Recalls
| Campaign | Manufacturer | Manufacturing date | Type | # of units affected | Date Owner notified Mfg | Recall Initiated by | Manufacturers of recalled vehicles/products | Report Recieved Date | Record Creation Date | Regulation Part Number | FMVSS Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EQUIPMENT | ||||||||||||||||
| 12E007000 | RIDE CONTROL, LLC | E (Equipment) | 10006 | MFR | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 02/24/2012 | 02/24/2012 | |||||||||
| Defect Summary | Ride control, llc (ride control) is recalling certain readymount assemblies, p/n 746641mt and 746646mt, with corresponding aftermarket customer part numbers: gabriel g56944 and gabriel g56945, and privately branded partsmaster with part numbers g68944 and g68945. the readymount assemblies were sold as aftermarket service equipment for use on certain 2000 through 2005 ford focus vehicles. these assemblies were assembled with a nut without the necessary washer. the absence of the washer can allow the readymount assembly to pull apart the top mount. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | If the assembly separates during installation, it could result in injury to the installer. if the assembly separates while the vehicle is in motion, it could result in secondary damage to the vehicle and possibly result in a vehicle crash. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Ride control will notify owners and will set up procedures to inspect, repair, and/or replace the affected parts without charge to the owner. the safety recall is expected to begin during march 2012. owners may contact ride control at 1-800-999-3903. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov . | |||||||||||||||
Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EQUIPMENT | |||||
| 16478 | 12/01/2002 | 10008149 | Rear floor mats discontinued. *tt | 07/22/2004 | |
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL - AIR CONDITIONER | |||||
| 18273 | 11/01/2004 | 10013416 | A/c condenastion leak. *eh | 04/18/2005 | |
| 02208 | 10/14/2002 | 10013060 | Climate control a/c service tech tips. *eh | 04/07/2005 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EQUIPMENT | |||
| 05/13/2010 | 88000 | ||
| I own a 2003 ford focus. sometimes the ignition locks and the key will not even turn in the ignition, leaving me stranded. this problem began a few weeks ago. it has gotten progressively worse. until tonight, when this problem has occurred, the key would turn the ignition after 5 - 10 minutes. tonight, the problem lasted for over an hour and i had to call a tow. i was stranded in a bad area. having looked up this issue online, i can tell it is an all too common problem for ford focus model years 2000 - 2003. | |||
| 03/02/2010 | 45000 | 1 | |
| 2003 ford focus zx5--key won't turn in the ignition, so can't start car. steering wheel locked up and no amount of cranking, jiggling, etc., would allow me to turn the key in the ignition and start the car. was an intermittent problem for about two months, then tonight i couldn't get the car started at all; neither could a kind stranger; neither could my husband. snowing and cold. i had to leave the car in a grocery store parking lot overnight and hope it will be unharmed in the morning. will probably have to have car towed to a dealership. could have been worse: two weeks ago i was 120 miles from home for three days and would have been terribly stranded. i understand that ford will replace this defective part (ignition switch) with the same switch, which will also be defective, and that i can look forward to getting stranded again when the key will not turn in the ignition switch again. cost will be between $350 and $400, plus time away from teaching school (not a good idea and frowned upon by administration). the $350-$400 will only buy me another faulty ignition switch. this is potentially a life-threatening situation. others have been stranded in freezing, snowy weather nowhere near a repair shop, in extreme heat with small children in the car, in unsafe neighborhoods at night (see http://www.fordproblems.com/focus/key-wont-turn-in-the-ignition.shtml complaints). ford should fix this problem at no cost through a recall and installation of a reliable ignition switch. *tr | |||
| 11/08/2008 | 1 | ||
| Owner of a 2003 ford focus svt. i went to the movies last night and when i put my key in the ignition the ignition switch would not turn. i since have had to have my vehicle towed and the ignition fixed. *tr | |||
| 01/25/2007 | 70000 | ||
| I have replaced the transmission, the water pump, the thermostat, and all radiator hoses. the car overheats daily still. the stereo cuts on and off and can't be turned off by the power button. the rear left seatbelt is stuck where it can't be used. the driver window fell into the door, when the panel was removed it showed that the whole wire system had snapped. the driver door also can only be opened from the inside. *tr | |||
| 06/10/2007 | 32765 | 1 | 07/12/2006 |
| I had no event that lead to the failure of the (ignition) in my 2003 ford focus zx3. i was on my way to work at 10:30 p.m. and i stopped to put air in my tires at a local gas station. when i got back in to my vehicle i put the key in the ignition and tried to turn the ignition over but it would not move. i turned the steering wheel while trying to turn the key because i thought maybe the steering wheel locked up and yet nothing happend. i walked a mile back home and got my spare key and returned to my vehicle and tried it again and it to failed to turn the ignition. i had the vehicle towed to a local repair shop and i had to miss work that evening. it ended up costing me $336.28 to repair the ignition switch/tumbler. i looked online for other ford focus owners who have had the same problem and found over 30,000 other owners just on one website that have had the same problem with there ignition. i found plenty of people that have had to replace the ignition more then two to three times in there ford focus. this is a problem that ford denies having on there ford focus. the ford focus ignition is made in germany by a company called huf. the ford focus is the only ford vehicle that has the huf ignition used in it. that is very ironic considering that the only ford vehicle with numerous ignition problems is the ford focus. ford needs to correct this problem at once. ford also goes on to state that this is not a safety issue. i beg to differ, for just one example out of many that i could describe, i live in las vegas where the heat can reach over 110 everyday of the week in the summer. if the ignition broke while i was on the side of the road any where outside of las vegas i could be stranded and if i had no water i could easily die within hours. this is a safety issue and i could list a number of saftey problems that could come from this ignition problem. | |||
| 06/12/2007 | 52000 | 1 | 06/12/2007 |
| Recently we purchase a used 2003 ford focus that has the blaupunkt radio. a new radio station was programmed and the button pushed to store it. right after the radio started turning on and off with music blaring then silence then blaring again over and over. there was no way to stop it even after turning the car off. i know this may seem insignificant but at the time we were driving on the highway, the passenger set the station and then this started happening which was very distracting to the driver. it could very easily have caused an accident. blaupunkt sent an email admitting this is a defect if you set a station that has blank rds information. subsequent web searches showed a lot of people have had this happen. i'm reporting it becuase ford passed it off as no big deal but i think it's an unsafe condition. | |||
| 10/09/2006 | 43000 | 2 | 03/01/2003 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the ignition locked resulting in the ignition cylinder key being replaced by the service dealer. while searching the nhtsa website, complaints were found where this occurred to vehicles and the ignition cylinder key was replaced multiple times. the contact expressed concern that this repair does not seem to be a permanent fix for the problem. also, there was an odorous smell when the heating fan was turned on and the smell occasionally occurred when the air conditioner was on. the vehicle has not been to the service dealer for the odorous smell. | |||
| EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE | |||
| 07/02/2012 | 83000 | 1 | |
| Key will not turn ignition switch. tried turning steering wheel back and forth and no success. this is my only means of transportation. car is just sitting. *js | |||
| 07/02/2012 | 83000 | ||
| Key will not turn ignition switch. tried turning steering wheel back and forth and no success. this is my only means of transportation. car is just sitting. | |||
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL - AIR CONDITIONER | |||
| 10/31/2003 | 10 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford focus. the contact stated that the vehicle was difficult to start in the mornings and it would idle extremely roughly. she took the vehicle to the dealer, but they could not duplicate the failure and remedy the issue. in addition, the motor mounts had to be replaced and the air conditioner would not blow cold air. the contact is in the process of determining the cause of the failures. the failure mileage was 10 and current mileage was 85,000. | |||
| 04/29/2004 | 700 | 1 | 04/09/2004 |
| Dt*: the contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the starter failed. there were no warning signals for the failure. the vehicle was taken to the dealership who determined the flywheel and the starter had to be replaced. after the first incident, the contact took the vehicle to the dealer thirty times for the following failures: brakes rotors were replaced four times; battery and alternator had to be replaced; the transmission had to be replaced after the second attempt to repair it. the electrical wiring under the dashboard had to be rewired. the air conditioning was repaired three times with the replacement of defective valves; the rear door latches were repaired according to recall # 05v300000. the dealership had not corrected the noises from the steering column. the manufacturer was contacted and refused to cooperated in finding a suitable resolution. the last problem found by the dealership was the required replacement of the engine heads. the engine heads were attached to the vehicle frame. | |||
| 10/15/2005 | 6000 | 1 | 08/01/2003 |
| 2003 ford focus ac unit has musty odor and does not cool properly. *ts *jb | |||
| 05/29/2004 | 30000 | 1 | 02/15/2003 |
| Musty mold smell coming from air conditioner and heat. *ak | |||
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL - ANTI-THEFT DEVICES | |||
| 09/05/2004 | 25770 | 8 | 08/12/2003 |
| Dt: tachometer in vehicle stopped working which resulted in a short. this caused the brake lights to go out. the brake lights had to be replaced 8 times since september. the solenoid in the ignition was defective and resulted in the vehicle shutting down. the vehicle was taken to a local dealer, who has replaced the solenoid. but due to the design of the vehicle he could not guarantee that this would not happen again. consumer reported this to ford 3 times. the alarm on the car was also not working. the alarm was not original equipment, but was something that consumer paid extra for the ford dealership to add on vehicle. ford will not repair or replace alarm because it was not manufactured by ford. *ak | |||
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL - RADIO/TAPE DECK/CD ETC. | |||
| 12/01/2004 | 12 | 03/01/2003 | |
| Three transmission failures and replacements. the engine, starter/ignition and 1 gear shift all replacements and other various problems. *bf four cd player replacements, the brakes failed, and 1 alarm failure. *sc the engine was also replaced. *jb | |||