2003 Ford Focus Problems: 3 Known Issues

On the 2000-2007 Ford Focus, 2000-2007 Ford Focus (1st-generation Mk1 and Mk1.5) suffer from repeated rear wheel bearing failures, often within months of replacement. One Focus Fanatics owner reported the left rear wheel bearing failing 4 times in 7 months. Root cause is missing or degraded inboard spindle seals that allow brake dust and water into the bearing race, plus alignment drift (excessive negative camber or toe) accelerating wear. Ford ran safety improvement campaign 01I017000 for 2000-2001 Focus cars in salt-belt states, replacing the rear wheel bearings and adding extra bearing seals free of charge until December 31, 2002, after earlier recall 00V303000 had dealers inspect the rear bearings and fit a retention cap because the left rear hub nut could loosen. Replacement requires the full hub assembly. The 2012-2018 Mk3 Focus has separate bearing issues with different root causes (not covered by this entry).

On the 2000-2007 Ford Focus, the first-generation Focus ignition lock cylinder uses soft aluminum wafers and a side-bar design. With normal use the wafers and the cylinder sidewall deform, the key cuts grooves into the housing, and eventually a wafer sticks out of position. The key then will not insert fully, will not rotate, or will not come back out of the cylinder, stranding the car. It is one of the most frequently reported mechanical failures on 2000-2005 Focus models and continued in a milder form on later cars. Owners note the original-style cylinder (keyhole offset from center) is the failure-prone version; the revised cylinder has the keyhole centered.

On the 2000-2004 Ford Focus, ford uses P1519 for a completely different system than the European manufacturers do. On the Zetec-powered Focus the code means Intake Manifold Runner Control (IMRC) stuck closed. The IMRC is a set of small butterfly plates inside the lower intake manifold that block off a secondary port for each cylinder. At low rpm the plates stay shut so intake air is forced through a single long, narrow runner, which raises port velocity and improves low-speed torque and fuel economy. Higher up the rev range the powertrain control module commands the actuator to open the plates, opening the second port for the airflow the engine needs to make top-end power. A monitor circuit reports back what the plates actually did. When the PCM commands them open and the monitor still reports closed, it sets P1519. The defining cause on these engines is carbon. The secondary ports carry no airflow for most of the engine's operating life, so oil mist from the PCV system and EGR soot settle on the plates and shaft and slowly cement them into their bores. A shaft that binds only slightly will still throw the code because the plates cannot reach the fully open position in the time the monitor allows. The other documented failure modes are the actuator itself — either the electric motor or, on cable-operated versions, a stretched or detached cable and a bent mounting bracket — plus open or shorted actuator harness wiring and a corroded connector. What the driver feels is a car that pulls normally at low rpm but flattens out on top: the engine runs out of breath where it used to keep pulling, highway merging and hill climbing feel weak, and fuel economy drops a little. Idle and cold starting are usually unaffected, which is why owners often live with the light — some report it stored without ever illuminating the lamp. On SVT models, which lean harder on the secondary ports for their rated power, the loss is far more obvious.