Does The Ford Focus RS Have A Head Gasket Failure Problem?

With reports of premature head gasket failures mounting, Ford has released a statement to address RS owners' concerns
Does The Ford Focus RS Have A Head Gasket Failure Problem?

As a four-wheel drive, 345bhp hot hatch weapon with a ‘Drift Mode’, the Focus RS seems like a triumph for Ford on paper. However, RS life is not going well for some owners.

Take Reddit user ‘KentuckysGentleman’, who’s documented his issues on a massive thread that’s just ticked over 1000 comments. He first noticed something was wrong when his RS started idling roughly on a cold start, which was soon followed by the dreaded ‘check engine’ light, and ‘random multiple misfires’. He’s not alone, either.

His post on the FocusRS.org forum already has responses from 23 other owners experiencing similar problems - uneven idling, excessive fluid consumption and white smoke. The worst part is, it doesn’t sound like a quick thing to fix. In the case of ‘KentuckysGentleman’, he’s in for a wait of “four to eight weeks” for the parts to arrive “from backorder.”

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Over at Jalopnik multiple forum posts and YouTube videos from RS owners around the world have been dug up, all with the same kind of issues. The publication also spoke to one owner who’s already been waiting six weeks for parts. Now, Ford has issued a response, and has seemingly admitted there may be some kind of issue:

“Ford is aware that some 2016-17 Focus RS customers have experienced concerns with their engines, which may initially show white exhaust smoke and/or coolant consumption. We are working on a repair for all customers. In the meantime, if vehicles show these symptoms, customers should visit their dealer for an inspection and repair under warranty.”

Ford UK also told us that there are efforts afoot to get replacement parts in place “across all markets” to deal with affected cars.

We’ll be following this story with interest…

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Comments

5:19.55

xD

11/11/2017 - 17:38 |
0 | 0
Williard

Golf owners right now

11/11/2017 - 18:09 |
0 | 4
Anonymous

Not the kind of head RS owners were looking forward to then?

11/11/2017 - 19:37 |
0 | 0
ThatCatWithACar

Hope it’s not serious enough for a recall

11/11/2017 - 19:54 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

When you’re running extremely high boost to achieve huge horsepower numbers out of tiny engine…

11/11/2017 - 21:23 |
4 | 0
Ewan23 (The Scottish guy)

Not helping the stereotype ford, lol.

11/11/2017 - 21:37 |
2 | 2
Anonymous

This is only 1 issue with the RS. Ford never carried out enough Research and Test work into the Engine. What do you Reckon happens to the Oil in the Sump when Driven in Drift Mode. Engine Oil gets pushed up 1 side of the Sump and No Oil for the Pump to circulate around the Engine. I worked at Ford’s in R&D and know their will be a lot of Issues with this Engine.

11/11/2017 - 22:36 |
4 | 2
Hunter Ahmann

Hope they fix it soon. If I could have one car for the rest of my life this would be it. It has everything, its practical, powerful, controllable, AWD, turbo, manual, stunning blue paint, and its a hatch.

11/12/2017 - 01:55 |
0 | 0
LeetPandaz

Subaru owners can relate

11/12/2017 - 02:32 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Ford Focus RS is a Subie at heart

11/12/2017 - 03:06 |
2 | 2