[salimar]

hello,

just need a quick diagnosis on what may be the problem with my 2000 ford focus zts. was out and about last night with some friends, focus was driving and sounding fine. parked it went to go see a movie. upon returning to my car, once i tried to start it, i heard a faint sound, then my focus refused to start. the dash would not illuminate, the gauges would not react and when the key was turned all the way forward, like you were cranking it up, the focus produced a steady beep until i released the keys. any ideas? my focus is an automatic also.

 

[downloader]

sounds like a dead battery, did you try to boost it?

www.bluewhippet.net

 

[Algorhythm]

Second on the dead battery

 

[salimar]

negative on the battery, tried that last night. i checked the ignition fuse, it was blown so i replaced it and the replacement blew right away when i turned the key.

darn electrical problems i guess.

 

[viney266]

Thats odd, I would have said battery as well. Does it look like anyone fooled with your car, under the hood or inside??

 

[CAIS95]

sounds to me like starter is fried. when you replace the fuse, turn your key to the on position without starting it, if it blows the fuse without trying to start, you have a electrical problem, probably a short. but if its only when you try and start it, its the starter shorting out and grounding itself...good luck

 

[salimar]

like i mentioned earlier the car was towed to the closest ford dealership.

so far they found that the battery was dead, completely drained (and i make sure everything is off when i get out of the car).

it's just odd is all. if i open the door, the interior lights and headlights worked. the gauges on the dash neither illuminated or moved (gas gauge, etc). when i originally turned the key, everything under the hood was silent except for a small pop that i heard. if i turn the key like im starting the car, i get a steady beep for as long as that position is held. i did replace the ignition fuse earlier and upon turning the key, the gauges did move momentarily, but the car didnt start, not a sound was made. i tried again to no avail and then saw the new fuse was blown also.

won't know anything until monday sometime though.

 

[scrammer]

i betcha the connections werent tight. they have to be torqued a bit on there in order for them to be good.

 

[scrammer]

any werd on what the stealership did to correct your non-start issues?

 

[salimar]

ok sorry for the late reply.

the problem with my focus not starting proved to be TWO things.

as i mentioned before, my focus wouldnt start, and upon inspection i noticed the ignition fuse was blown. replacing it did nothing except blow it again. later found that the battery was completely drained (and it was a NEW battery) and that a wire near the battery had broke (for lack of a better word) also. so i got the wire replaced, new battery, new fuse and shes ok.

and as for my other thread, http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81103, i also managed to find out what the problem with my focus choking down, rough idling and jerking/lunging at speeds above 50mph was. diagnostic tests showed nothing but i found somewhere that 2000-2001 models that experienced the above might need the cars computer 're-flashed'. so i had that done. the rough idling, choking down, lunging/jerking, etc are no more and i now notice a boost in power and better gas mileage also since having the 'reflash' done.

 

[salimar]

ok, so now i'm beyond angry with this problem and with the ford dealership ( http://www.fairwayfordevans.com/index.htm?bhcp=1 ). first my focus wouldnt start. upon inspection none of the interior lights wouldnt turn on, the lights on the dash were dark, radio wouldnt turn on, no chime to signify the key being in the ignition, etc. under the hood the ignition fuse was blown. replacing it blew it again when trying to start the car. so i had it towed. the ford place where i bought the car 6 years prior charged me approx $300 for a diag test, new battery and repair of a broken wire near the battery.

a little over a month and a half later, i had to take the car in since the electrical system was malfunctioning (causing lunging, pulling when driving at speeds over 50 mph) the dealership recommended resetting the computer. had that done, fixed the issue and was charged $200. a few weeks later, the car wouldnt start again, though this time it was only the fuse that was the problem. replaced it and it started.

recently another fuse blew so i had it towed yet again to the dealership. they had it for roughly 5 hours and when i went to pick it up (mind you they ran another diag test) they informed me they couldnt find anything wrong (though one of the mechanics installed a starter relay. wasnt charged for this). they will not admit theres a problem (and they refuse to put it into writing about my car having been there so often concering the fuse constantly blowing, cause if they did, they would have to remove the starter relay is what they told me) since miraculously they cannot reproduce the problem, yet they want to have it for about a week to see if they can locate the problem.

so heres where i need your help. rack your brains, im tired of being charged out the ying yang for something either they cant reproduce or are ignoring outright. what could it be? im getting to the point where im fed up and one more violent outburst at this dealership will leave me out in the cold.

overall 5 fuses have blown (another blew about 15 minutes ago).

 

[salimar]

ok i give up now. was driving to a friends house yesterday and the service light came on, car stuttered and choked down real bad. pulled it over, and after about 2 mins, the car will start (with one helluva shake) but as soon as i press the gas ever so slightly, it turns off (during this time i did shut the car off....guess what? another blown fuse when i tried to start it again for the first time).

so i call up fairway and they give me the runaround about getting my focus fixed. you can bet im heading in monday to rip in to someone.