2005 Ford Focus ZX4 SES Sedan 4 cyl. 7500 miles

FOCUSPROBLEM

MEMBER
2005 FORD FOCUS

Problem has happened twice in last two weeks - First time raining and dark, second time dry and daylight. Happened about 1 week apart. Driving down road and all of a sudden the dash lights and hi-beam indicator start blinking rapidly with a clicking noise. First time this happened, it was early morning and I could see the headlights rapidly alternating low/high beam along with this clicking noise. Also, first time this happened, major deceleration occurred momentarily. Second time, acceleration not affected.
This lasted about 1 minute each time. Have had the car (new) since June 2005 and has been a great little car until this. Most unusual thing I've ever seen in my driving years, and I'm 55yrs. Took to Ford dealer and of course they couldn't find anything. I didn't ask if they put it on diagnostic machine - assuming they did, but may be wrong. They said they drove it (I had to leave it with them for a few hours). My daughter drives this car and I told her to be careful about pulling out in front of others (with this acceleration thing going on).
Do you have any clue as to what is causing this to happen? I'm completely stumped. Any recommendations I could ask the dealer to do?

5 Replies

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

Strange problem, I'll see if I can find anything about it on Alldata tommorrow.

( If Max would get on the stick and get Bruce on Mitchell he could do it :lol: )

A note on " the diagnostic machine" There is a fallacy in the public's perception that there is a magic machine that tells you everthing that is wrong with a car. While you can get good insight into what is going on with a vehicle, you still need to have good theory knowledge, ability to interpret the data stream and good old troubleshoot skills. MAny times a problem has to be occuring to nail down a problem, especially if it has nothing to do with a powertrain management issue. It may be best to leave it with the dealer and have them continually drive it. What we do with a problem child car that is intermittant in nature, is our shop owner will use as his personal vehicle until the problem occurs. It save the customer diagnostic costs and saves the shop owner gas money.

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Sunday, January 7th, 2007 AT 7:54 AM

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

I didn't find anything of value except a similiar issue on a 2003 focus. Ask the dealer if you have the most current software upgrade. I would think they would have checked but.

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Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 AT 2:53 PM

FOCUSPROBLEM

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4 POSTS

Thanks for your reply! It is a strange problem.
It's been about 2 weeks since it happened last. So far, so good.
And thanks for the tip about asking the dealer if it has the latest software upgrade, never thought of that one! I'll check.
I'd like to leave it with a service mgr to drive, but my daughter has the car in another city and she needs it to get around. Unfortunately, I don't have a spare.
Maybe it's possible, (if I ask), they will do just that and give her a loaner. Since the car is still under the new car warranty. Probably not, but it's worth a shot. Thanks again for the effort!

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Thursday, January 11th, 2007 AT 10:07 PM

SKINNEW

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1 POST

Hi, do you still have this car? My dad has one and it started having these same issues a few weeks ago. Did you ever solve the problem?

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Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 AT 3:04 AM

FOCUSPROBLEM

MEMBER
4 POSTS

No, I dumped that pain-in-the-butt Focus and bought a new 2007 Focus, which has been a good car for 4 years now. Sorry, never found out the problem with the 2005. I didn't have the time to wait for anyone to find out the problem. My daughter needed a reliable car, so I just made the decision to get rid of it. She's in another city 3hrs away and it would have been a nightmare running back and forth every time that problem came up (and I thought it was getting to the point of getting dangerous for her). Hope you can find out the issue with your Dads Focus-good luck. I'd dump it if I were him, and if he could afford to.