Problems with 2001 Ford Focus POWER TRAIN

My transmission in my 2001 ford focus blew up before that i went and checked my fluid in it and there was nothing in it its a 5 speed and i never tampered with it so i put fluid in it that ford recommended after telling me its not fords fault there was no fluid in my car and after i put the fluid in it it blew up no gears nothin just grinding

Was driving home from work last thursday (10 minutes on the interstate, 97 degrees, full ac), when the car started to lose power followed by transmission lurching and engine trying to die. pulled the remaining block into my apts and opened hood expecting to find overheated engine, and ended up see a bunch of flame and signing my thumb. got fire extinguisher and put it out, and called fire dept. no work was done to engine other than a new air filter 4000 miles ago. so far the ford dealer wants to write it off as complete loss and leave it to my insurance. took out my air intake, melted battery, melted battery wires, ruined hood, scroched headlight, smoked interior, and who knows what got sucked into engine through the intake. dealer wouldn't tow because "warranty tows have to be called in through ford customer service". photos are up at http://www.geocities.com/archangel_jjn. contact me for more information. *ak

Consumer states that the steering mechanism is getting looser the more consumer drives, the looser steering wheel gets. consumer states there is a lot of play in steering and that makes it very hard to steer the vehicle. *jb the vehicle's mileage is decreasing from 300 miles to 200 miles and then to 180 miles for a full tank of fuel. the vehicle also experiences stalling and changing gears has been difficult. *yh

Consumer states when driving if vehicle hits a bump the rear end of vehicle goes from side to side like its loosing traction of the road. cause is unknown. jbconsumer further states the vehicle used to give them 300 miles when the fuel tank is full to empty. now the vehicle gives them 180 miles. the vehicle also has trouble changing gears and has been stalling. the dealer says there is nothing wrong. *jg

Told waldorf ford that the car was leaning was told this is normal. went out of town and a family member looked at it and said, "did you know your rear axle is bent and the wheels are brring inward." i told them what we were told, they said we need to take it back & have ford fix it. ford refuses to take our calls to make appointment to fix.*ak

Started to notice that the transimission would clatter at any speed. clatter became pronounced and took the car in and it had a bad bearing. this problem seems to be a common one. while the car has 60k on it all the miles are highway as i drive it 100 miles round trip per day.*jb

Consumer was not able to shift from drive to park, only able to shift from drive to neutral. the vehicle is at the dealer. nlm

There is slippage on driveshaft at very low speeds which can cause vehicle to speed up. contacted dealer. *ak

Consumer states that the vehicle, on numerous occasion has been stuck in park position that no matter how hard the consumer trys the vehicle will not move out of gear. contacted dealer. nlm

The check engine light illuminated and was told it was a faulty switch that needed to be reset, the problem has not yet been resolved. *scc

The bushings failed ruining the back tires. the door locks have a mind of their own which could be dangerous in an accident and ford has been unable to diagnose the problem. the steering column was loose and they discovered broken parts in there. there is an undiagnosed problem with as scraping noise as i turned a corner into a parking lot. we are afraid to drive it, every time we do something else happens to it.

While driving vehicle stalled , resulting in loss of brake and steering functions. as a result, consumer collided with a truck. ph

I purchased this ford focus in march 2001. in may 2001 i went back to phil long ford because the car was not performing properly. periodically i would be driving along and the car would act as though the transmission was slipping. the customer service rep at phil long that i spoke with at this time went with me for a test drive in this car and everything was fine. he said nothing could be done unless they could experience what was happening with the car. i told him the car was slipping, skipping, and twice while driving along the car lost power. he told me what i had said did not make sense and unless they could experience this malfunction they could only guess it was one of the computers in the car adjusting for a road condition. this service rep dismissed me as being a stupid woman. today, december 31, 2001, i went to my car at 7:00am this moring to go to work and when i touched the gas pedal it went right to the floor and would not come back up. i managed driving at 2mph to phil long ford where i sat for 2 1/2 hours before they told me the problem with the car is a broken cable. i am so furious with phil long ford i filed a complaint via e-mail with ford motor co. as i thought more about this situation throughout the day i realized how fortunate i was that the cable broke while i was sitting in the parking lot where i live. suppose this had (and it probably has to others) occurred while i was driving along. suppose this had happened one of the two times this car lost power as i was driving along a very busy road? i would have been involved in a serious accident. i think ford should take responsibility for my losing at least one vacation day for work possibly two or more days because phil long can not give me any guarantee when this car will be fixed because of the holiday. this is inexcusable on ford and phil long ford part.*ak

Car has been in the shop 37 days since bought new. still having problems with brakes.*ak

On the way home after purchasing vehicle, the side view mirrors would not adjust. consumer called the repair service to have the mirrors fixed. when consumer went to adjust the mirror it broke into 3 pieces. *jg

Manual transmission makes clattering noise at idle speed. transmission difficult to shift and grinds gears. when coming to a stop, engine sputters as if it is going to stall. instrument lights flicker due to low alternator rpm. idle then increases.*ak

Whenever the manual transmission is engaged (clutch pedal not depressed), and the gear selection is in neutral, a loud, vibrating, and metalic sound is audible coming from the manual transmission housing. occasionally, the noise continues while in gear, through approximately 30-40 m.p.h. of speed.*ak

Avance trac control doesn't engage and/or mulfunctions-disabling it total. many elect problems. twice it has shut down on interstate i40 at rate of speed of 50 and 60 and once at maybe 5 mph in the driveway. when it shuts down there is no warning. other problems w/this car have been radio had to be replaced, fuel pump module, key gets stuck and key willn't turn. *ak

I own a 2001 ford focus automatic transmission. i was parked on a flat surface, when someone backed up into my car, they only moved 3 feet didn't do any damage to teh bumpber, but from that slight hit it sent my car free wheeling in park 175 feet, across a road, and slamming into 3 trees totalling out the rear of the car. luckily no one was hurt nor in the car at the time fo this accident. when i got into my car i expected to see the geer shifter broken but it wasn't it still worked. my car was the way i left it just 175 feet down teh road. this is not right! two of teh main safety feature failed on this car. ford sent out an investigartor who looked over the car, pushed on the car with their hands, but never took the transmission aprt to see if there was any damage. now ford said there is nothing wrong with my car and it is perfectly safe. i am very unhappy, i am stuch with a car i don't want any more, dont trust, and now becuase of the damage unable to trade in. i have only owned this car since oct of 2000. i feel that this is a major defect in the car and ford is just trying to cover it up.*ak

Car was parked, transmission was in "park" keys out of car. a car backed into my parked car hitting the front bumper. my car was only 3 feet from the rear of the car that hit me and the backing car backed up slowly and only causing a small scrach on the bumper. after the 2 cars bumped, my car began to roll and continued to roll down a slow grade and picked up speed. the driver of the other car atempted to stop my car but was not able to get in sence the doors were locked. he also atempted to get the front tires to turn and could not. my car then struck a stand of trees distorying the rear end. my car rolled over 120 feet from the spot it was parked in. when i got into my car, i checked the shifter to see if it had been moved out of "park" it was still in "park" and i shook it to make sure it was. i then started the car with out any problem and moved it back to were it was parked. the car drove and acted fine, i even had 2 other people rock the car to see if we could get it to jump out of gear and it would not. i then called a ford deal where i was told "thats not a problem, if your car gets hit it can jump out of park". being a police officer my self for over 18 years and in that time with all the accdents i have see i have yet to see one where a car with a automatic transmission was hit and cause it to come out of "park" even when it was hit at over 50 miles an hour. my car was hit at less than 1 mile an hour and it jumps out of gear? but i really can't say it jumped out of gear sence it was still in park the hole time it was rolling down hill and was found in "park" after it came to a stop. this is a major safety problem and i thank god my car was not parked where it could of rolled out into a major intersection and cause the death of one of mine or someone elses family member. *ak

Dripping from pass. side heat vent during a/c use or rain, severe rattling from transmission during acceleration or at idle with clutch out, when clutch is pressed the noise goes away, front end out of alignment, pulls to the right. *ak

Some of the brake components are covered in rust, dealer stated that this is a common problem due to a protectant not being used during manufacturing, rust is very severe and alxes are beginning to rust, consumer is very concerned, dealer will not make repairs unless consumer pays for costs or until a recall is issued. *slc

I have had numerous problems with my focus. about 3mo after i bought it, the transmission began to feel like it was slipping, and making a noise. i took it to the purchasing dealership, and a mechanic told me it was the torque converter. they didn't have a loaner car for me, so i made an an appointment for the following week. the next day on my way home from work, the car shut down. i called a tow truck, they took it to the closest dealership. when i called the dealership the next day, they said the fuel pump went out. they told me that the stutter i was feeling in my car was probably that. a few days later, the same problem. took it back to the selling dealership, and the shop supervisor went out with me. he said i was driving the car out of context. what he meant by that, he wouldn't elaborate, but said there is nothing wrong with my car. i have been driving it since, and the computer will fade in and out, but i won't lose engine power. my car has to have new brake pads every couple of months, new tires, and other maintenance things. at less than 40000 miles, it needed new spark plugs, and wires, which i happily bought. the dealership wanted $300, because the plugs were in the back of the motor. i went to my car, popped the hood, four spark plugs lined the top of the head cover. there was no further explanation of the attempted over charge. my car has several other problems. the positive cable on the battery, has melted back, there is a loud roar in the cab of the car, and three of the four lug nuts on the right rear tire has snapped off. the explanation for the lug nuts, was that the tire was loose, not fastened properly. but this problem occurred 3-4 mo after i bought it. the tires had not been taken off. i am to the point where i hate ford for selling me this car. i will ever buy ford again, but i love the concept of the car

Transmission makes noise whether at idle or when shifting. the dealer checked out the problem several times and maintained that it was a normal function of the transmission to make noise or clatter.*ak

Servere bucking/jolting a steady speeds, when a/c is turned on, when slowing down, when stopping, and when shifting gears. radio turns off by itself, gets loud by itself, and sometimes, you can't turn it off. popping noises when putting into gear.grinding noises and knocking noises when driving. car vibrate uncontrolably at times. when increasing speeds, car wants to stall out and not shift gears. almost lost control serval times because of jolting problem. ford doesn't care, doesn't want to fix and has refused to contact us after 2 certified letters were sent.

Manual transmission is loud and coarse. gear clatter prominant at all speeds. occasionally difficult to shift into gear. *ak

Transmission jerks when going from reverse to park.*ak