ST170 Shed

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Steve93

Original Poster:

1,104 posts

189 months

Saturday 27th September 2014
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My 9-3 had an unfortunate incident a couple of weeks ago...So while it's getting repaired I'll be doing a load of other work to it.

So I found a nice cheap ST170 with 44k on it to use through winter and to run about in.

It was bought with overheating issues which I quickly traced to the coolant not circulating...Usual problem on these being the useless plastic impeller on the water pump failing.

Pump stripped out


And as expected


Fitted an aftermarket pump with a metal impeller at a total cost of £20. While I was at it I changed the thermostat and the Aux belt.

After this it developed a misfiring issue which developed into cutting out and not revving. Plugged it in at work and it was throwing a code for low fuel pressure (another ST170 favorite) so I found a working fuel pump for £50 and it's been fine since.

As it was behaving now I even washed it



Todays work was a tiny bit of welding on a sill and fitted some new track rod ends as there was a little bit of play in both.

To be honest I'm actually enjoying the car as it's a totally different car to the 9-3. It's not all about straight line power and more about how it holds the road.

slipstream 1985

12,125 posts

178 months

Saturday 27th September 2014
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great daily shed!

LanceRS

2,171 posts

136 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
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I have a bit of a soft spot for these, but never got on with that gearbox.

Darkslider

3,071 posts

188 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
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Likewise I've always had a soft spot for these too, a 3 door in that imperial (or was it performance?) blue would be my choice, they're cheap as chips now too.

Problem is I've never driven one and after driving various Impreza turbos and similar, all the reviews say I'd be left underwhelmed and very few cars make the claimed 170 bhp frown

Shame as they look great, are supposed to handle well and are immense value at the moment. They could just do with another 30-50 bhp, but if you want that you need to find an extra £6k for the RS!

MH82

210 posts

194 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
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I like these too, shame that they put a DMF on these which made them less "Revvy". Considered one as a track day car and putting a normal flywheel with an MTX75 gearbox on it from a Focus RS so that you get the LSD.

Steve93

Original Poster:

1,104 posts

189 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
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Darkslider said:
Likewise I've always had a soft spot for these too, a 3 door in that imperial (or was it performance?) blue would be my choice, they're cheap as chips now too.

Problem is I've never driven one and after driving various Impreza turbos and similar, all the reviews say I'd be left underwhelmed and very few cars make the claimed 170 bhp frown

Shame as they look great, are supposed to handle well and are immense value at the moment. They could just do with another 30-50 bhp, but if you want that you need to find an extra £6k for the RS!
I've always liked MK1 focus's (foci for plural maybe?) so It's kind of scratching the itch for a warm MK1 focus and acting as a runaround at the same time (2 birds one stone really)

I thought i'd be underwhelmed as well coming down from 280bhp but tbh I've been having immense fun with the Focus.

Yes, I didn't get on with the gearbox to start with but I seem to have found the knack to it now cool

Next job on the list is the timing belt as it's over 10 years old now and I'm not sure the belt has been changed...So for the sake of £60 for the kit including tensioners etc it would be stupid not to.

It got a proper clean today and despite the rust and questionable aftermarket wheels, it's not a bad car smile




PugwasHDJ80

7,522 posts

220 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
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OP- cheapest car I ever ran, and oddly I sold it and bought a Saab 9-3 to meet my new jobs vehicle age requirement.

I love the ST- we took it from 90k miles to 150k miles and I imported a new DMF/Clutch from the states for £380 and repaired the inelt manifold control valve (£300 for a new one, or 50p for soldering on a new resister).

Other than that I had tyres and fuel, we average 32mpg and having bought the car for £1850 trade I flogged it on for £1300 2 years later.

The cost per mile was something silly like 24p/mile including depreciation.

turboteeth

350 posts

161 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
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Looks good - but need the original wheels!!

My wife had been running an ST170 as a shed since 2008 and its great! Like you say not massively quick but handles really well.

dunny83

105 posts

183 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
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I had one of these a couple of years back. It was cheap as the clutch was on it's way out and it was getting a bit tatty. I ran it for the year, fixed it up and made it good again and sold it to someone I knew would look after it. Was a great little car. Got me around in all the snow we had that winter too. Best thing I did was fit a K&N Typhoon to it, sounded so good when you got to the top of the rev range!

JFReturns

3,693 posts

170 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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These are great cars. Got a feeling you can get an estate version too which would make it an ideal daily!

Steve93

Original Poster:

1,104 posts

189 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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I wish I was getting anywhere near 32mpg laugh...I'm used to 21-22mpg from the 9-3 though so it's not so bad.

I keep looking at modifications for the ST, but I really need to get on with the 9-3 re-build/project...so I best stay off pumabuild and all that for now laugh

dunny83

105 posts

183 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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Just noticed a cheap mod that would be worth doing is heat wrapping the manifold. Its a really good design for standard IMO and yours is missing the heat shield like mine was, looks good too I reckon wink


Also ford did an updated scuttle if you start getting a wet carpet at any point, sometimes water pours into the air inlet from the windcreen and out the lower air vents. Wish I'd known that before I dismantled my entire interior looking for the leak lol

Steve93

Original Poster:

1,104 posts

189 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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I pulled the heat shield off because it was rattling at 2000rpm which also happens to be cruising rpm laugh

But yeah, I've thought about heat wrapping it as I have a load of heat wrap left over from the downpipe on my 9-3

Justin S

3,637 posts

260 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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Mate has en estate version on his drive. Hasn't moved for a year, due to ill health and loss of license ( heart issues) but hopes to get it moving again at xmas time, if he gets his license back. Looking sorry for itself at the moment. God knows if it will fire. He has had a new inlet flap done just before he parked it up and had a new clutch by its previous owner before he bought it, so obviously its weak spots.

shalmaneser

5,930 posts

194 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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These are still great looking cars, I would have got one at some point I think but the engine and gearbox combo sounded like a let down.

mikeyr

3,118 posts

192 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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LanceRS said:
I have a bit of a soft spot for these, but never got on with that gearbox.
Interesting you should say that, I test drove one about 4/5 years ago and the gearbox was the worst I've ever experienced. As a result didn't buy the car but assumed that it's obstructiveness was due to an issue with the car or perhaps a short shift kit - was I just unlucky or did they all have a horrible, notchy feel?

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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We had one, terrible gearbox and always seemed gutless to me. Heavy on fuel, in fact I hated the damn thing. Sold it very cheap a year or so ago. It got to 100K and nothing really went wrong but Id be looking at a standard 1.8 plus mods if I fancied a cheap, fast Focus hack.

Steve93

Original Poster:

1,104 posts

189 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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I don't mind the gearbox now I'm used to it...still not great but I can live with it.

Still rather enjoying the car though...considering the alternative was a diesel golf.

AnimalBob

218 posts

151 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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Been running one of these for just over 4 years now, gone from 60k to just over 110k now. I've quite enjoyed the car really, other than the usual "common faults" that pop up from time to time. I really need to replace the sump on mine which has corroded and beginning to leak oil, you need to get the Cat off to get access but the bolts on mine are far too badly rusted now. Debating if I should stump up the money to fix it and get a new clutch or sell up and move on. I think I'll miss it once it's gone though...

Anyway, here's mine up in the lake district not long after I bought her.


Darren390

478 posts

206 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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I enjoyed my ST170 all those years ago. I only sold it as after driving a friends mk1 RS, I had to have an RS!

The picture above could actually be my old car as the last 3 digits match. I'll send you a message Bob to see!