Discussion
Cheers guys 
the car has already had £700 fitting new valves and getting things skimmed trying to sort out the same problem. It was my mum's car before mine, so she said I could have it if I paid for the repairs. When she saw it was that much she said i could pay for around half plus road tax.
the car has already had £700 fitting new valves and getting things skimmed trying to sort out the same problem. It was my mum's car before mine, so she said I could have it if I paid for the repairs. When she saw it was that much she said i could pay for around half plus road tax.My wife has a T reg 1.8 Focus estate. We paid £925 and in over a year of ownership it has covered 8k miles we've replaced one ARB link (for the MOT), the rear hatch gas struts, a rear lamp bulb holder and the AC/heating fan switch, a combined cost of £70. For the money, you can't do a lot better. My plan was to only run it while the wife learned how to drive (the car came pre-dented, for that secure feeling), but I've grown attached to folding the seats down, throwing various bits of rubbish I find in the garden into the back of the car without any care of whether or not I damage anything and then going down to the tip. Definitely a keeper until anything substantial goes.
neiljohnson said:
Its not unusaul for these engines to become very thirsty its normally a piston ring problem your better off sourcing a second hand engine rather than paying to have the old one stripped.
Yeah i did a bit of looking up and thought it could be them or the stem rings. Wonder what an ST170 engine would be like.... Insurance will probably kill that off though.SuperVM said:
My wife has a T reg 1.8 Focus estate. We paid £925 and in over a year of ownership it has covered 8k miles we've replaced one ARB link (for the MOT), the rear hatch gas struts, a rear lamp bulb holder and the AC/heating fan switch, a combined cost of £70. For the money, you can't do a lot better. My plan was to only run it while the wife learned how to drive (the car came pre-dented, for that secure feeling), but I've grown attached to folding the seats down, throwing various bits of rubbish I find in the garden into the back of the car without any care of whether or not I damage anything and then going down to the tip. Definitely a keeper until anything substantial goes.
I can't have a car that I can't do that with IE folding seats down, throwing rubbish in and taking to the tip.Its one of the reasons why I didn't go for a 3 series saloon was because of loack of foling rear seats.
Also, my dive gear gets thrown into the back of my cars and its usually wet with sea water and the like.
OP: Good buy. Later Focus also sligtly better on the rust front too
Due to get the car back any day now and the diagnosis is it needs a new engine. the mechanic said I'd get another thousand miles out of it before it needs to go in again. Apparently the machine shop the engine went to set the stem rings too tight and ruined the valves and bored some pistons i think (haven't a clue on the last bit, my mum told me and she's not the best at explaining things).
it could well be the piston rings.Thought it might be time for a long over-due update. I managed to finally get rid of the Focus and px'd it in for a silver 03 plate 1.4 Megane. It's an okay run about I suppose. There's the odd problem with the passenger airbag connector coming loose if the seat is pulled too far forward and the driver window regulator seems to have given up the ghost and won't budge. I'm just glad it's stuck with the window up and not down. Will hopefully get some photos up by the weekend.
morris26 said:
Thought it might be time for a long over-due update. I managed to finally get rid of the Focus and px'd it in for a silver 03 plate 1.4 Megane. It's an okay run about I suppose. There's the odd problem with the passenger airbag connector coming loose if the seat is pulled too far forward and the driver window regulator seems to have given up the ghost and won't budge. I'm just glad it's stuck with the window up and not down. Will hopefully get some photos up by the weekend.
Oooh, bad bad bad move.That airbag thing is s
tty connections in the wiring looms under the seats, £400 job to fix. Remove the fuse for the window, they've got a tendency to drop and never return. Regulators can be done for £15, but it's an absolute bd of a job. Both are stupidly common, especially in earlier examples.bakerstreet said:
I can't have a car that I can't do that with IE folding seats down, throwing rubbish in and taking to the tip.
Its one of the reasons why I didn't go for a 3 series saloon was because of loack of foling rear seats.
Also, my dive gear gets thrown into the back of my cars and its usually wet with sea water and the like.
OP: Good buy. Later Focus also sligtly better on the rust front too
Nothing like the focus estate - i've made many trips filled to the top with rubbish. Far more practical than an A6 because the thing is worth so little and tough (and more interesting to drive home, though don't tell the VAG people as they will claim a S model in the eighties had steering feel etc!). Its one of the reasons why I didn't go for a 3 series saloon was because of loack of foling rear seats.
Also, my dive gear gets thrown into the back of my cars and its usually wet with sea water and the like.
OP: Good buy. Later Focus also sligtly better on the rust front too
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