car, on the other hand has been declared a total loss by my insurance company as it immediately burst into flames upon impact. As I mentioned above, the traffic was slow-moving so we were not traveling at more than 25-30mph at any time on that stretch as we navigated the traffic. This should have been a very low-impact and minor incident; however, for some unknown and unexplainable reason, the ford focus was on fire before I even knew that I had crashed. The impact was so minimal that no airbags deployed. Firefighters were onsite within 5 minutes and had difficulty putting out the blaze. In addition, I was still in the car while it was on fire because it happened immediately upon impact, so while I was lucky to walk away without any physical injuries, I was immediately taken to the ambulance to monitor my vitals and try to control my shock. I realize that there have been recalls of ford focus vehicles purchased in 2017 and prior; however, I strongly believe that the safety concerns raised in previous lawsuits against ford pertain directly to the 2018 model as well. We had already replaced the clutch in the focus after a year and a half because of a transmission failure also noted in previous years.