Three problems related to suspension noise have been reported for the 2001 Ford Focus. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2001 Ford Focus based on all problems reported for the 2001 Focus.
Sunday morning (4/6/2008) I got in my car and backed down my driveway. While turning the wheel and going down the driveway I heard a very loud metal on metal sound. I put the car up on jack stands and inspected the suspension. I found the drivers side spring was not seated on the strut base. At this time I drove the car to sears auto repair in novi, michigan. While driving the car to sears the spring moved a couple times, made some noise, and affected the steering of the vehicle. Sears inspected the springs and found the drivers side spring was corroded and fractured in a couple places at the top. I ended up replacing both springs and it cost $436. 86. On Monday (4/7/2008) I decided to go on the internet to find out if other people had the same issue with the Ford Focus springs. I found out it was not an uncommon issue. In fact Ford issued a TSB (03m02s2) and extended the warranty on the springs to 150,000 miles or 10 years (only if serviced at a dealership). Unfortunately I found this out after I repaired the car on Sunday. I was never notified by Ford of TSB on the springs. Also, it should be noted that I bought the car used (about 1. 5 years ago) from a Ford dealership which should have inspected the vehicle for things like this (spring corrosion). On Monday (4/7/2008) I decided to call the Ford customer service line (800-392-3673) to see what can be done to reimburse my expenses and discuss the safety concern. I was told by the customer service representative that Ford did not view this as a safety concern. I am a mechanical engineer designing safety critical suspension components (not coil springs) and to me this is not an acceptable answer. If the coil spring were to fracture further and cut my tire when driving on the freeway I can imagine that would not be a very safe situation. I don't understand Ford not issuing a recall over a poor quality suspension component which could cause injury. If needed I have the old parts in my possession.
Traveling on I-465 eastbound in indianapolis at approx. 60 mph. The car made a grinding sound and then the driver (my son) lost control and crossed two lanes of traffic and hit a retaining wall on the left-hand side of the road. There was one passenger with him at the time and he was following us home. We were about 100 yards in front of him at the time of the accident. The entire left front suspension, steering and tire assembly was heavily damaged. Left rear tire and suspension also damaged. Sun roof would not close. Very little exterior damage done scratched paint very small dents, almost all of the damage was done under the tire well.
Grinding, popping noise from right front suspension. Unable to determine cause.