NHTSA Complaint #10392402 — 2002 FORD FOCUS

ON MARCH 17, 2011, MY 2002 FORD FOCUS SUDDENLY STALLED OUT AS I WAS ACCELERATING UPHILL, TURNING RIGHT ON A RAMP TO ENTER A BUSY HIGHWAY. FUEL TANK WAS ABOUT . I RESTARTED THE ENGINE A COUPLE TIMES, BUT IT STALLED OUT AGAIN AFTER A FEW SECONDS. IT WAS POTENTIALLY A DANGEROUS SITUATION, BUT LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO ROLL THE CAR BACK DOWNHILL TO A SAFER LOCATION. (LATER I LEARNED THAT AN IDENTICAL SCENARIO IS DESCRIBED IN FORD DEALER LETTER 03N01, IN WHICH FORD AGREES TO REPLACE FUEL DELIVERY MODULES FOR 2000 AND 2001 MODELS, BUT NOT 2002.) I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO A FORD DEALER, BUT THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO LOOK AT IT TILL THE NEXT MORNING, AT WHICH TIME THE CAR STARTED FINE. FORD RAN MANY TESTS, INCLUDING ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL, TOOK IT OUT FOR 3 ' 4 TEST DRIVES AND COULD NOT FIND A PROBLEM. THEY CHARGED $150 FOR THE DIAGNOSTIC LABOR. THIS CAR HAS DONE THIS EVERY YEAR NOW FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS. SIMILAR, BUT NOT IDENTICAL, STALLS OCCURRED ON MARCH 16, 2009, MARCH 10, 2010 AND MARCH 17, 2010. EACH TIME, I HAD TO HAVE THE CAR TOWED. LOCATIONS WERE DIFFERENT, SO IT WAS ALWAYS A DIFFERENT SHOP. NONE OF THEM WERE ABLE TO LOOK AT IT RIGHT AWAY, AND BY THE TIME THEY LOOKED AT IT THE NEXT DAY, THEY COULD NOT FIND THE PROBLEM. HOWEVER, EACH ONE CHARGED ABOUT $150 LABOR. THOSE 3 INCIDENTS ALSO REQUIRED A NEW 15 AMP FUSE FOR THE FUEL PUMP, PERHAPS BECAUSE OF THE REPEATED UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO RESTART THE CAR AFTER IT STALLED. THIS YEAR, I STOPPED TRYING TO RESTART AFTER 4 UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS. THE FUSE DID NOT BLOW THIS YEAR. IN BETWEEN THESE STALLOUTS, USUALLY EXACTLY ONE YEAR APART, THE ENGINE HAS STARTED AND RUN SMOOTHLY, WITH NO INDICATION OF PROBLEMS. EACH TIME A STALL HAS HAPPENED, THE CAR HAS WORKED FINE THE NEXT DAY, WITHOUT ANY ADDITION OF FUEL. THIS INDICATES THAT IT IS NOT A PROBLEM WITH THE QUALITY OR QUANTITY OF FUEL IN THE TANK. THE ONLY EXPLANATION THAT I CAN SEE FOR THESE UNPREDICTABLE FAILURES IS A DEFECT IN THE FUEL DELIVERY SYSTEM. *TR