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Hatchbacks Ford Focus Ford Focus Care & Maintenance
309 messages, Last post on Oct 18, 2009 at 1:19 PM
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Well, I only have a slight noise...no loss of traction...but I can tell you that your car is most definetly out of alignment. I had this problem with my 2000 Accent from day 1. Here's a little test you can do to verify it. When you experiene the 'jumping and loss of traction', it probably only happens when you are going straight....if you hit a decent bump with the wheel turned, it's not a noticeable, right? If that's the case, then your front and rear wheels are out of alignment with each other. Example: on my Accent, it was so bad it was VISABLE. If you turned the front wheels perfectly straight, the back wheels will look as if they are pointing slightly to either side. At least on the Accent, this is a slightly tricky situation, and don't be surprised if it takes more than one trip to the dealer to fix. Even if you can't see a problem, don't rule it out. Only an alignment machine will pick up slight variences. I just got my Focus (1300 miles so far), so I have no experince with Ford Service yet (although my dealer is supposed to be VERY good...we'll see.) Hyundai dealers on the other hand (4 different ones worked on this) are horrible. The bottom line is that there techs had no idea that the rear wheels could be adjusted in this direction.(caster or camber...I always get the two confused. There are still alot of newer cars that have stationery rear wheels that are NOT adjustible in this way and only toe in or out. It took several visits from the regional service rep to get the dealers tech trained on this properly. To make it more complicated, the Accent and I'm pretty sure the Focus also, has what Honda used to dub 'four wheel steering'. No, you steering wheel doesn't actually turn the rear wheels !!! What does happen is that when enough drag is placed on the rear wheels when turning, they can SLIGHTLY turn (i think something like 5 degrees either way on the Accent anyway). You cannot even see this with the naked eye (I have tried). The complicated part is that when they align the rear wheels to the front, this secondary adjustment has to be close to zero degrees. Trust me on this, I verified it with Hyundai themselves and with a few local mechanics I know. This is not neccessarily a bad feature. Actually it's excellent because with older cars, if you were in a really bad accident or if the car was driven heavily for years slight movement or warping of the frame would make the car ride pretty bad. With this 'extra adjustment' in the rear a compitent alignment specialist can ALWAYS get your alignment near perfect, even if your frame is slightly off. Newer cars have much more rigid frames than older ones (especially economy cars), so normally this warping doesn't happen. However, it's nice to know that if it does....your covered !!!  If it makes you feel any better, after Hyundai finally getting it right I put about 11K miles on that car and the alignment is still perfect. I would be willing to bet money that this is your problem. It's just about the ONLY thing that will make the back of your car jump and pull. If you have alot of problems and your dealer can't get it right I would go to a Firestone service shop (or something similar), shell out the $50 or so for an alignment. If the car IS out of alignment, then bring the proof back to Ford and get them to refund your cost. After all, if there dealer checks it a few times and tells you it's OK, but another service shop was able to find the problem and fix it...I say FORD is responsible...escpecially at such low mileage. Sorry for the super long post, I just wanted to arm you with this information....if all else fails, I bet this is the problem. Good luck....Vic |
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Thanks for the advice, Vic I finally got a hold of my service tech and I'm going in on Monday and they'll give me a loaner, but when I mentioned the alignment problem, he said I'll have to pay for that. I don't think I should because I haven't had the car for a year and I' don't have crazy miles on her. Same thing with the breaks - what kind of product loyalty is inspired when things break or wear out in 6 months??? Am I totally wrong?? I ran my old clunker two years on the same breaks, and never had a problem. Why should a new car require more attention and replacement? Any advice on how to handle them would be appreciated. Or if I'm out in left field, let me know. |
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hi. well, I don't know the full history of your car, so I can't really say. I know Ford only covers aliognments for the first 12 months. I am trying to be really fait about this. How many miles do you have on it. If it's more than 10K, then you really should be paying for it. HOWEVER, if this is an ongoin problem earlyt on, and they have never checked the alignment before (cause they might be idiots), and it turns out that it IS the alignment...well, then Ford should do it for free. The one thing I forgot to mention with the Accent is this. It was delivered to me on a flatbed, and from DAY ONE I had this problem (about 6 miles on the car). They really couldn't argue being that I HAD SIX MILES !!!!!!!!!!!! It took till about 3500 miles for them to get it right. When they finally DID get it right, my steering wheel was tilted to 3 o clock, while the wheel were straight......BOY WAS I FIT TO BE TIED !!! Give me more info, but if this is NOT an ongoing problem and just started happening...I would do this. 1. Cancel the apointment at Ford. 2. Go to a Firestone shop that does laser alignment (most do) and pay out of your pocket. 3. Notify your Ford dealer and tell them that the alignment was done, KEEP THE RECEIPT AND PRINTOUT. 4. If the problem starts to happen again within a few thousand miles...it's time to get Ford involved. Please remember, ANY car can come out of alignment very easily. One pothole hit at just the right angle and speed can do it. As a general rule, I usually do all 3 of my cars aligment every other tire rotation (10K miles). It's not a super expensive thing to do, and you really do get the full life out of your tires this way. The original tires on my 95 Accent lasted about 55000 miles, and they were only supposed to last 30K. Oh, and I drive like a miniac too. I'm pretty sure proper rotation and good alignment helped out there. In contrast...I have a friend who just turns the key and drives (never does any maintenance)...his tires on his new Corolla lasted exactly 17K miles. Pretty sad. I'm only recommending what I WOULD DO in this situation. The reason I say take it to Firestone is that I've had AMAZING experiances with them, and a Ford dealer will probably charge you MUCH more. Check it out and see for yourself. Good Luck Vic |
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I dropped my car off this morning for a couple of reasons, 1-repainting the hood as the clear coat is pealing off, 2-brakes are still squealing and it's not cold any more, and 3-the strange bumping noise coming from the right wheel well. I did take your advice and called around for prices on wheel alignments at the local firestone stores and decided to find out if that was the problem first before I shelled out $80 - the average price quoted. Ford charges $45 for the same service and I figured that once they looked at the car, they could tell me if that was the problem or if it was something else. I think that maybe something is loose, and that's why I hear that noise and that whatever is missing or loose is affecting the traction as I only have a problem when I hear the noise. When I was showing the car to the service guy this morning he mentioned that there was a recall on the wheel bearing and maybe that was the problem. I told him I was unaware of any recall, but the second guy I talked to with the first guy standing next to me, nodded in agreement about the recall until a third guy walked up and asked me what side and then said it was only for the left side. Seemed a little sketchy to me that the recall was conveniently on the side I don't have a problem with especially after two techs said that the recall was probably what was wrong with my car. Anyone heard about this recall??? I found one for the 2000 - The rear wheel hub retaining nuts can loosen and allow the left rear wheel and brake drum assembly to separate from the vehicle. This condition could result in a vehicle crash. -That recall is on the left side, but if I'm having the same problem and it's on the right side... Or, maybe you're right and it is an alignment problem. It started back in January, the noise, and then slowly got worse until I started loosing traction. I got my car in September and have 11000 miles on her, but that includes two 2000 mile trips and two 500 mile trips -I can't help it, I love to drive my car. I had mentioned that I had a problem to the guy who sold me the car, and again when I dropped the car off for the 10000 mile maintenance but nothing had been done. I'm not sure if that was the info you were looking for. Hopefully they'll find the problem and it can be taken care of efficiently and affordably. Jessica |
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A number of folks on the Focaljet site have reported wheel bearing failures from all corners of the car - not just the rear. I'd insist on the dealer carefully inspecting all four wheels, as well as the front and rear suspension assemblies. The recall issued by Ford was in fact for the left rear wheel bearing only, FWIW. Peeling clearcoat? Already? Just curious - what color is your car? When was it built (see the VIN sticker on the driver's door jamb for your build date)? |
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When I picked up the car, there was a scratch on the hood as if someone had put something heavy on it and it had slipped off leaving a gauge - you could see the metal underneath - in the paint and a scratch where it had "fallen" off the car. Ford repainted the hood for me in October and I noticed in January that the clearcoat was bubbling up and pealing off - it's taken this long for me to get the service guy to give me a loaner as the repainting will take a day and it needs a day to dry. My car is twilight blue and was built in August 00. |
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Well..Firestone Service Center charges me $69.95 + tax for the Accent 4 wheel alignment. Is this where you're getting $80.00? If so that's the right price. I hate to say this, but based on what your telling me, I have little confidence in the dealer you are taking the car to. As far as the recall, it doesn't really matter what model year you have, it matters what the build date is ! Look at the take on the driver's side door jam, it's clearly marked....then look at a copy of the recal at www.nhtsa.gov...it will tell you what production dates are effected. For instance, my ZX3 is a 2001, built November of 2000....my friend has a 2000 built in December of 2000. My car needed that seat hinge recall, his didn't !!!! go figure.... As far as the noise goes....it wasn't clear to me that ou ONLY lose traction when hearing the noise. It could be a broken strut, swaybar or a bad bushing somewhere. What type of noise is it, like a creaking/cracking sound or more of a 'bass-y' sounding thump? I would let the dealer check it out...keep you service receipts...if the dealer can't figure it out (like that would be a shock), THEN shell out the $80 at Firestone. Even if it's more than just an alignment....you will now have evidence (from Firestone) to fight with Ford about, and make THEM pay the $80 and fix whatever the problem is. At 10K miles EVERYTHING else other than the alignment and tires should be covered. Although the struts may be pro-rated based on mmileage. I would still fight and make them pay the whole thing. Try pointing out how wonderful the car is and what a major disapointment this problem is, and how you are losing faith in a future Ford purchase...blah blah blah.. I know it sounds corny, but I got Hyundai to make 3 months worth of payments on my car. I am being somewhat offensive in my advice to you because most dealers have sub-standard service depts. I got my car at ALL AMERICAN FORD in Hackensack, NJ. They are supposedly the top rated dealer in my area. The sales and finance guys were EXCELLENT...but at 1500 miles, I have little to say about the service dept....we will see when it gets the 5000 miles service. I also bought the ESP Maintenance program for $900 smackers that covers all scheduled maintenance as well as struts, clutch, wipers, sparkplugs, and brakes. If this is a common suspension problem, I should be covered. HOWEVER, instead of including this contract in the financing, I took the contract afterwords, directly from Ford on a time payment plan (no interest). If they are really bad, then I will just cancel it with little or noting to lose. Good luck and let us know what happens.....by the way, anyone have any experiences with the above dealership? later V |
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In his defense, he did have pneumonia and then the guy who sold me the car changed dealerships because he got a promotion (he went from finance manager to sales manager). He said that he would have no problem helping me out, but he's down in Cortland which is about 30-45 minutes south of me. I also understand that once something is done at one dealer, you have to keep taking it back to them until they get it right as they would cover the cost of the repairs or repair fixes. At least that is what a friend of mine told me she was told by her dealer. If that's true, I have to keep going to them for the hood. It's not like I could get a shuttle to work in the morning if I did take it to Cortland, like I can at my dealer if I can't get a loaner car. I miss my old guy (who sold me my car), when I originally went into get the car repainted he gave me his Explorer while mine was getting worked on. He probably would have done the same this time, but alas he went south and he probably wouldn't be able to do the same if I went to Cortland, as he's further away now.  I hope this works out, but I feel a little more armed with information thanks to you and silver bullet. thanks Jess |
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| I think my focus suffers from excessive torque steer. I'm aware that it'll happen to some extent in any FWD car, but it seems like a bit much to me. Then again my last 3 cars have been RWD so I don't know. Is there anything that could be causing it or is it normal? | |
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Well, it sounds like your dealership is like many others. They are concerned with high volume sales and low volume repairs...hehehe This is kinda why I said to have someone other than the dealership check the alignment...again, that's only my opinion. Isn't it a shame that Ford built such a great little car for an awesome price and just can't seem to service it correctly. I have been EXTREMELY lucky with my Focus....yes it only has 1500 miles so far, but the car is very 'tight' and seems to be put together just right. My one and only concern is that the spacing between the rear bumper edges seem to be a little 'gappy', but I have looked at other Foci and they all seem that way. That is an easy fix for this, I just need to get my hands on a pair of shims from a local auto body shop. They just get screwed in on the inside edge of the bumper (where you won't see them) and that usually lifts everything back into place. Again, I really don't consider this a major problem...I have seen ALL kinds of cars that look like this...even a Lexus...when you use all plastic bumpers covers, this happens. Also, mine is such a slight gap, if I didn't point it out to people, they would never notice. Well, good luck, I hope someone finally figures out your problem (I still insist that the alignment is causing the 'hoping' effect..we'll see). Let us know. ************ Petedo, I have notice the torque steer also. The problem with the Focus is the engine is pretty powerful, especially from a standstill. The more power you have, the more torque steer there will be. It comes from un-equal drive axle lengths...something tha rear wheel drive and ALL Subaru's don't have. The Sub's have the trans in dead center, so the axles are exactly the same length. You are probably just used to rear wheel drive, so the torque steer is more noticable to you. But, anytime you think it's bad, go drive a modified Honda or a stock Turbo FWD....if you don't hold on tho the wheel for dear life, your soing to steer right into oncoming traffic. hehe The only thing that will minimize the problem is...I know, I sound like a broken record...wheel alignment. I DO wonder what Ford is going to do with the SVT Focus though...with 40 more horsepower...the problem will be alot worse. later V |
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