Please post if your ignition has locked!

[hoagie666]

Mine locked almost a year ago. I think I paid maybe $135 for the cylinder and to have it set for my key. Then about 3 hours of aggravation drilling the old one out. My car is a 2000, and it was probably around 100,000 miles.

[XsyntaX]

Yeah mine locked, so I ordered a Honda S2000 push button start and installed it where my cigarette lighter used to be. I had to pull the whole cylinder out of the column but it was worth it. Now I have a seperate switch for my igintion1 and one for my accessories. I had to install a good alarm system and an alternate fuel cut-off switch to ensure no one could run off with my car. I love it and would never go back.

[XsyntaX]

Yeah mine locked, so I ordered a Honda S2000 push button start and installed it where my cigarette lighter used to be. I had to pull the whole cylinder out of the column but it was worth it. Now I have a seperate switch for my igintion1 and one for my accessories. I had to install a good alarm system and an alternate fuel cut-off switch to ensure no one could run off with my car. I love it and would never go back.

[JoeShmo]

2004 Focus, wife said it warned her once. Then it locked up at work. I somehow guessed the temp remedy and wacked the key with an ice scraper and got it home. Read what it was and bought a new cylinder $123.00 and rebuilt it to her key. I found a good posting with photos on the removal on this forum: http://forums.focaljet.com/team-tech...nder-help.html

Not a difficult task. About 20 minutes out and back in not including the resetting the wafers. The real pain is resetting the wafers to fit your key. One of those projects that takes an hour the first time and 10 minutes the second. If you really got frustrated with it you could set one wafer or none and not worry about.

FYI The local Ford stealership wanted $140 for the part and 3 hours labor. It took a rookie with basic mechanical skills 1 hour.

[egoreise]

Add me to this list! This just happened to me today on my 2004 Focus. Tapping the key with the handle of a screwdriver works, but I have to do it every single time I want to start the car, and I'm worried my key will get stuck in there eventually. Just researching my best option for repair.

[John Howard]

Labor Day 2006.

I was dropping off my used oil for recycling in Mesa, Arizona. Upon returning to our 2003 Focus 2.0 SPI (automatic transmission), the ignition key would not turn.

I called a friend with a towing service and he dragged our fine piece of Ford mechanical and body parts to Village Auto Electric . . . less than 1/2 block from where I was disabled.

NOTE: ALWAYS PART IN THE SHADE! NEVER PART IN THE SUN! ARIZONA IS HOT AS HELL THROUGH THE END OF OCTOBER AND SOMETIMES INTO NOVEMBER!

The part was retail from Berge Ford and the repair was completed quickly.

NOTE: ALWAYS CARRY A SPARE IGNITION KEY ASSEMBLY!

[Fred Foci]

You can fix this yourself for $60. Do some searching online for the lowest price for a replacement cylinder. It may take a couple of hours of labor but you'll save hundreds of dollars.

[Bitofurtime]

Thank you so much, your post really helped me out! My Focus did this twice to me and I really didn't want to pay to get it fixed again. I took your advice and banged on the key pretty hard, turned it and it worked. I also agree and believe that Ford company should be held responsible for this unfortunate cause.

[cassio26]

Add me to the list. Mine locked up and wouldn't turn at all.

I called AAA and they helped me find a locksmith and gave me $$$ towards the fix. When the locksmith got to the parking lot I was in he told me he had 6 ford focus replacement cylinders in his truck because he gets calls for it all the time. It took him about 20 minutes to fix it.

He didn't drill it because he had some tool that broke the front face off and allowed him to access that troublesome bar. If I had known about the tool I would probably have done it myself.

[lm1d]

I'm surprised everyone has this problem still. I've replace 8 locksets on my Focus since 2000. The last time, the dealer had an updated module that looked completely different and was without that lock assembly that causes the issue. It's been 2 years without a failure now. I wonder why more of the new types are being installed?

[00focusfixer]

My ignition locked too...BUT I have been able to keep it going for over a year now.It may sound barbaric, but instead of replacing the ignition set, I prefer to tap the key and this ALWAYS works.First, be sure to insert the key with "#1" facing upwards.Next, I tap or bump the key with the heel of my palm. It should look like you are trying to drive the key further into the ignition and perhaps out the other side.This will get you by until you can get a new one, or if you are like me, it will work for more than a year.The problem, however, will only get worse so I suppose I need to take care of it soon....

[SE SPORTNY]

145,000 miles on the ticker and mine locked out. Lucky for me it was in my driveway and I have the CTS as a backup. Purchased a new lock cylinder off of e-bay from $75 with lock set to my original key. swapped it out and it's been good ever since.

[98LowRanger]

Well, mine has NOT caused me any problems yet (knock on wood), but I was wondering if there was anything I can do now to prevent it from happening in the future. Should I buy a new lock cylinder from Tousley Ford? I have 2 jobs and a 2 1/2 year old son so I'm pretty busy and don't have time to be stranded somewhere. Reading all your posts makes me very nervous that mine will go any day now (03 ZX3 with 55K miles).

[joez77]

i've had this problem too it locked up and needed a new ignition, had it towed,i even had the warranty, but the told me that isnt covered in my warranty with lobor it costed me $400

[iunk31]

My ignition just locked up on me today. Its bad! Going to have to take a drill to it in the morning. Pretty upset it is not on recall status. Dealer wanted over $800 for parts and labor. HA dont think so. I think it is a scam for them to make money! Oh well hopefully I can get this thing fixed. The car is in great shape other than that. Its a shame!

Iunk31

[GE-S2]

Just lock up today at home...This is my second time. Will drill again this weekend. Now i dont know should i buy cylinder key from Ford again or check to Locksmith? Any suggestion??? I just dont wanna get stuck again with the same problem...

[GE-S2]

I just bought new cylinder key from locksmith. Looks better quality. Its a Strattec #707592. Any body know how much is it cosy to make my key work for the new cylinder key? The guy ask me $65 for it. I think is to much..so i'll look somewhere else..