2002 Ford Focus

DRIVING MY 2002 ZX5 FORD FOCUS AROUND PITTSBURGH, WITH LESS THAN A 1/4 TANK THE ENGINE STARTED STUTTERING. THEN THE CAR STALLED. I TURNED IT BACK ON AND DROVE ABOUT A 1/4 MILE WHEN IT STARTED STUTTERING AND SHAKING PRETTY BAD AGAIN. WHEN I TRIED TO ACCELERATE, THERE WAS NO POWER AND THE ENGINE STALLED AGAIN. I WAITED A LITTLE BEFORE TURNING IT BACK ON. IT DID THE SAME THING TWICE MORE; ONCE IT STALLED WHEN I WAS DOING A LEFT TURN AT A BUSY TRAFFIC INTERSECTION AND THE OTHER WHILE DRIVING DOWN A CROWDED AVENUE. FORTUNATELY I WAS ABLE TO MAKE THE 2-HOUR TRIP BACK HOME WITHOUT ANY INCIDENTS. I TOOK IT TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP IN MY TOWN AND THEY TOLD ME THEY NEEDED TO REPLACE THE FUEL PUMP, FUEL FILTER AND ALSO PERFORM A FUEL FLUSH. THE TOTAL COST IS ROUGHLY $600.00. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING IN THE INTERNET AND THERE IS A HISTORY OF FAILURES WITH THE FUEL DELIVERY MODULE ON 2000-2001 FOCUS. FORD HAS CLAIMED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS SOLVED IN 2002. MY BUMPER-TO-BUMPER WARRANTY EXPIRED THIS PAST JANUARY AND THE DEALERSHIP SAYS THAT SINCE MY CAR IS 2002 THE EXTENDED COVERAGE PROGRAM 03N01 DOES NOT APPLY IN MY CASE, THUS I HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPAIRS. I DISAGREE AND I DO NOT FEEL THAT THE COST SHOULD BE MY RESPONSIBILITY. MY CAR SHOWS ALL THE SYMPTOMS DESCRIBED ON THE 03N01 DOCUMENT, WHICH IS A QUALITY ISSUE THAT FORD SHOULD HAVE RESOLVED AND CLEARLY HAS NOT. IT IS UNSAFE DRIVING A CAR THAT CAN STALL WITHOUT WARNING LEAVING THE DRIVER STUCK IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION. *JB

MY FORD FOCUS 2002 IS STARTING TO STALL & HESITATE WHILE DRIVING. I ORIGINALLY HAD BELIEVED IT WAS BAD FUEL BUT IT IS RECURRING & ONCE IT STALLS IT IS DIFFICULT TO NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP RUNNING WHEN PUTTING IT INTO DRIVE. I HAVE HAD IT TOWED ONCE & LOOKED AT BY MY MECHANIC, WHO IS PUZZLED AT THIS POINT (FUEL ADDITIVE, OIL CHANGE, FILTERS CHANGED, SPARK PLUGS CLEANED). IT SEEMS TO BE WORSE WHEN THE GAS GAGE IS @ OR BELOW A 1/4 OF A TANK. I HAVE READ THAT THERE WAS A SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH THE 2000-2001 MODELS & AM INQUIRING IF ANYONE WITH A 2002 IS REPORTING SUCH INCIDENTS. I BOUGHT THE CAR USED (FROM A FORD DEALER) WITH 12,000 (I THINK) MILES ON THE SPEEDOMETER & HAVE BEEN FAIRLY HAPPY UNTIL JUST THE LAST 60 DAYS. I CAN TELL YOU THAT I HAD NO PROBLEMS UNTIL I RAN VERY LOW ON GAS ONE NIGHT & STOPPED & FILLED UP AT A STATION THAT I NORMALLY DO NOT USE, BUT IT IS A STATION THAT DOES A GREAT DEAL OF BUSINESS IN THE AREA WHERE I WORK. I THOUGHT THAT I MAY HAVE GOTTEN SOME BAD FUEL OR HAD RUN THE TANK SO LOW THAT "GUNK" FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK HAD GOTTEN INTO THE FUEL. I USED SOME "FUEL ADDITIVE" & I KNOW THAT MY MECHANIC (AFTER TOWING IT) ALSO USED A FUEL ADDITIVE...EVERYTHING WAS FINE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS BUT THEN IT WAS HESITATING/JERKING WHILE I WAS DRIVING TO WORK ON A 1/4 OF A TANK OF PREMIUM FUEL (MY MECHANIC SUGGESTED I ONLY PUT IN $10.00 OF GAS IN CASE IT WAS THE FUEL PUMP). MY MECHANIC DOES NOT BELIEVE IT IS THE FUEL PUMP BECAUSE ONCE HE GOT IT TO RUN & HE HAD IT RUNNING HOT HE HAD NO PROBLEMS...HE FEELS I MAY NEED TO JUST WAIT IT OUT...STALLING WHILE IN TRAFFIC IS A BIT TOO ADVENTUROUS FOR ME!!! *NM

CAR SPUTTERED, STALLED, AND DIED IN TRAFFIC ON TWO DIFFERENT OCCASIONS (ONE MONTH APART), REQUIRING TOWING. I WOULD DESCRIBE THE SYMPTOM AS "FUEL STARVATION", LIKE A BAD FUEL PUMP OR FILTER. BOTH TIMES, IT OCCURRED WITH A WARM ENGINE, 1/4 TANK OF GAS, AND ACCELERATING NORMALLY FROM A STOP. MECHANIC SUBSEQUENTLY DETECTED NO PROBLEMS, EXCEPT BLOWN FUEL PUMP FUSE. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH THE VEHICLE LOST POWER. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR INSPECTION. UPON INSPECTION, THE DEALERSHIP DETERMINED THE FUEL DELIVERY MODULE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, HOWEVER NO REPAIRS WERE MADE. THERE IS A NHTSA RECALL, # 03V482000, REGARDING THE FUEL SYSTEM GASOLINE. THE VEHICLE HAS THE SAME PROBLEMS AS INDICATED IN THE RECALL; HOWEVER IT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL DUE TO THE VIN.

VEHICLE HAS STALLED NUMEROUS TIMES WITHOUT WARNING, ONCE WHILE A SEMI WAS FOLLOWING CLOSE BEHIND. AFTER THE VEHICLE STALLS, I HAVE TO WAIT ANYWHERE FROM A FEW MINUTES TO A FEW HOURS FOR IT TO START BACK UP AND NOT STALL. I HAVE NOTICED THAT THE 00-01 MODELS ARE COVERED BY RECALL FOR A DEFECTIVE FUEL PUMP BUT MY 02 MODEL IS NOT COVERED BY IT. I HAVE ALSO NOTICED THAT THE 02 MODEL COULD HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED WITH TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF FUEL PUMPS. THE FUEL PUMP THE CAR HAD INSTALLED DEPENDS ON WHAT DATE IT WAS MANUFACTURED. I UNFORTUNATELY HAVE A VEHICLE WITHIN THE DATE RANGE OF BEING MANUFACTURED WITH THE OLDER AND DEFECTIVE FUEL PUMP AS MY VEHICLE WAS BUILT IN OCTOBER OF 2001. WHY IS MY VEHICLE NOT COVERED IN THIS RECALL WHEN IT WAS MANUFACTURED WITH THE EXACT SAME DEFECTIVE PART THAT THE 00-01 MODELS HAVE? *JB

CAR IS STALLING AND DYING WHEN STOPPED. WILL NOT IDLE PROPERLY. HAVE REPLACE BOTH SPARK PLUGS AND PLUG WIRES EVEN THOUGH ONLY HAVE 36K MILES ON THE CAR. ONLY THING DIAGNOSTIC TEST SHOW IS THE FUEL IS TOO LEAN. I AM ASSUMING THAT I WILL HAVE TO REPLACE THE FUEL FILTER SINCE FORD WILL NOT INCLUDE THE 2002 MODELS EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS AS EARLIER MODELS. *JB