Anyone handy on 2003 Ford Focus?

[Tamworthbay]

My mate has a ratty pez 2003 focus with a knackered alternator. I have offered to swap it out for him but guess it will have a the stupid million turn belt and remote tensioner. Does anyone know where the tensioner is on these? I assume it's a 1.6 but could be something else, definitely pezzer though.

[mrbenn]

I did exactly this job a couple of weeks ago. The tensioner is right down at the bottom towards the bulkhead. You can get it with a 15/16mm (can't remember which) offset ring spanner. You won't be able to get your hand down there, just enough room for the spanner. IIRC I also unclipped and moved the power steering fluid reservoir out of the way, not disconnected - just moved. Just take the belt off the alternator pulley, it'll stay around the other pulleys but you may have to make sure it is still sitting right, obviously.

 

Once you know where to look for the tensioner, the alternator swap itself is straightforward.

 

ETA this was on a 2003 1.6 petrol.

[steveo3002]

get the wheel on full lock....mine has a little plastic tray there , then you just pull on the tensioner with spanner then slip the belt off 

 

really easy ...nothing to it apart from having to lay on the floor

[dieselassist]

be careful with the bottom mounting bolt of the alternator - the bit it threads into, is part of the block; I helped a mate change one; alternator had seized up (common fault on these)  n cracked the body of the alternator... backed off the bottom bolt n it was tight, n after half a turn, its snapped - we eneded up having to drill out the remnants of the bolt with a 90deg attachment on the drill, n rethreading with a tap...  

[Tamworthbay]

Thanks folks

[sierraman]

Done this a few times. Hope you've small hands...

 

Take off the drivers side wheel, where the brake pipe comes under chassis leg there's a plastic inspection panel, take that off. The tensioner should be at the 10 o clock position when you look at this, with the spanner on it (17mm???) rotate it counter clockwise, then knock the belt off. Whilst the belts off, check the top idler for play or missing bearings then ease the tensioner in and out as they seize. Getting a new belt on can be a real fucker. What I usually do is get it on all the pulleys then with the tensioner back slip it over the air con pulley last as its got a rounded edge. Not the official way but unless you are Charles Atlas I'd do it that way.

[omegod]

Definately check ALL the pulleys while the belts off, I changed the idler on one I got for buttons and was a right smug bastard thinking i'd fixed it till I started it again, fucking tensioner pulley was the issue all along 

[Tamworthbay]

All sorted, thanks guys. Having a lift made it easy to get into the tensioner. The tensioner didn't look like a sepearte part due to the shite all over it, nothing registering on the dipstick at all. I told him to go straight and fill it up after work but he drove from Tamworth to Leicester instead, no wonder the eml is permanently on. I doubt it's much longer for this world......

[Tamworthbay]

Right guys, it's playing silly buggers. It's back to charging at just short of 18v. Could be a duff scrappy unit or is there a separate rectifier/ ecu type voltage clipper on these?

[twosmoke300]

Ford smart charge systems do charge higher than the usual 14.7 v - not sure if is that high mind . Is your meter deffo ok ?

[Tamworthbay]

Yup checked it with a spare as well, was 14.8 when fitted which seemed good, now 17.9v which will boil the battery eventually I guess. The problem is that the car is such a shed its not worth spending much on.

[scaryoldcortina]

Mine frequently pulls 17.5v if the battery is a bit down. Confirmed with two multimeters and an OBD report, it drops to the usual 14 odd after running for 5 mins or so.

[Tamworthbay]

Hmmmm, battery was dead a month or so back and He was told the replacement had been properly tested. Looks like he may have been sold a kipper possibly then.....

[The Moog]

Has he jump started it?

 

That screws up the smart charge alternator.

[twosmoke300]

Need a calcium battery too

[Tamworthbay]

Has he jump started it?

That screws up the smart charge alternator.

Not that I know of, the starter motor is very sluggish though. The battery is a decent voltage but I don't have a discharge tester anymore so it's not the best check.

[The Moog]

The focus (of hate) that now resides with Castro had those issues. I lobbed in the correct battery but the smart charge was knackered, I think due to being jump started.

 

With one of those plug in volt gauges it would shoot up to 18v every few minutes then drop back to 11v.

[sierraman]

Was the battery new?

[Tamworthbay]

Was the battery new?

sadly no, I don't think the car has seen anything new in at least three years. It's run on part worn tyres, bits from a scrappy and even my old once used oil on more than one occasion when it's off the bottom of the dipstick. It still manages to cover 200 miles a week admittedly with the eml on and increasing amounts of smoke. He wouldn't bat an eyelid at spending a grand on a lads weekend but won't spend £35 on a new tyre. Priorities are slightly different to mine to say the least but we are all different I suppose.

[Richard]

I wouldn't spend £35 on a Focus either. Once cars like that get the idea you have money they want it all.

[steveo3002]

dont know why but they say you have to use the proper calcium battery or it causes agro....tbh if he cant be bothered to put oil in the car why worry about it , will be scrap before xmas at that rate

[mrbenn]

dont know why but they say you have to use the proper calcium battery or it causes agro....tbh if he cant be bothered to put oil in the car why worry about it , will be scrap before xmas at that rate

 

This.

 

Out of interest, in the stuff that came with my replacement alternator recently it said not to allow the alternator to charge a flat battery, i.e. charge it up off a charger then let the alternator maintain it. Perhaps an overnight whizz on a mains charger would be something to try.

 

I'm also tempted to say if he can't be bothered with the basics such as oil then leave him to it, sounds like you're trying to patch a sinking ship.

[sierraman]

I've had this with people, don't want to spend a penny on maintenance etc. When there's a problem I tell them to ring a garage cause I'm not wasting my time with them.

[steveo3002]

yeah not the kinda people you want to help ...will back time after time when neglect and ignorance causes more problems 

[Tamworthbay]

He is a mate and a good bloke so happy to help where I can, he just has no clue at all about looking after cars and doesn't really care as long as it starts (like a lot of my colleagues).

 

As for it being scrap by Christmas, it's lasted three years of this abuse and shows no sign of dying yet. I have been amazed repeatedly with a few cars I have seen just how much abuse their engines can absorb and keep going. We did run an old Ka at work on sunflower oil and it survived until it rusted into oblivion, but to be fair it only ran from the car park to the workshop and back.

[sierraman]

I've had people come to me in the past going on about how their cars been nothing but trouble, wanting tyres and brake pads. I've absolutely no sympathy when someone runs out of oil because they didn't know about checking it.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Has he jump started it?

 

That screws up the smart charge alternator.

 

The focus (of hate) that now resides with Castro had those issues. I lobbed in the correct battery but the smart charge was knackered, I think due to being jump started.

 

What did this component do to warrant the "Smart" moniker if a simple jump start ruins it?

[scaryoldcortina]

^ honestly? I think the fact that it needed a jumpstart due to a failing battery confuses the smart charge.