Ford - Focus :: 2001 Occasionally Stalling / CEL On - Steering Wheel / Gas Pedal Lock Up?
Aug 15, 2012
I purchased a 2001 Ford Focus 7/17 from a Ford dealer. While my daughter was driving, at a left turn, the engine light came on, the car stalled, and the steering wheel and gas pedal locked up. A friend did a computer scan and said the code came back that 2 sensors, the crank shaft and cam shaft sensors, needed replaced. So we had them replaced.
About 4 days later, while driving home from school, on a right turn, the car broke down again on my daughter. She said the symptoms were the same, engine light came on, car stalled, the steering wheel and gas pedal locked up. So we had it towed to a local Ford service department. They said the ignition coils needed replaced and the valve cover gasket would eventually need replaced (per the mechanic, this wasn't directly related to the issue but a small leakage was found). So we let the Ford mechanic replace the coils and the valve gasket cover. They ran several tests and put 20 additional miles on the car without failures or issues, scans came up clean.
So while driving to school this morning, on a u-turn, my daughter experienced the issue again....car stalled, engine light came on, steering wheel and gas pedal locked up. After sitting a few minutes, the car started up so she drove it home and hitched a ride from dad to get to school.
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The problem makes the car unsafe to drive. The quickest way to describe it is a hard pull to the left after a very linear steering feel. My perception is almost as something is holding on and then just fails and lets go and the car quite abruptly shoots left in a very unsafe manner. Here are the things I have done to remedy the situation, I replaced the struts with factory replacements 15,000 miles ago. At the same time i replaced the left and right axles, drove the car with the problem then last weekend, I replaced the upper tie rod arms, and lower tie rod ends, the sway bar bushings, and the control arms on both sides. I literally feel as though it is a darn near new front end.
Just yesterday I had 4 new Goodyear eagle tires and an alignment done and the problem became more pronounced and worst. I really like this car and want it to be a joy to drive as I know from others these little hatchbacks are a real joy on winding mountain roads.
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I have a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3 (2D Hatchback) that has been randomly stalling since we bought it. There is no engine light, the dealership couldn't get it to stall and just gave it back. Another garage got it to stall and thought it might be the "idle-oxygen sensor" (not sure if I'm remembering the name correctly), but that didn't stop it from stalling either.
My wife is ready to dump it, but even spending a couple thousand a year on repairs is less than the grand total of a year's payments on a new car, insurance, etc. But it would be nice to fix it.
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My daughter's automatic DOHC SE Focus had suddenly been stalling, becoming harder to start and not maintaining a steady idle. I took it to our semi-trusted repair shop and was told it needed an EGR valve, plugs, coil, and ignition wires. $580! These all seemed like repairs I could do and so I have worked through all of these. I replaced the EGR valve and that seemed to make the problem actually worse. (so I put the old one back in) I put in new plugs and that improved the idle a small amount. Then I put in the new coil and that seemed to steady the idle a bit more. But here is what I have discovered through my many test drives after making these incremental repairs: The car starts now from cold very well and runs great for the first 20 minutes or so but...when it gets hot after 15 minutes or so of 50 mph driving, the idle drops and the engine wants to cut off. At low revs it seems to stumble and lose power. I think this is what my daughter was experiencing originally and none of my early test drives were long enough to surface the original problem. I have read that the Idle Control Valve might be a culprit in this sort of behavior.
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I have an 02 Elantra GT. I was dropping off a friend who knows cars and went to turn around, turned the wheel to full lock to make the turn and heard a squeal. I asked my friend what it was and he said it was the P/S and I just needed to add some P/S fluid. I got some fluid and sure enough when I went to fill up the reservoir it was below to MIN line, not too much below but still below it. I filled up the fluid and didn't hear the problem for the rest of the day but this morning I heard the same noise when I was leaving for work. I figured the fluid had to work its way though but am not sure if there is something else I should check or do.
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I noticed a pulsating feeling when I applied the brakes in my 2001 Ford Focus. I figure that it might be warped rotors, but after driving the car for a while, it seems to have dissipated. The car was sitting around for a few weeks. I read that it could just be rust buildup, but I feel that would require more than a few weeks of sitting around. Is there any way to check for myself, short of taking off the rotor?
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I have driven my Hyundai for 79,880 miles. I brought it new in 2005. I had the front brakes replaced and afterwards felt a vibration through the gas pedal, steering wheel and seat. Both driver side and passenger sides had the vibration. You can feel the vibration at any speed. Sometimes it feels as if there is a part spinning unbalanced and bumping against something.
I replaced both front wheel bearings, both CV joints, and both front struts. These were all the original parts and they were all in need of replacement. The struts were so bad that they had no gas to resist a simple push at one end. I had all four tires high speed balanced.
I lifted the front end and stepped on the gas to get the tires going. I did it at high speed and my friend tells me he could hear a rattling of what he thinks are steel ball bearings coming from the drivers side of the automatic transmission. He thinks that there may be a bad bearing(s) in the transmission. I simply don't know. What the cause of the vibration might be? Could my warranty cover the repair?
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Ford Focus 2012 - 25,000 miles
There's a loud grinding noise from the front end of car when I turn the steering wheel... even when the car is off and in park.I can post videos of the noise if needed.
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my 2000 focus se, 2.0L SPI, with 82k began to recently run rough at idle then progressed to stalling at longer lengths of idle. The condition starts once the engine warms after 2-5 minutes. I 1st tried gas treatment. I replaced the ignition coil as suggested in the other threads, but it has not improved the problem. I had the fuel pump recall-replaced 2 years ago. I would guess that a bad fuel pump would exhibit loss of power at all engine speeds? Before I proceed to replace plug wires and plugs.
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I have a 2004 F150 SCrew 4x4 with the 4.6 (260K)... My steering wheel occasionally 'clicks' when turning - It sounds and feels like a bearing is bad in the steering column.
When it happens, it feels like one in the bearing is binding- the steering wheel slightly binds, then there's a 'pop' like the ball snapped back into place. This only happens occasionally. Sometimes it will pop with every revolution of the steering wheel, other times not at all.
Originally, I thought it was a U-joint, but it seems like the noise is coming from the bottom of the column...
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Could my brake issue be related to my transmission problem? Neither are constant. Brake problem= sometimes the brake pedal feels hard, like there's no power brakes (I drove a car once. ..looong time ago. .. that had no power brakes or steering) but it will kick in after a short distance. Transmission prob= seemingly unrelated, is a problem shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. This has happened maybe a 1/2 dozen times, the first time and mostly when in heavy commute traffic and when going between 1st and 2nd gear because of the slow commute speed, but also at other times when not in lengthy slow commutes. When it doesn't shift, the odometer doesn't work (shows only dashes) and an engine light comes on (the sprocket/gear looking one). Usually the transmission will eventually shift and the light goes off.
I read that the brake problem might be a vacuum hose problem? Something about a booster? Is this dangerous? or is it like having a car w/ no power brakes? Going to have my transmission looked at this week. Read on another site about dropping valve seats on this year car. If there's a major transmission problem, I'm wondering if it's worth fixing? I changed, timing belt, water pump, front and rears brakes, tires. 143,000 miles.
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My sister has a Camry that has a squeak in the steering wheel occasionally when you turn the wheel. She lives in another state, and so I'm only going by her description, but I'll be visiting soon.
She describes it as an intermittent squeak/groan when the wheel is turned. I think it may be plastic on plastic, but it is definitely coming from the area around the column (up by the combo switch and ignition switch area), not down by your feet, she says.
I'm not sure of the year, but it is in the 2001-2003 range, I believe. I think this is just an annoyance thing, not a mechanical problem.
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I occasionally experience steering wheel vibration no matter what speed I'm traveling. It starts out as a small shake and eventually becomes nearly impossible to hold onto the steering wheel. On two separate occasions, the brakes have gone out.The car has passed PA state safety inspection and I have taken it to 3 different mechanics and no one can figure out what the problem is. I have had new tires and spark plugs installed, keep up with regular oil changes, etc.
2004 Toyota Corolla S, 4 cylinders, 1.81 l engine, 240,000 miles, manual transmission..
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My car stalls when I come to a stop but only in warmer weather (50 degrees or higher) and only after I have driven the car for 20 minutes or so then come to a stop. There is no check engine light on, no high temperature warning. I can start it back up (not a battery problem) easily, but as soon as I take my foot off the gas to put it in drive, it stalls. However, when I've let the engine cool, it's drivable again (until I come to a stop again).
I have taken it in to the repair shop after it has done this twice. Their computer check shows everything working fine and there ar no errors. Of course, by that time, then engine has cooled and they can't reproduce the stalling. I am dreading the upcoming warm weather because it's just a matter of time before I am stranded again. I don't know what to do if I can't get a diagnosis and repair!
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I have a 2003 elantra with 90 k when I'm. Driving the car it just stalls out the car never turns off it just idles and won't respond to gas pedal. I have to put the car in neutral accelerate and drop back to drive to keep driving it. Happens at all times car at normal heat , at regular driving speeds in the street any.
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I have a 2001 Elantra with 126k miles. For months it's been randomly hesitating, meaning I'll be riding along and suddenly the gas pedal will do nothing...then about 3 seconds later, VROOOM, the gas pedal will start working again. Recently, it's started stalling as well.
I've already replaced the MAP sensor, input speed sensor, throttle position sensor, spark plugs, wires, and coil pack. Nothing has worked, but it is getting progressively worse (it stalls more frequently, and the gas pedal becomes suddenly unresponsive more often).
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I easily removed the key lock cylinder but when I went to put the new one in I cannot get it to turn all the way back to lock the pin in place. The steering wheel is not in the locked position nor can I get it to lock. I have turned the steering wheel as far left and right as I could go with no success on getting it to lock or on getting the ignition key lock cylinder to turn back securing the actuator pin. The old key lock cylinder won't go back in either. What am I doing wrong?
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While in the locked position, the steering wheel was purposely jerked hard to disable the mechanism on a 1996 Ranger. Now the truck will not steer easily or smoothly and a popping noise is evident when turning. I'm not concerned about having the wheel lock, but would like to be able to return driveability to normal.
The same guy who caused this damage also damaged the ignition. No key is needed to turn the switch now.
I'm lost as to how the steering locking mechanism works and wondering if I need to tear apart the column or if maybe there is a locking pin accessible that needs to be removed to regain driveability.
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2009 FX4... Every once in a while, I'll feel a vibration in the gas pedal. It happens under acceleration, and typically if I'm pushing down and it has not downshifted yet. Then once it downshifts the vibration is less noticeable.
I have had the mechtronic unit replaced due to harsh shifting and the vibration was there before and after that was replaced. The drive shaft was also replaced due to a click/clinking noise and the vibration was there before and after as well. The harsh shifting and clinking noise was fixed with those repairs, but the vibration is still there. I notice it more when I am towing.
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IAC issues? 2003 Ford Focus LX 2.0 ... Over the last week or so, my car has occasionally started very roughly. It stumbles and is very rough. After about 20 or so seconds, it smooths and drives fine.
Also, I've noticed in the last few weeks that there is a noticeable drop in power when I turn on the blower, even with the AC off. Not a loss as where it stalls, but still very noticeable. Then I've also noticed that when I'm at a long light, or other times I start it and it doesn't stumble/start rough, that it will sort of feel as if someone is slowly pushing down on the accelerator and releasing, and this can go on for a while. Not dramatically, but definitely noticeable.
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Why my 03 focus zx5 will stall in reverse. I have had the tranny serviced. I can drive it and then let it sit for about an hour and then try to reverse in it and it dies. I have change the mac, tps, iac sensors. I am at a loss for why this is happening. I also changed the pvc hose that runs from the back of the motor to the pvc valve.
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