First my wind shield wipers were coming on by themselves and not cutting off when I flicked the switch. Now my car is jerking when I press the gas to drive and sometimes moving in reverse after I press the gas to drive. Jerking and barely accelerating, then it decides to driver in between gaps. My safety is put at risk because sometimes it slows down or barely accelerates in oncoming traffic and moves backwards when cars are behind me at a light or stop sign. Manufacture by others which is a neighborhood auto shop. Just the check engine light came on.
Ford Focus wipers problems
214 of the 22,111 owner complaints about the Ford Focus describe windshield wiper failure, most of them for the 2012 model year.
- owner complaints
- 214
- worst model year
- 2012
- typical repair cost reported
- $490
- typical mileage
- 51,000
Is there a fix? There are 2 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Stalling 16Jerking 12Headlights 12Won't start 11Hesitation 9Fire or smoke 9Door locks 9Check engine light 9
Trouble codes mentioned
P0457 1C1947 1B2438 1B2434 1B1881 1B1318 1
What owners say
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving in the rain, the front windshield wipers were inoperable. The failure occurred intermittently prior to the complete failure. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the windshield wiper module needed to be reprogrammed. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 130,000.
The vehicle was serviced at Bartow Ford in Bartow, Florida, where approximately $1,100 was paid for the installation of a Body Control Module (BCM). Less than two weeks after this repair, the vehicle was returned to the same dealership due to issues involving the windshield wipers. According to the dealership’s own written statement, their technician began diagnosing the issue by replacing a blown fuse and tracing the wiring harness. While inspecting the wiring harness near the heater hose area, the technician observed coolant dripping onto the harness. When the technician touched the harness, it immediately caught fire. The shop foreman then had to disconnect the battery to prevent further damage. This fire occurred while the vehicle was in the possession and control of the dealership and during active diagnosis by their technician. Despite this, the dealership is now attempting to charge approximately $3,700 to repair the wiring harness and related components. We find this unacceptable. It is unreasonable to expect the customer to pay for repairs to damage that occurred during dealership service and inspection. This situation raises serious concerns, particularly because the dealership had recently performed electrical work on the vehicle involving the BCM only two weeks earlier.
Windshield wipers won't move and I got caught in the rain on the highway so its definitely unsafe.
My wipers worked, then paused mid windshield and went back down. Now they no longer work. Both fuses have been checked and there is nothing wrong with them. Now my wipers are unusable which makes my car unsafe to drive. Brought it to the mechanic and they said it looks like the same issues that affected this model on a recall a few years ago. However, when I look up recalls it shows that there are none that affect my specific vin.
The purge valve has been an ongoing continuous problem since we bought the vehicle. I have fixed it multiple times. It’s caused the vehicle to stall after putting gas in the tank, and just recently stalled while driving, causing me to hit a curb leading to the passenger front tire popping, the rim being dented, the tire rod bent, alignment out of wack, and the valance ripped off. It also caused a dashboard light to pop up saying Hill Start is Not Available. I was in the car thankfully alone and not with my children. The windshield wipers are a fairly newer issue, they come on whenever they want with the switch being touch. But won’t come on when I try to do it myself. I had my mom take a photo of the steering wheel/road while I was driving to show the severity of the alignment needed, it’s causing extra wear and tear EXTREMELY fast on tires. Rainy season has begun and this is absolutely unsafe and not my responsibility.
I am having issues with the company Ford in regards to my vehicle. It has been at Dowling Ford, in Cheshire, Connecticut for 5 weeks. I believe I am one of the unlucky 2015 Ford Focus owners who was sold a one of the cars that has a faulty transmission. After doing some research, I discovered that Ford has a lawsuit against them for unloading Ford Focus' with faulty transmissions. I will attach the link to the article stating this information. Ford is trying to charge me $5900.00 to fix the car that wasn't even brought in for the reasons that they are trying to charge me with. I bought the car for just under 7,000. It is only a 2015 and has 106,000 miles on it and should not be running into these problems. I have contacted the corporate office of Ford multiple times and they refuse to offer any help what so ever. I have only had the car for two years. My car was only brought in because the wipers weren't working properly and it was overheating while only in idle. It was diagnosed that the transmission module needed to be replaced which was covered under the warranty. Well, the bad news began there when I had to wait 2 weeks for that part to come in because it was "back ordered". Once that was replaced, they tried to tell me now that something else needs to be replaced which was the clutches on the transmission and it would cost $3200. Then once they fixed that which took 4 more days, they now are saying something else is wrong which is the transmission case and would be an additional $2700. My car was not brought in for any of these issues and now all of a sudden, my car needs them all replaced. Ford, hasn't even offered me a loaner during the last 5 weeks. I don't feel safe in this vehicle, and I know that I am driving an unsafe vehicle that shouldn't have even been sold to anyone.
When car is wet, windshield wipers turn on an go crazy an will not stop. Even when car is off they continue to wipe at crazy speeds. Car stay parked in wet weather. Fuse had to be pulled to shut off
I had my engine on in park and it stalled left me stranded and dashboard said engine fault service now when I tried starting the car it would turn over and I heard a bunch of clicking and the lights were flickering the dash and radio had no power and my wipers wouldn’t go off. I had to abandon my car on someone’s private property until I could get it towed they ended up calling the cops and gave me 48 hours to remove my car off there property. In my 2013 Ford Focus se I have experienced reduced engine power, hesitation, ENGINE STALLS while driving with NO WARNING Front and rear lights flicker and dim random spikes in voltage and inconsistent start-up issues like sometimes the vehicle does not start when turning the ignition on and car suddenly starts or idles down unexpectedly and stutters/lurches when driving. Also sometimes my radio fails to have power. I have replaced relay fuses starter fuses purge valve bought a new battery bought a new alternator I changed o2 sensors spark plugs filters etc I took it to Fred Martin Ford and they advised me they found intermittent communication failure between PCM and TCM. Performed wire trace on harness found harness frayed that runs along transmission unit. There are wiring harness recalls on Certain 2013 and 2014 Model Year Focus ST and Escape Vehicles Equipped with a 2.0L Engine Engine Wiring Splice Repair Safety Recall 14S17 My 2013 Ford Focus SE 2.0L Engine does not fall under this recall how come? There are several other customers having the same wiring harness issues.
- Faulty windshield washer pump pushing liquid into the Body Control Module and harness - Damaged electrical communications communications controlled by the Body Control Module including: 1) functionality of the wipers resulting in obscuring the windshield from clear visibility of the road 2) vehicle will not reliably shut off after removing the key. It continues to run. 3) vehicle will not reliably shift into different gears due to the disruption of the electronic transmission signaling. 4) electrical system drains the battery after a few hours of sitting idle. - The problem has been identified by a dealership - A dealer has inspected the problem. - Washer pumps would intermittently function and then randomly would not.
Related recalls
Visibility: windshield wiper/washer: switch/wiring
- What is wrong
- Ford is recalling certain model year 2012 focus vehicles manufactured from august 1, 2010, through october 18, 2011. A seal in the wiring harness connector to the passenger side wiper motor may be missing.
- Risk
- Water or other contaminants may accumulate in the connector, resulting in an intermittent or inoperative passenger side wiper motor, reducing visibility and increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and as necessary, clean and properly seal the passenger side wiper motor connector. Any inoperative wiper motors will be replaced. This service will be provided free of charge. The safety recall began on may 21, 2012. Owners may contact the ford motor company customer relationship center at 1‑866‑436‑7332.
Recall number 12V149000 · Recall details
Visibility: windshield wiper/washer: motor
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, and light and medium duty pickup trucks. A switch located in the plastic cover of the wiper motor gear case could malfunction and overheat, potentially resulting in loss of intermittent wiper function, loss of wiper park function, complete loss of wiper function, or ignition of the plastic cover material. Switch malfunction is most likely to occur when the intermittent setting of the wipers is being used, or when snow or ice obstructs the blades from returning to the "parked" position at the bottom of the windshield. These vehicles were built at the following assembly plants: atlanta plant from 2/11/00 through 7/31/00; chicago plant from 2/14/00 through 8/4/00; kansas city plant from 2/26/00 to 9/4/00; kentucky truck plant from 2/18/00 to 8/31/00; michigan truck plant from 2/23/00 through 8/3/00; norfolk plant from 2/21/00 through 7/27/00; wayne stamping and assembly plant from 2/25/00 through 8/15/00; and wixom plant from 2/15/00 through 8/8/00.
- Risk
- Loss of visibility while driving increases the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the date code on the wiper motor. Motors built with the suspect time frame will have the wiper motor gear case cover replaced. Owner notification began august 20, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1‑866‑436‑7332.
Recall number 01V258000 · Recall details
Questions about the Ford Focus wipers
Which Ford Focus years have windshield wiper failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2012 (48 complaints), 2000 (31 complaints) and 2013 (29 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix windshield wiper failure on the Ford Focus?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $490 (median of 15 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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