Fighting mad!

[cummins2k]

I purchased a 2009 Ford Focus for my wife after she decided she just had to have the car. I was reluctant and tried to change her mind but she finally got it. Needless to say she was very happy with the car up until it started accelerate on its own. No joke you would be driving down the road in gear (5 spd) and the car would start to accelerate. At first I thought maybe it was in her head as the few times I drove the car it didn't seem to do it. One day I let her take my truck and I drove the car, sure enough it was seemingly surging. Driving down the road at 40mph it surged on me and I took my foot completely off the accelerator yet the car still continued to accelerate 10mph before the revs dropped. The next time it did it I pressed the clutch in, the revs slowly climbed to about 4,800 rpm and then began to fall. We took it to Omera Ford where it was purchased and were given a rental car. Three days later I received a call from the service manager, he stated the did diagnostics on it and there was nothing wrong with the car. I was kind of torqued having thrown wrenches at my own vehicles for years. I showed up pretty unhappy, when the manager tried to smooth things over with a "free oil change." I tried to hold my composer when I told him I wasn't a moron there was something wrong with the car. Of course I got the whole well if it starts acting up bring it in right away. I ended up bringing the car home. The next day we took the car for a short drive when low and behold a wrench light came on the dash. So off to the dealership again where it was diagnosed as a "loose wire" for the throttle position sensor. There goes another 4 days with the car in the shop. When we got it back my wife commented that it was still taking off on its own, and the revs wouldn't drop when the clutch was in. I stopped by there with the car and got the same run around. Now here is the kicker, she comes to drop off lunch for me at my work and says "crap its overheating!" Instantly I knew something wasn't right, the temp gauge was just under red and yet the car was quiet as a whisper. I told her to pop the hood sure enough the fan wasn't running. She turned it off and took my truck why I waited for a tow truck to come get it and drop the car off again. The service manager waited 5 days and called me saying the fan motor was seized but they had it fixed and ready to go. We went and got it once more and the fan was still functioning but now when the fan came on it was vibrating the car. Back to the dealership. Sure enough they claim its normal. About a week later the car is idling while I smoke and my wife asks me if I hear the rattling. As I got closer I noticed a distinct rattle coming from the drivers side wheel well. I popped the hood looked around finding nothing, so I got in and listened. Sure enough I press the clutch in and it goes away. Let it out it comes back. I was furious. I took the car dropped it off and told them I wanted it fixed and fixed right. 11 days go by and they claim a spring was bad causing the clutch fork not to pre-load properly. We get home and its rattling again, so right back it goes. They keep it for 3 more days and claim they can't reproduce the sound, I go up there start it make them come listen and cuss everyone out because I am just that angry. A couple more days go by, and they say its ready. The lead mechanic comes out and says they drove it and couldn't reproduce the sound, I told him I noticed there was 100 more miles on the car than when I dropped it off. I started it let the clutch out and there it was. I told them I was very angry they put 100 miles on my car when it did not need to be driven to replicate the problem. Sure enough they try the free oil change crap again. Then the mechanic gives me the b.s. explanation of gear mesh and it being perfectly normal to hear all this racket when the vehicle was not under a load. In fact he claimed it was normal for all cars. I immediately asked him which short bus he thought I stepped off of. Mind you I am not an expert by any means but every vehicle I own is equipped with a manual transmission and none of them make noise with the clutch released. They weren't hearing any of it though. I got to hear "I would be glad to pull the transmission but Ford would make us eat the bill." Seriously I was about ready to make him eat the entire car. Obviously something wasn't right. I am taking it to a different dealership tomorrow. I should get a video of the noises and accelerator problems and post them up on a blog so Ford knows just how ticked off I am.Here is some more info on the car. The rattle subsides if you pull the shifter towards 4th, also the engine bogs dramatically (200-300rpm very quickly) and then returns to idle (I personally think there is too much end play in the shafts.) Over the course of 7,000 miles the car has gotten harder and harder to shift. Even worse from a dead stop. There is no grinding yet, but physical effort to engage the gears is certainly going up. It has popped out of 3rd a handful of times but I have been unable to reproduce this on a regular basis.All in all I don't care how much my wife pleads with me not to be stubborn, the next car she gets I am choosing not matter how ugly she thinks it is. This Ford is making my hair turn gray. Whats worse is I have had more problems with it in 7,000 miles than my 3500 has had in nearly 300k!

[Mopar1973Man]

Damn that sucks... 8| For good information I would grab the Dodge FSM book and head over to the clutch section and read about the clutch disc and flywheel. There is a lot of good information there... http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/tips/cumm ... /books.htm

[flagmanruss]

Paint it Lemon Yellow & park it in front of the dealership! Sell Lemonaide!Russ