Need In Depth Help With Focus Zetec.

[Prawnstar3000]

Hi there, I will start with a brief description of problem....

Bought a 2009 ford focus just over 3 months ago, after 3 days vibration was felt through pedals and steering wheel. Went in under warranty had wheels balanced and new discs and pads. Still vibrating. Went back had wheels rotated and balanced, tracking and alignment done. Still vibrating. Went back to garage, kept for 5 weeks had new front tyres and DEKRA report done. DEKRA stated everything in normal parameters. Got car back, all was fine for about a week, vibration I pedals returned with intermittent vibration through steering wheel. Also now knocking noise felt through the floor, steering slack when cornering at over over 25mph(like it has extremely cheap tyres on... Dunlops on front and back)' and grinding under heavy braking.

Took it to ford who diagnosed the problem as top shock mounts. Changed. Problem still there not as pronounced. It seemed that before something had made the coil springs twist slightly causing knocking noise when wheels turned. Ford technician came out agreed there was knocking noise, So left car overnight for diagnostic check. Went back the next day, and was told the knocking was a charechteristic of this particular car, when asked how a class leading handling car had such slack steering, I was told that there was no fault and if I didn't like it to get someone else to look at it.

The car still vibrates through wheel and pedals, it feels as though something is loose under the floor when steering, steering awful at anything over 25mph, grinding from brakes and physical scoring of discs(pads and discs less than 2 months old). Has already ruined one set of discs, and shock mounts.

Could anyone shed any light onto this? I am banging my head against a brick wall, ford say nothing is wrong with the car, but something obviously has play in it to cause all of these problems. The car has only covered 23000 miles so should not be wearing parts out as quickly as this.

Any help is appreciated, as I cannot reject the car without first finding the root of the problems.

Thanks in advance

[artscot79]

if the brakes are grinding and scoring then something at the front is bent did they do a 4 wheel alignment showing the toe in and out settings etc you should have got a print out? take the car back would be my answer it sounds like you have bought a never ending problem and i dont think youre going to get it sorted without spending a lot of money

[Prawnstar3000]

Thanks for your response artscot. The problem I am having is getting them to look for a specific problem, I think they are just looking at the wearable parts rather than looking more in depth at things.

The problem is they are adamant that the car has no problem, I know it has a problem but it is getting them to agree, or asking them to look for something else, and that's the something I know nothing about.

[raskL]

is the car on finance ? still under warranty i presume ?.

if so just ring them, be firm tell them if you dont sort it youll expect full refund as vehicle is unfit for purpose and you'll take it to 2 private garages at there expense, to confirm the problem, and if it goes any further they wont have a leg to stand on

[Prawnstar3000]

This is the problem Raskl. It was only a 3 month warranty, that is now up, this last repair was the last chance saloon for the car, even the finance company agreed, yet ford are saying that there is no problem. So I cannot go for unfit for purpose as the makers of the car say it is fine, but only because they have not done all that they can to find the fault.

I have emailed chief executive of ford uk and they are at this time investigating my complaint. At the moment the car is unsafe, but has been deemed safe by one of their garages.

They should at the end of this take it back in for further inspection, so I need to have an idea of what I can make sure that they look for.

[Stoney871]

Accidentally crash it into their showroom and see how fast they check the brakes/steering then. :P

[raskL]

yeah well sounds like your doing the best thing its hard to know what it could be without getting it on a ramp but make sure if you payed for it on card contact your credit card company make sure they know, if they start trying to get out of it you should have legal support via them, personally i would take it to a private garage for an inspection theyll tell you exactly whats wrong as they think youll be paying for it, get the report from them and then you have further evidence to support your case. and in the long run you should be able to claim the money back from your original dealer as they didnt fix or make the car safe.

[salsheikh]

i would also get into contact with trading standards/watchdog/which magazine to see what they have to say on the matter.

[artscot79]

thje problem you have is if no bushes etc show signs of wear then the problem will not be evident and lets be honest they arent going to replace the struts lower wishbones track rod ends steering rack upper strut bearings springs and all other suspension parts to track it down.

if the brakes are rubbing in a straight line then somethings bent if the 4 wheel alignment shows all ok then the issue is almost impossible to spot it could be the disks are warped which will cause the issue youre having and wont show up on an alignment so the disks and pads need to be looked at as for the knocking the heat shield sits right under youre feet and although attatched 2 pieces can easily rattle on each other and come loose.

i had my lower wishbones replaced and although they looked fine and showed no movement the bushes when they were replaced were actually shot allowing the lower wishbone to move backwards under braking it could be as simple as that and they didnt budge when the meachanic tried to move them but a car stopping applies a lot more force other than that youre looking at subframe bushes

[NorthSussex]

Is it possible that the car has been in a crash before you bought it?

[Fastfordman]

Is it possible that the car has been in a crash before you bought it?

That's my thoughts to, sounds like it may have had a front end shunt at some point and not been repaired properly, have you hpi checked it or does it have a small mileage between a set of services as it may show its been parked up for a while.

If you're still not happy with car regardless of warranty you can get trading standards involved like sal says it is clearly "not fit for purpose".

[raskL]

i was thinking the same thing :), but again you need a ramp realy i doubt youll get to the bottom of this with a tyre jack

something could of hit one of the wheels realy hard and bent something

[Prawnstar3000]

Thanks you guys for the input.....

Car was hpi checked before purchase, no recorded crash damage.

Can't be warped discs as these were replaced in April 2012, and the place where I bought the car had it for nearly 6 weeks, so they have had only 6 weeks wear...

Whether it has had an unrecorded crash I do not know. It certainly feels like it.

But regardless of everything, surely if the symptoms I have described and the fact that it seems to be burning up parts like a !Removed! in the wind, they should be looking to investigate this further.

So...

I should be asking to look at:

Bushings

Lower wishbone

Struts

Upper suspension bearings

Track rods

Springs

Steering rack

Subframe bushes

Can any of you boys think of anything else, I need to be prepared.

[NorthSussex]

Try another Ford Main Dealer for a second opinion, the if the selling garage then won't play ball talk to your local trading standards office.

[artscot79]

trading standards wont do anything if mechanics are saying its ok theres no proof as yet that an issue exists therefore as said get a ford dealer to check it out. the fact the car sat for 6wks doesnt mean the disks cant be warped

[Stoney871]

Even the tiniest distortion in the discs can cause trouble.

It would take them 5 minutes to put a guage on them if even just to eliminate one possibility.

[artscot79]

with the weather weve had a car sitting around for 6 weeks barely moving then the heat of the brakes being used can distort them easily ive seen new disks warp within 1 week due to the extremes of hot and cold a decent ford dealer should be able to check the suspension

[Prawnstar3000]

I agree with what you say about warped discs, but a warped disc would not ruin a top shock mount, nor would it cause a knocking through the bottom of the car. It would cause vibration through the wheel under braking, and depending on the severity of the warp would cause vibration through the wheel under normal driving conditions, but that would be apparent at all speeds this vibration is only apparent at speed, as is the vibration through the pedals.

My feeling is something is bent on the lower part of the suspension/steering system, something which is not apparent through visual checks, hence why it hasnt been found.

I need to know what to ask the technician when it goes into ford.

I am waiting for fords executive office to get back to me with a way forward with this, I am not driving the car at the moment on their advice. They are investigating the dealership I took it to, and I am waiting for them to inform me when I can have a senior technician look at it, at their expense.

[artscot79]

you assume 1 thing is causing thn issue wobble at speed suggests a buckled or unbalanced wheels vibration can be linked to this as well and will be felt through the steering knocking can be down to worn bushes also causing slack steering as we have suggested it can be any and all of these anything bent would be apparent via visual checks and alignment im afraid theres no easy answer the whole suspension has to be examined the top shock mount can simply be worn not an effect of another issue.

you cant tell a technician he will tell you the master tech knows his stuff and will test drive the car

[raskL]

i reckon some one has smacked the wheel and bent something like the wishbone , or the steering rack