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2001 Ford Focus

Question: Electrical & Engine

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SirKit0404, 2.0L 4 Cylinder SOHC, Aurora, CO, July 04, 2010, 21:39

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I have been driving my 2001 Ford Focus ZX3, which has 150K miles on it, for a few months with this problem. The speedometer doesn't work all the time, for several minutes, then will pop back on. When it does, the auto lock on the doors also clicks into place.

Now, the battery light and brake light on the dash came on and stays on, and I suddenly seemed to lose power in the car and it seemed as if I had no power steering or perhaps lost all steering once I drove a mile home.

I am afraid to dribe it at all now. I will get it flatbedded to a garage and have a diagnostic done. What could be causing this problem?

I have also had two other lights lit continuously for months, the Check Fuel Cap and the Engine lights on the dash panel. I think these are just worn out sensors.

Any ballpark estimates on the cost of repair as well?

Thanks

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• Answer #1

  Visitor, April 11, 2011, 12:09

  My 2001 Ford Focus with 136,000 miles is also doing this, but not so extreme. The speedometer needle will drop to 0 even if I'm on the highway going 75mph. The RPM needle will function normally so I can guess how fast I"m going, but the odometer also stops tracking mileage when the speedometer drops to 0.

  There is a noticeable decline in power when this happens. The car will remain on and accelerate/decelerate, but it seems to have to work a little bit harder to keep up the speed. The speedometer needle will eventually jump back up and everything will be normal again, but there are times when it stays at 0 for more than a few minutes and the odometer display turns to dashes (----). This seems to be a common problem but nobody knows what causes it or how to fix it.
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