My wife gives me a call at work today telling me she cant start her car. Puts the key n but it wont turn. I told her to turn the wheel while she turned the key, thinking it was just locked but no. Nothing we do can turn the key. This just came from nowhere. It worked fin yesterday. She has an 03 Focus btw.
my girlfriend had this problem with a few of the keys she had cut (not a ford mind you). the shoulders were a bit sharper that the key that worked, i chamfered them a bit with my dremel and they worked fine. funny how they worked then didn't...
Well, these are the factory issued keys. I'm glad its still under warranty. Ford will just probably install a new ignition and we'll have to deal with 2 separate keys. One for the lock, one for the ignition. (Damn manual door locks.)
My wife's Sport Trac does that sometimes I don't know what it is but would like to! It seems if sometimes when this happens if I take the key in and out it will work. I don't know if it has to do with the chip they put in these darn things or not!
hmmm. I don't know if the Focus has one of those "chipped" keys. She bought it before I met her. Maybe that's all it is, they can reprogram it or something. But then again it makes more sense that if it was just the chip then the key should turn still, just not start the car...
I might be wrong, but I think if you put in a key that has the same cut as the "chipped" key it still won't unlock the ignition. Don't hold me to this but I believe that is the way I have heard it!
That SHOULD be a recall on the Focus. Its the ignition switch cylinder that needs to be replaced. They should replace it at any dealer and cut you new keys. I'm a bit hazy on the Focus deals cause they dont pertain to me but I see em in ALL the time for that problem. You gotta replace it one way or another. Either under warranty or by paying for it.
Was she using the Focus key? I know that my wifes 2000 Exploder key fits into my 06 but it doesnt turn. I do that all the time and I still freak out every time.
If it is an automatic make sure the transmission is all the way in park also, had that problem on the wife's explorer one day, it was the slightest bit out of park and locked the key from turning
it's a known problem with the 04 and previous year focuses. The cheap brass tumblers they used in the original lock bind up and wear down causeing the key to stick. Ford has updated the cylinder to a new more rugged design, and I have no had a problem with those at all.
Had the same issue with my 05 Mustang. The tow truck guys says it is a Ford thing. He hopped in, pulled the key out of the ignition just a hair and turned it, the whell unlocked and the car started fine., Never happened again and that has been at least a year.
Don't load up your key ring If you have a bunch of keys on key ring the pressure from the weight off all those keys, fobs, mini scan cards and the rabbits foot will wear the ignition switch out. Either keep your car key on a seperate ring, or get key rings with couplers on them, and release the car key from the rest of the bunch before you start the car. Its not much help now, but this could prevent future wear on you other car.
