problems problems problems

[mpholiday]

Has anyone else been experiencing a host of problems with their 2002 SVT Focus? In short, here are the problems I've experienced (and before you all respond by telling me to take it to the dealer, it's there as I write this, for the second time on many of these issues):

1) When you first start your car, regardless of the weather conditions, does your engine "hunt" to such a degree that it sounds like it's going to stall? I believe the correct term for this is that the engine "loads up." Mine actually DID stall once. The verdict: "Ford knows about this but has no fix for it" That was back in June, and the problem only appears to be getting worse.

2) Have you ever been left stranded, your car failing to start, your engine not even hinting at wanting to turn over? Mine did. The verdict: "No problem was found." And yet it failed yet again within a week of getting it back.

3) As a result of #1, at varying rates of speed my car feels like it's lurching. It's still in the shop, so I have no verdict on this one yet.

4) Moments after I start my car, a noise similar to that of a loose belt is heard from deep inside the passenger side dash, close to the engine compartment. Sometimes this even happens after an hour or so of steady driving. Again, the verdict is still out on this one.

5) Lastly, the already-mentioned squeaky driver's seat and a new, but faint door rattle near the latch of the driver's side door.

I'm mostly concerned with the engine and the car not starting on occasion. Have ANY of you experienced anything like this? I was one of the first (supposedly lucky) owners of this car, back in the first days of May 2001, and I'm beginning to wonder if I got shafted somehow.

My free loaner car (a late model Escort ZX2 w/ auto trans) appears to be riding just as well as my Focus SVT - and that is sad.

[deactivated]

the lurching you mention is what most of us call surging and yes it is well documented. As for your engine not starting that sounds like something might not be grounded or a battery cable is not making good contact consistently.


a lot of people have mentioned the squeaky seat. My rear seat squeaks. They fixed it once and it didn't squeak for about a month. Now its back. It's all because they aren't using enough lubrication....cost saving measures.

[gregc]

Some of those problems are common from what I've experienced and what I've read on the Focaljet site. The eradic idle is common although mine only occurs when it's cold out and it's more of a very fast bounce back and forth in rpms. It's seems that for most owners if you let the car idle without touching the gas for roughly 15 secs or more when you first start it, it seems to warm up enough to act fairly normal thereafter. Mine has never stalled though. The dealer found no problem. Supposedly SVT is working on a computer code fix for the idle and "surging" problem and according to a few people at the Focaljet site, it was supposed to be out right about now. Mine also periodically feels like it's momentarily missing ("surging") when under light load at constant speed.

I fixed the sqeaky seat myself by removing the plastic cover at the base of the seat on the side by the driver side door (it just unsnaps) and then spraying some WD-40 wherever I could get it on moving or touching parts. That was about 7 months ago and it hasn't sqeaked since. The squeak seemed to be coming from the left rear part of the seat base.

The dealer has been pretty much useless for fixing any of these problems for me. I also had a 2000 rpm exhaust rattle which they fixed and is now back again. There is a lot of heat shielding underneath and that's what it sounds like is rattling again. My advice would be to tell them that you don't want it back until they fix it. At least the more serious stalling or not starting problem.

[mpholiday]

yeah, that's what I've done this time around. I wrote up a 1.5 page dissertation detailing all of my problems, had them enter it all in on the service order, as well as having my write up attached on the back. I have a friend who once used to work in or with the SVO department (before it became SVT), and through his contacts I've got a number of people keeping their eyes on this one. At the bottom of my write up I stated quite clearly that "No problem found" is not an option. And thanks to SVT's wonderful free loaner policy, (I mean it, it's great!) I'm able to make a short-term sacrifice in order to ensure that everything is taken care of, at no loss to myself or my work.

Hopefully they'll have their hands on the fix you were talking about, REAL soon.

[quicksilver]

:( Sorry to hear about your problems but they seem very common with this car. As previously mentioned, a little WD40 applied to the end of the rods under the seat base cured my squeak (dealer wanted to take the seat apart and do whatever...).

I've not had the drastic surging some folks describe...more minor surging at 2500-3000 rpm. My most troubling problem to date is a leaking car.....water in passenger floorboard. Dealer replaced half the cowl but I've read on other boards that usually does not fix the leak. We'll see.

Good luck with it. We all hope Ford and SVT will be diligent in fixing problems with this car.

[mpholiday]

Thanks again for those of you who were able to offer some input.
I just got off the phone with the service manager who is currently overseeing the progress of my car, and he stated that the new code fix for the engine surging problem IS out now. So, if any of you have been experiencing that problem, take the car in and have the code updated.

I'll let you know in a day or so (when I get my car back) how well the new code works.

There's still no verification on the no-start issue - they can't duplicate the problem, and even after suggesting the advice given about a possible grounding or batter connection issue, their response was that it would happen more frequently if that was the cause of the problem.

So yeah, the purpose of THIS update is to let you know that the fix IS available now. Take your focus in if you haven't already, to get that taken care of.

[mpholiday]

And they managed to fix EVERYTHING. :D

The seat had a number of loose parts, so they replaced some and they tightened the others.

The door also had some parts that loosened up, so they re-mounted those parts

They replaced the battery with hopes of that preventing the "no-start" problem from occuring again.

They inputted the new code to fix the engine surging and hunting problem

And they replaced the heater motor assembly.


I brought it in on Monday, and I'm pleased to say I have it back home today (Friday). It was worth the wait.

[gregc]

"They inputted the new code to fix the engine surging and hunting problem"


So MP.. , did it really fix the engine surging (I would describe mine as an quick, short miss) and the engine idle speed hunting?

[mpholiday]

I'm happy to say that, "Yes, this new code did fix the engine-related problems I was having"

(those problems being:

1) engine "hunts" <or the RPMs jump up and down at a rapid rate> when the car was first started

2) while driving at a constant rate of speed the car would "surge" to where it almost felt as if the brakes were applied ever so slightly


For the first time I'm driving this car with a smile. :D