[Bradinnes]

Apparently this is a serious problem with the 2000 - 2004 model years. My 2003 Focus wagon's IC was acting up on me this weekend. It actually jammed up once completely while my wife and I were out with my 9mth old son. Not good. It finally turned with a few tries and a prayer under my breath. That was on Saturday. Sunday afternoon after cleaning the inside of the car I discover that it's jammed again. No amount of jiggling or praying would move it. I went on-line to Focus Fanatics and discovered what a huge issue it is. Monday I phoned my local dealership. The parts counter wanted $165.00 for the IC !!! Later, I spoke with the service department and they wanted $373.00 plus taxes. I spoke with a member of the Focus Fanatics board who use to build them for people on the site and ship them for a great deal. he no longer does this but sent me in the right direction. The part number is SW 6285 for a Motorcraft IC. If you look online you can find them for sale, even on Ebay. I purchased one from Amazon.com because they offered expedited shipping. I ordered on Monday and it arrived Tuesday afternoon and it cost me about $103.00 USD. If you're in no real hurry it's even more affordable. The IC kit comes with all the parts you need to build the IC to fit your key. There's a really awesome video on YouTube of the whole process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ6jFEBdO...r_embedded

If your IC is off center and has a crinkle metal finish I would consider swapping it out with the new one which is much more robust. Eventually it will give you troubles.

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Oh, I forgot to mention that I did eventually get the key to turn by tapping the end of the key with a small hammer. If you can't rotate the cylinder you have to drill it out. Not a lot of fun so I hear.

[ZTWsquared]

(01-17-2013, 03:05 PM)Bradinnes Wrote: Apparently this is a serious problem with the 2000 - 2004 model years. My 2003 Focus wagon's IC was acting up on me this weekend. It actually jammed up once completely while my wife and I were out with my 9mth old son. Not good. It finally turned with a few tries and a prayer under my breath. That was on Saturday. Sunday afternoon after cleaning the inside of the car I discover that it's jammed again. No amount of jiggling or praying would move it. I went on-line to Focus Fanatics and discovered what a huge issue it is. Monday I phoned my local dealership. The parts counter wanted $165.00 for the IC !!! Later, I spoke with the service department and they wanted $373.00 plus taxes. I spoke with a member of the Focus Fanatics board who use to build them for people on the site and ship them for a great deal. he no longer does this but sent me in the right direction. The part number is SW 6285 for a Motorcraft IC. If you look online you can find them for sale, even on Ebay. I purchased on from Amazon.com because they offered expedited shipping. I ordered on Monday and it arrived Tuesday afternoon and it cost me about $103.00 USD. If you're in no real hurry it's even more affordable. The IC kit comes with all the parts you need to build the IC to fit your key. There's a really awesome video on YouTube of the whole process.

If your IC is off center and has a crinkle metal finish I would consider swapping it out with the new one which is much more robust. Eventually it will give you troubles.

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Oh, I forgot to mention that I did eventually get the key to turn by tapping the end of the key with a small hammer. If you can't rotate the cylinder you have to drill it out. Not a lot of fun so I hear.

Good advice. You can also get a new lock cylinder already keyed to your car from Tousley Ford - the last time I did it cost 75 for the cylinder and 22.50 for the labour to key it and takes about a week to get. Installing a new ignition cylinder is dead nuts easy.

[incognito27]

yea i got one of the ones that are and has had an issue. Thankfully i keep a handy screwdriver in the car and tap the key and it works , but i will be replacing it ASAP and will have to get a new one keyed to my keys.

[Bradinnes]

Well incognito27 I would check out Amazon.com if I were you. For 66.17 USD you get the genuine Motorcraft part. (SW-6285 Ignition Kit) If you're in no real hurry shipping it is only 9.98 USD for the least expensive option which is 8-16 days. Plus there's an import fee of 13.37 USD. So for the grand total of 89.52 USD you can have the kit delivered to your door. All the instructions are included with the kit to key it to your car keys. It's not that hard. Just take your time. I'd be more than happy to help if you would like. Oh and in case you doubt it, here's proof it's the real deal............