Problems with 2000 Ford Focus ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

While idling or engaged, car frequently/periodically shudders as if the engine would die, loss of power during acceleration followed by gradual surge, engine light would flash. took vehicle to dealer 3 times with complaint over 8-9 mos, symptoms could not be duplicated, codes not recorded, could not find issue on computer diagnostic. 3-17 car stalled repeatedly, engine light on (constant). codes recorded, diagnosed - cylinder head needs to be replaced. when asked what would cause failure, tech stated carbon build-up. *jb

Power loss, stalling, back firing

I purchased a ford focus in april 2000. at that time i opted for the 3 year/36000 coverage. later in that year i was involved in the rear wheel bearing recall and brought the car in for repairs. last week my left rear wheel bearing went-and as the mechanic said "i'm suprised your wheel didn't come off". i contacted ford customer service and was informed that since i was no longer under warranty protection (vehicle has 40,000 miles) i was no longer covered, and the customer service representative proceeded in trying to offer me extended coverage for my car. i feel that since they "tried" to fix the problem and didn't -that they should still be resposnsible for the repair. there is no reason a wheel bearing should fail after only 40,000-especially when i had between 12-15,000 miles on the car at the time of initial recall/repair.

The brakes have been looked at three time because of noise and it's been serviced several times. it's in service right now and has been there for two weeks. i don't know if they are working on it or if they are repairing other things or what. i haven't had heat throughout the coldest part of the winter. the seat belts don't work and the paint is peeling. the car has locked up not letting me start the engine twice, then just out of the blue it decided to start. i tried to turn in and the car dealer at ford said he wouldn't touch it, didn't want it. we bought it aug. 9 2000-ford credit, simple interest 6.5 --first payment september $456.99 a month they say we owe too much to trade in ???this made no since. now i know what's been going on. my husband has been out to sea usnavy for almost a year and i'm scared to drive it i'm a nervous wreck about this car and i don't know what to do. there has been is so many recalls on this car i don't know if they have fixed them or not

Vehicle stalls at irregular intervals, including when idle or near idle. crack in cylinder head caused build-up of carbon. car is only three years old and has less than 45,000 miles. have contacted dealer for repairs. *jb

The engine light illuminated on the dashboard, on several occasions, however the dealer could not duplicate the problem.*jb

The vehicle stalled, consumer was informed the problem was due to a faulty engine light.*jb

The vehicle stalled without warning.*jb

Consumer was informed the valve cylinder head needed to be replaced.*jb

Burnt exhaust valve on cylinder head. *jb

2002 ford focus started missing, lost power, almost stalled; fortunately i was only two blocks from my mechanic. malfunction light illuminated during the process. the diagnostic code -p0300 through p0304. the technical service bulletin (1-4-13) required rebuilding the cylinder head assembly and replacing all of the valves and related gaskets. there easily could have been an accident if i were on an interstate or in traffic. *nlm

Twice in the past 3 months, my vehicle stalled and would not start again. after having it towed to the dealership, waiting there overnight, the car started and they couldn't find a problem with it. *jb

There was a noise coming from under the vehicle.*jb

While driving, the vehicle stalled which made it difficult for the consumer to control the vehicle. *nlm

I have been in the shop about 7 times during the last 3 years due to problems with my new focus. the clutch failed at 6700 miles, along with the brakes, and things got worse from there. the front windshield leaked water into the roof, the fuse on the fan/air conditioning system melted, and the brake pads were replaced numerous times. also, the fabric on the seats caused me to get shocked every time i got out of the car. ford's lack of customer service was painfully obvious as well during these repairs. i ultimately traded in my car for a competitor's car and i'm feeling much better now.

While driving consumer noticed black smoke coming from the engine. consumer pulled the vehicle over, opened the hood, and noticed that engine was on fire. consumer was unable to put out the flames. *ak consumer was driving at 25 mph when smoke was noticed. *la

My 2000 ford focus stalled on three seperate occassions. two times occuring on 2/13/03. i had the car towed to dealership service dept. they told me it was fixed that day. same exact problem occured next dayon way to work.(only drove car home from dealership day before) drove straight to dealership and told same problem occured.(7am in morning) they called at 5:30pm to tell me they could not duplicate problem and wanted to keep car over weekend. on monday they told me they could not duplicate the problem, had test drove it 83 miles, and returned vehicle with no repair made.(other than upcoming recall i hadn't been notified of yet)

While accelerating on highway, engine and oil light came on; engine began making knocking noise. pulled car over. ford dealership stated engine failure due to inproper maintenance. oil changed according to maintenance schedule -- do not have evidence because it was done by husband. vehicle only has 60k miles.

The engine fall out (engine bolts broke). please provide further information. ph

The vehicle stalled, and then restarted.*jb

I have had problems ever since i bought my 2000 ford focus with all the recalls - i have had my brakes redone and here under a year they are needing done again - not enough mileage - window mechanism not working on two windows - engine and airbag light on - constant problems with a car that everyone is having problems with the same things. *ak

The vehicle stalled without warning.*jb

While driving my 2000 ford focus one day i noticed a ratcheting sound in the engine compartment and antifreeze smell inside the car. all of which resulted in a complete replacement of the water ump, bulley and gasket. my car only had 38,000 miles.*ak

I am the original and current owner of a 2000 ford focus se. whenever i exit the freeway and the exit is a curve, my engine fails. sometimes, when i am on the freeway proceeding in a linear fashion, my engine feels like it is going to fail.*ak

While driving the vehicle began to smoke under the hood then caught on fire. the dealer has been notified of the problem. please provide any additional information. *nlm

When driving the car it goes into neutral then back into gear when backing up the car it grinds the non-drivers side floods everytime it rains windshield wipers were no good both back doors make loud noises when opening and closing there are dents on the non-drivers side below the doors engine light goes on once in a while when driving car sometimes jumps into gear.. (scary) and others i asked the car dealer before buying the car if this car had been in any accidents.. he said.. michele, we do not sell cars that have been in accident. after some of these problem had occured i checked the vin# and it said that this car had atleast 12 problems before i bought it

Bad brakes, leaking transmission x 2 repairs, numerous electrical probs, one "accident", damage repaired at ford expense, bad tire, noise from front rt side, "surge" prob, car seemed to "stick" in a gear. i don't have my file with me but i know there is more.

There was a loud noise coming from the engine.*jb

Problem equal to: investigation: ea02-022, pe02-040 model year: 2000-02 subject: engine and engine cooling system -engine stalls on my ford focus 2000.

Car has had the brakes serviced a total of five times and the car is stalling during acceleration. this car has been in shops for several recalls as well as twice for ignition lock failure. one of our children was trapped in rear seat by defective seat belt & had to be cut out with a knife. car stalls after it warms up. dealer says it's fuel pump but if that were so, wouldn't it stall waarm or cold. i spoke to an employee at another dealer who said ford was finding problems with sensor connected with cooling system. who do i believe? they want to charge us $700 to replace fuel pump that probably works fine.

Current malfunction is hesitation and engine stall and brake failure. my car is almost 2 years old and within that time period i have experienced the following malfunctions: windshield wiper, air condition, electric window, brakes, struts, rusted rotor, ignition switch, electrical shorts(flashing dash), engine hesitation/stall, blown fuses where car would not start.

My 2000 ford focus has had problems starting 2 months after i purchased it. it's been in 6 times for excessive brake noise and or squealing. the door hinges were squeeking and had to be replaced due to misalignment..it took 5 times to determine this. weather strip molding has been replaced due to falling apart around the headlights. the cd player/stereo was replaced with a new factory model when cd player would not work properly. the "new" model was replaced yet again due to coding seen and no numbers in the window digital area. the fuel pump was replaced after stalling more than 50 miles from home...still does not run up to performance. fuel area reworked again. would not start due to battery cable. ford needs to discontinue this model until they can fix the problems it has with it. they also need to get all focus models off the road, they are safety hazzards.

The main concern i have is that i have had this car in 4 times now for rear wheel bearings. my other issue is that when the actuator in the rear drivers door went out that all the locks and windows freeze up in the locked position it that is where they were at when it dies. not the key, manually or remote will wor. this to me is a saftey issue, you could potentially be locked into your vehicle with no way out.

Engine oil sprays out of dip stick. dt

Air has not worked properly from purchasing the car new. i purchased the car in wa state and have moved to ohio. i am now told that even though the problems started prior to the warranty expiring, since i bought the car from another dealer, i will have to pay for any future prolems myself. fuel, ford know this is a problem, and refuses to tell me if the new fuel pump i had them put in is an old pump or a new one without the problems. other, exhaust leak, i was told i had an exhaust leak, but the engine still sounds very knocky. i am 4th generation ford, my sister was also and now buys anything but ford, this will also be my last ford, but any cash back would be great after buying the most expensive piece of junk i have ever had.

Engine starts to stalls when comming to a stop. they claim it needs a new cylinder head.

While traveling on highway vehicle stall and he was able to pull over. smoke was coming in though the vents the vehicle engine campartment was on fire. please furnish additional information. dealer was notified. mr

This has happened many times, only going at higher rates of speed, 50-70 mph. i can pull over and it starts right back up. this usually happens when the gas tank is at 1/4 or less, it's not out of gas, i can go another 50 miles without filling up at speeds of under 50 mph. once i fill the gas tank back up, it doesn't stall again until the gas tank goes below 1/4. is there a recall coming up on this issue? dt

2000 ford focus experiencing problems with engine.*mr the consumer stated the engine died repeatedly when it was started and in neutral, the engine died at cold engine temperature when the transmission was engaged, it also surged and bucked at highway speeds and hesitated during acceleration. on several occasions when the vehicle was taken to the dealer, they were unable to duplicate the problem and after a few more visits the dealer replaced several componets such as the ignition coil and the air intake tube, but the vehicle continued to experience engine problems. *jb

While driving at 20mph vehicle engine cut of and vehicle stalled out without any warning. resulting in vehicle crashing into the back of other vehcile. please provide more details. ts

Car stalled and would not start-started shaking and then stalled. dt

While traveling on the highway without prior warning the vehicle shot down.. the dealership is aware of the problem. ts

Engine stalls under various driving conditions. ford acknowledged they have redesigned the cylinder head to correct the problem. the vehical was three years old as of september 30,2002. stalling started in october of 2002. repair is not covered by warrentee, extended warrentee disalowed by third party insurer who claimed it was a ford problem. cost of repair to fix the problem +$2,000. alternate procedure involves chemical cleaning, recommended by dealer without guarentee or warrentee.

After reading in my 10/13/02 detroit news/free press about problems reguarding my 2000 ford focus , i decided to lodge this complaint. the article listed one problem being a sudden stalling of the vehicle. while driving at 40 mph my car just stalled out. i could not restart it. i had it towed to a service station about 1 block from where it stalled. i was told it needed a new fuel pump. i paid $625 for the repair. after reading the article i am now wondering if this was a problem caused by faulty ford parts. mr

The engine on my ford focus has stalled while driving 4 seperate times since purchasing it 2 years ago, it happens when i let off the accelerator and push in the clutch while turning. i haven't had an accident yet only by pure luck on my part. the other problem is my ignition went bad when the keying mechanism in the ignition locked up not allowing my key to enter, after talking to the tow truck driver he said that he gets call all the time about focus ignitions going bad. it cost me almost $500 for the tow and repair work. dt

Consumer states that emission control light is illuminated. consumer also advised that if placed in neutral gear, vehicle will stall or surge forward. mr

First purchase focus it had a loud engine we took it back and they had to replace top of the engine. then other parts of the vehicle started to fall apart. in a 2 year span, mostly the occurances happened in the first yr, molding around the headlights came off along with the molding around the windshield back and front, trunk will not shut the molding around the key hole fell out and the lock inside was loose(taken in twice only the lock was fixed once the molding was just replace the last time, still won't shut) ignition got stuck key would go in but would not turn, engine is stalling all dashboard lights come on and then car stalls in park and just starting to move. dt

These problems have all happened at different times and seem to be completely unrelated. the rotors had to be replaced with the brakes at approximately 13k miles. the engine just went into idle while i was driving. this happened three separate times, but when i took it in to the dealer. they didn't see anything wrong with it and couldn't duplicate the malfunction. my rear wheels started making a very low noise around 8/15/02. after an accident at the end of august. the noise was much worse and the rear bearings were replaced by the shop that fixed my car after the accident. south florida is a "high-salt/corrosion" area because of our proximity to the sea. this was never introduced before. when the cigarette lighter is pushed in, it does not merely pop out when it is hot. it ejects and is thrown on the floor. having it land on my leg twice and my carpet scorched by it twice, it could have cause a serious accident. thank you for your assistance. dt

Vehicle would stall while driving at any multiple speeds. dealer was not notified at this time. feel free to provide any further information.*ak

While traveling on highway and without prior warning vehicle will shut down. *ak