Focus Front Springs Breaking

"Happy Go Lucky" wrote

There's been a precautionary recall here in Canada. What is your year and mileage?

I forgot to include this in the first post. I have a 2001 Wagon SE with 40,000 miles on it.

The bottom line is that I still love the car and would buy another without hesitation. Sure, some things are not as they should be but maybe the designers that designed those parts have retired or been fired by now. An example is the radio and the click stop volumn control. It's either too loud or to low, it's impossible to adjust where you want because of the click stops. The gas filler cap is on the wrong side in my opinion. There are a couple other things but it's still a very nice fairly cheap car to own and drive.

"Happy Go Lucky" wrote

The root of the early defects is mostly in third-party suppliers, which of course doesn't let Ford executives off the hook since they contracted with the suppliers. Over the years, I've seen two explanations for this, both of which may have some truth.

First, Ford got too generous at letting suppliers participate in the early planning stages, rather than the usual practise of simply issuing requirements and selecting among the various bids. Some suppliers used the opportunity to boost profits rather than design good parts.

Second, Ford senior management rushed the production deadlines, which gave the designers insufficient time to test the parts from outside suppliers.

Ford isn't the only company to have had this problem. When Toyota started assembling vehicles in North America, they had a lot of problem with domestic suppliers. Ditto Mercedes.

I feel that the root of the problem is Ford Management and to try and save a buck.

There is no excuse for shoddy workmanship and defect parts. Ford needs to take responsibility and accountability for the problems they have had with this Focus car instead of making excuses for them.

Toyota has been making cars in North America for about 18 years now, Ford has been making cars how long? - Try 100 years plus, and they still can not get it right. The Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe are made in the same plant in Freemont California. The Toyota Corollas and Honda's are made in Canada. If one thinks about it, the same people who make Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans very likely worked for Ford at one time.

"Happy Go Lucky" wrote

The root of the early defects is mostly in third-party suppliers, which of course doesn't let Ford executives off the hook since they contracted with the suppliers. Over the years, I've seen two explanations for this, both of which may have some truth.

First, Ford got too generous at letting suppliers participate in the early planning stages, rather than the usual practise of simply issuing requirements and selecting among the various bids. Some suppliers used the opportunity to boost profits rather than design good parts.

Second, Ford senior management rushed the production deadlines, which gave the designers insufficient time to test the parts from outside suppliers.

Ford isn't the only company to have had this problem. When Toyota started assembling vehicles in North America, they had a lot of problem with domestic suppliers. Ditto Mercedes.

"Henri" wrote

They do take responsibility and they haven't hidden behind excuses. These explanations were mine, not theirs.

"Dave Gower" wrote: > "Henri" wrote > > >.... Ford needs to > > take responsibility and accountability for the problems > they have had > > with > > this Focus car instead of making excuses for them. > > They do take responsibility and they haven't hidden behind > excuses. These > explanations were mine, not theirs.

After having new tires put on my 2001 Focus wagon I started to drive off when I heard a clunking noise coming from the right front side of my car. I called the clerk over and told him to check my car because of the noise. He had the mechanic look and I was told my spring was broken. In over 30 years of cars I have never had a spring break before. The worse part of this is that the local Ford dealer didnt have any springs. He said he would try and get a pair withing four days. This is day three and still no springs. I tried calling my Ford Dealer this afternoon. They took my number but have not reurned my call. Then I did a search on the Internet and found your post. I will be going down to the dealership in person tomorrow. Thanks for this information!!! Jim Valparaiso, Indiana

Jim,

Depending on where the spring is broken, I bet the very bottom, you can drive the car. I look back on the noise I had with my 2001 wagon and now I'm pretty sure I drove close to two years with the spring broken, the last few weeks is when it really started making noise but only if I hit some large bumps or hump in the road to unload the suspension. Ford was fantastic about it, they never tried to avoid fixing the car and it's out of warranty with 40,000 miles.

Gene

Maybe its because they were forced to put a 10 year warranty on the springs.

Depending on where the spring is broken, I bet the very bottom, you can drive the car. I look back on the noise I had with my 2001 wagon and now I'm pretty sure I drove close to two years with the spring broken, the last few weeks is when it really started making noise but only if I hit some large bumps or hump in the road to unload the suspension. Ford was fantastic about it, they never tried to avoid fixing the car and it's out of warranty with 40,000 miles.

Gene

Happy, Well I just came back from visiting my Ford Dealer. I went to the shop and related the story to them about my broken spring. I also told them that after doing some research I found that Ford Motor Company had extended the warranty on the front springs. The attendant did some research for a couple of minutes and then told me that I had two choices. If I could bring them the car they would replace the broken spring and the other one at no cost to me....or if I couldn?t get the car to them that they would have Ford reinburse me the cost of both the labor and springs from the shop my Ford was at. There was no hassel. Now I am elated that I saved myself just over three hundred dollars by doing a little research. The question remains....why hasn?t Ford informed all effected Focus owners of this extended warranty? One can only draw one conclusion and that I think is sad. Thanks again for the information. Jim PS: I wonder how long we?re going to have to wait to be reinbursed? Hell....as long as we get it I will be happy.

I recived my notice of the recall related to this defect in the mail more then a year ago.

And Third, Ford has been hammering their suppliers over pricing, which could lead to suppliers cutting corners.

John Cairns

"John R Cambron" wrote

I got mine last fall.

"Dave Gower" wrote: > "John R Cambron" wrote > > > I recived my notice of the recall related to this defect in > > the mail more then a year ago. > > I got mine last fall.

Dave & John, Where do you guys live? Maybe Ford sent notices to those who live in areas where the winters are worse then here. Like I said before I live in NW Indiana. Maybe they thought our winters weren?t as bad? All I know is that I didn?t receive that notice.

Last month I got the recall for the back door hinge. I had that serviced this last weekend. Jim

:>"Dave Gower" wrote: :> > "John R Cambron" wrote :> > :> > > I recived my notice of the recall related to this defect in :> > > the mail more then a year ago. :> > :> > I got mine last fall. :>

:>Dave & John, :>Where do you guys live? Maybe Ford sent notices to those who live in :>areas where the winters are worse then here. Like I said before I live :>in NW Indiana. Maybe they thought our winters weren?t as bad? All I :>know is that I didn?t receive that notice. :>

:>Last month I got the recall for the back door hinge. I had that :>serviced this last weekend. :>Jim

Well I'm not Dave or John. :-)

2001 Focus SE Wagon and 2002 Focus ZX5 owned by my mother and brother both got the letter last November. I didn't get one for my 2004 SVT Focus which is correct.

BTW, we live in the Phoenix, AZ area. Now there are places in Arizona where it gets pretty nasty in the winter but Phoenix isn't one of them.

me/2

I've been having similiar problems with my 2001 ford focus se for about a year now. I have noticed a "crunchy" noise coming from the front end when I got over speed bumps, and also noticed popping sounds from the front end as well when turning. I have not had the problem officially diagnosed, and wondered if you had experienced any of the same symptoms? Per the Ford website no recalls were issued for my vehicle. Did they consider this a recall issue with your broken spring?

See sig below.

Purchased car from a dealer in Prince George's County Maryland on the southeast side of Washington DC

All three of the jurisdiction in the Washington metropolitan area use profuse amounts of salt on the roads in the winter.