Ford Focus Recalls and TSBs

silver_bullet

Go to www.nhtsa.dot.gov and you can search their Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) and recall databases by year, make and model - and even refine your search by system (such as "brakes" or "A/C"). You will find quite a few duplicate entries under the TSB section, but you also might uncover evidence of a bulletin that you can bring to the attention of your service advisor.

Currently, the recall database contains six recalls affecting the 2000 Focus - keep in mind that some (like the rear wiring harness recall) do not apply to the hatchback.

pcleveland2

silver bullet, Very good info.

Also, I think that most of the recalls have been voluntary on Fords part. Nothing forced by the nhtsa.

maureen9

Is anyone else having the same problems with their ZX3? I had my car for 3 whole hours before I had to get a tow truck. I took the key out of the ignition and the whole ignition came out with it. It took Ford 2 weeks to get a replacement part. I have had the car successfully for 4 weeks now and again I am having trouble with the ignition switch. Now my key only goes in part way. The tow truck driver said that this was the 8th Focus he has had to tow with the same problem.
It is now in the shop again for an unspecified period of time. I am beginning to regret buying a Ford from my usual Chrysler.

pcleveland2

Maureen9,
Considering what the tow truck driver told you, I think it is something that should be reported on the nhtsa site. The instructions are there to tell you how to do it. I havn't had the problem, (yet).
Pat

elebut

I have not been able to get the fuel gauge to read "full", even if I top off the tank. Has anyone else experienced this?

Gary

cgsangel

Hi,

I have not had the problem yet but my brother has. In his case, the garage kept the car a couple of days. His key wouldn't go back into the ignition once he had removed it. They had to drill the old one out. The tow driver said he'd seen 3 just that month (January).

Charlie

maureen9

I called the dealership yesterday(Monday). They told me that I was going to take 3 days for my part to come in. But my car was towed in Thursday at 9am,last week. Should the part not have been ordered that day? And should the part not have been in by Monday, giving me my car back? What's with Ford? This is the second time that this has happened to me since I bought the car. I only picked it up December 29th, 2000. Enough is enough. I will never, ever buy another Ford product!!! Does anyone know if I have any options? I do not want this car any more. My second payment isn't even due yet.

silver_bullet

If you read through the warranty section of your manual, you'll see information regarding the chain of command at Ford. If the service manager won't help you, try the dealership general manager. No luck? Contact the zone representative for your region and call OwnerConnection and rattle a few cages. Your dealership should have placed a priority rush order for your part - although that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to arrive overnight. Thanks to Ford's "lean and mean" approach to manufacturing, the part may not be in stock - Ford might have to order parts from the OEM. I know what you mean about never wanting to buy another Ford product. Corporate short-sightedness like this is going to kill the domestic car business yet... and I'm amazed you've had better luck with Chryslers!

pcleveland2

It's a very dangerous statement. I don't care what problems you have with Ford, you can also have them with General Motors, Chrysler, Volvo, Volkswagen, Audi, Toyota, Subrau, Nissan, and even Rolls Royce. When you say Ford, do you mean Ford or a independant Ford dealership. Don't blame Ford for a bad dealership, but do let Ford know what you think of the Dealership. And ask your friends with Fords what their experiences have been with their dealerships and pick a new one to deal with.

zx3beast

pat,
i do blame ford for the bad dealership because they sold them the faulty products and set-up the poor delivery system of needed parts.
the dealer is also at the mercy of the factory,which is ford. so yes,by all
means the blame begins with ford. i can tell you that ford rushed the
launching of the focus and escape. you can bet they are still apologizing
to the dealers. there is a good reason why the new t-bird has taken so
long to come to market,also the new explorer. they dont want to repeat the same mistakes. unfortunately, for a lot of us we werent part of the
rethinking process.you live,you learn, sometimes.

vadp

Get your money back.

In the most states 20-30 days out of service (not necessarily all at the same time) will qualify your car as a lemon. Or two or more visits to the dealer for the same defect.

Check out your state lemon law.

http://autopedia.com/html/HotLinks_Lemon.html

rustyb2

this happened a few weeks after my son purchased his focus last march. there was a recall of it
later, but he went to dealership right away: there was something wrong with the fuel pump and they had to replace it. you might have the same thing. like i said, there was a recall later. it was all day repair.

pcleveland2

Only because dealership wanted it to be a all day repair. That way they could do other work around it.

Out of all the recalls the foci zx3 has had none of them have been all day affairs. I waited and had my z back within the hour. Only time it was kept overnight was while dealer was waiting for wheelbearing and spindle. And then I had z back next afternoon. Plus they gave me a loaner. And they have offered me a loaner each time I have been in for the recalls.
Pat

maureen9

Well, my Focus ZX3 was towed to the dealership February 15. It is now February 26 and no sign of my car being repaired. Unfortunately, I am in Canada and we are wimps when it comes to Lemon Laws. The dealership is being great about the whole thing. So far they have given me the option of keeping my Z or trading it in for another car. They did not specify whether it would be another Z or anything else on the lot with a comparative value. I really like my Z but I am afraid that my payments will outlive my car.
They want to keep our business because I bought the car from the dealership that my trucking company leases all of our trucks from. I don't know if they are sucking up because of this or not. Anyway, thanks for listening. I hope no one else has this problem.

silver_bullet

You do fleet business with them? I'd hit them up for a new car - FREE. If they want you to keep leasing trucks from them, they need to get with the program and make you a happy customer.

maureen9

I agree. But I don't think that they will give me the truck that I really want. Today is day 23 of my broken down car! Canada really has to develop Lemon Laws like the U.S. They only Ford that I have had any luck with was my '71 Mustang. I spoke to my rep at the dealership and he offered me (in jest) another '71 Mustang. Oh, to dream.

zx3beast

had car at dealer on saturday, seems ford will replace squeaky rear brake shoes at no charge, these are a new design. they are also replacing what they are calling a fuel injector switch, this is in response to the 2000 rpm stumble. there may or may not be a recall
for these issues. if you have these issues with your vehicle , ask your dealer to remedy them.as usual,i have a parts wait.

pcleveland2

May not be a recall persay, but should be covered by a TSB and placed in the class of a secret recall. Interesting they finally found something, especially something to do with fuel injectors.

maureen9

I happened to be talking to a mechanic at a local Ford dealership (he was trying to place a courier pick up for parts going back for warranty work)and he told me that there was another recall coming. He told me that Ford was having a real problem with, yes you guessed it, the ignition switch. I guess I found out the hard way. But I still love my ZX3. Ford, however, is another story.

pcleveland2

Maybe it's only on the Califorina models.

cgsangel

If there's a recall on this, I hope they get it out soon. I mean, the recalls for seatback hinges and A pillars are one thing... but wheels and ignition switches

I haven't had any problems with my ignition switch yet, but I know of someone who was left stranded because of that. It's like he knows his Ford hotline phone number by heart now

We'll all be watching this forum for updates.

Charlie

cgsangel

Maybe the delay on the recall is because they either don't have the right part or enough parts in stock or because they haven't got a fix yet.

Charlie

c2135

Anyone else having problems with their throttle assembly? My friend has a 2001 Ford Focus which is not quite 4 months old, and has already had the car in the shop 8 times. The most serious problem has occurred 3 times -- the clip which holds the throttle cable breaks and the cable falls into the spring below, causing the throttle to stick open, a very dangerous situation, to be sure! The first time it happened, he was on the freeway. After managing to get the car stopped, he called for a tow, and the tow truck driver said he had seen this happen the previous week, and the driver had been killed! Since then, it has happened again, twice, the second occasion, causing an accident which resulted in my friend getting a concussion, plus several bad bruises, and nearly resulted in his car hitting 4 children! 3 different Ford dealerships have tried to fix the problems, yet they reoccur. The dealerships say he is the only one having these problems. Any comments?

zx3beast

thanks for the heads-up. this is the first one i heard being reported here. its incredible that all the problems are related to relatively
simplistic type parts that are an integral part of a more complex assembly. one word for that......cheap!

pcleveland2

somewhere i have read this somewhere before. can't remember the fix, but there was one. it was here or club focus or focus jet. sounds like a killer car!

hugoz

Well, after one year and 12K miles on my Autumn Orange ZX3, I've been to the dealer way too many times, primarily for a defect that forced me to invoke our state's lemon law. My biggest problem was the driver's side door latch cabling mechanism (inside the door). Some of you old-timers to the Focus Town Hall may remember my posts about this problem last summer. (Since then I was too disgruntled to follow-up.) In a nutshell, I suddenly discovered one day that I couldn't open my door from the inside, and I'd go to the dealer only to have them tell me (a) the part has to be special ordered, or (I) after getting the part installed, the cable mechanism would break again after a few weeks. Thus, for many, many weeks, I had to roll down my window (manual windows), reach outside to open the outside door latch.

Anyhow, after 7 separate trips to 3 different dealers, for about a total of 10 or so days in the shop, the problem is licked -- for now, at least. I've written and called Ford, contacted the NHTSA, and finally got someone in the state attorney general's consumer protection section to intervene for me under our state lemon law. They sent a demand letter to Ford to fix the problem, but not unsurprisingly, told me that the problem was not significant enough to warrant demanding a new car (though everyone admits that not being able to get out of your car in a split second is a safety problem, and in my state, it's also a basis for flunking the state vehicle inspection).

I guess the only silver lining out of this was that the dealer I bought my car from (and the one who did the final fixes) had treated me well and always came through with a nice loner. Meanwhile, I also had the FOUR recall notice problems fixed, and on top of that, had three trips to the body shop: two to fix a vicious "keying" scratch, and a third to fix a minor dent (not my fault). What a year!!!

For what it's worth, my car now looks brand-spanking new, thanks to the last body shop fix, and I still find myself admiring that new-edge design. Handling and performance have been fine, too. Other than the above, no complaints.

Has anyone else had the door latch problem?

hugoz

Oh, I forgot to mention -- I've also had my ignition swtich replaced. Now it works fine. Other than this and the door latch, the ZX3 has been a great little car!!!

maureen9

I have heard of a couple of people having the same problem with the door latch. We thought it was our own stupidity when we would start our cars to warm them up, then have the doors lock. I just got the cable inside the door replaced today. The part was ordered on Tuesday of this week and I got a call Wednesday that the part was in and to drop off the car today. I am quite pleased that this repair was done so quickly and at no expense to me. And I agree, the ZX3 is a great little car. Despite the trouble I have had with the ignition sswitch and the length of time to get the thing fixed, my brother wants to buy one.

hugoz

Thanks for responding to my post. I knew I couldn't be the only out there with the door latch cabling system problem. The dealer had told me that it appeared Ford had recognized they had a problem. It took me several visits to get my door fixed right, but my ignition switch was replaced in no time; your door was fixed quickly but the ignition switch took a long time. Except for the irony, our hatchlings appear to have a lot in common. What color is yours?

hugoz

Was watching the Rallye Monte Carlo race on the Speedvision Channel on cable TV last night. Did anyone else see it? Three different Focus RS WRC cars (i.e., racing ZX3s) were being driven. Quite a thrilling spectacle, indeed, to see our beloved ZX3s being raced around Monte Carlo ... in fact, one of the Foci almost took first place.

Here's a link to some photos of the cars:

http://www.rallycars.com/Cars/Focus_WRC/Focus_WRC_1.html

tomp8

Dropped my car off at the dealership today for various fixes and found out there is another recall. Not sure what the number is, but it has something to do with rust in/around the "PCM" in cold climates. Canadian dealerships are also replacing the interior trim piece as a safety recall.