My £525 Ford Focus

[Eyersey1234]

TonyRPH said:

I've just had to scrap an 06 Focus because water leaked into the spark plug chambers, filling them with water.

This in turn caused a misfire, which evidently then took out the ECU.

Apparently Ford published a recall / modification to solve this issue which I believe involves fitting seals around the windscreen washer jets.

It might be worth checking you don't have any water ingress to the top of the engine when it rains or when you wash your windscreen.

Which engine did it have?

[TonyRPH]

Eyersey1234 said:

Which engine did it have?

It was a 1.4 but I can't remember if it was a Duratec or the other one lol.

If it helps with identification, the coil pack sat on the right hand side of the head as you stood in front of the engine bay.

[p4cks]

Mines the 1.6 so maybe it didn’t have an impact on this particular engine

[TonyRPH]

It's this engine, which is a Duratec - I believe the 1.6 is identical.

[p4cks]

Aye that does look familiar!

[CornedBeef]

The silly leaking washer jets thing recently reared its head on a colleagues old Fiesta actually - spark plug tubes full of water. Luckily he escaped any major drama with it.

[Eyersey1234]

Mines the 1.8tdci, just womdered if it affected diesels too.

[p4cks]

Not sure if diesels have spark plugs so you might be OK.

Anyway I've just adjusted my loose/poor handbrake by watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtVGTkmLV-c

Total cost £0.00

[Eyersey1234]

p4cks said:

Not sure if diesels have spark plugs so you might be OK.

Anyway I've just adjusted my loose/poor handbrake by watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtVGTkmLV-c

Total cost £0.00

They have glow plugs not spark plugs.

[Bobberoo99]

I'm very biased as we're on our third Focus, 56 plate 1.8TDCI Ghia, they're a decent, reliable car, 1.6 is Duratec and 99/100hp 16V, the creaking suspension will more than likely be lower control arms and/or top mounts, lower control arms are easy to do and around £100 for a pair of cheap ones, the leaking washer jets won't affect the diesels but would on yours, however as you've said there's no moisture on your plugs then it's not an issue. The Focus suffers from sagging engine mounts, particularly the drivers side one, which is easy to replace and around £75, while the lower torque mount on the back of the gearbox being replaced will improve/smooth out the idle as it stops the engine rocking!! Rusty sills is common on older Focus's, if it gets bad just have it patched, the gear gator is repairable, remove by pulling it off over the knob(ooh eerrr missus) and you'll find the plastic will be broken inside the base of the gaiter, just brace it and glue it then replace!!

[p4cks]

p4cks said:

I've just adjusted my loose/poor handbrake by watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtVGTkmLV-c

Total cost £0.00

Didn’t fix it so it’ll need handbrake cables before the MOT in October

[Oxford1971]

Focuses (Focii?) MK 2 are weird cars. So many were sold, that the market is flooded, and it's cheaper to buy another one on Ebay, than bothering repairing the things. Which sadly means that you'll never find one with a decent service history.

However, it's almost like Ford had an epiphany in 1998 and realised what an utter heap of junk the Escort was. Then went to the opposite extreme and engineered the Focus to run forever without any maintenance.

Mine for example has an intermittent power steering fault (only on startup), rattles on acceleration, AC has long gone, burns oil and smokes in second gear under acceleration, but it still somehow soldiers on at 15 years old.

I have a feeling it's going to be doomed at the next MOT because of a crack in the windscreen, but I'll just pick up another one for 500 quid.

[p4cks]

They do seem rather reliable I have to say. Also, everything that's been worked on or fixed thus far has been relatively straightforward

<touch wood>

[funkyrobot]

I feel robbed now. I paid £700 for a 54 plate MK1 1.6 two months ago.

To be fair, I'm in Lincolnshire and cars seem to be priced higher here.

[TonyRPH]

@funkyrobot - don't feel robbed, my O/H bought a 1.4 for £850 back in August last year.

It's now scrap.

[Total Drivin]

Love my MK2.

[funkyrobot]

TonyRPH said:

@funkyrobot - don't feel robbed, my O/H bought a 1.4 for £850 back in August last year.

It's now scrap.

Oh dear.

I need to do some work on mine. Need to see if I can bodge fix some rust on the rear arches, service, ps fluid and coolant. Need some new tyres too.

Will be attempting everything but the tyres when I get a free day.

[stupidbutkeen]

Funny enough my dad has a 05/06(i think)focus 1.6d with 90k that he cant drive anymore due to having 2 strokes. So it will put up for sale on the usual cheap places for £500 with mot etc etc.....Oh how im looking forward to the usual mouth breathers asking if I would take a half a bag maltesters and a ps2 for it.

[Oxford1971]

I was parked in town the other day for a couple of hours, got back to my Focus and 'plipped' the remote to open the locks, it wouldn't work, so i keep trying, and I'm getting really frustrated now. When suddenly my 14 year old son looks at the number plate, 'dad that's not our car'. Sure enough we were 50 yards up the road.

Identical, alloys, identical in black, there are so many of these things still on the road it's incredible!

[p4cks]

Yeah they seem to be quite reliable, the engines certainly aren't under much strain that's for sure.