carlo Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Major work required on the poor old 405 which will probably be done because I love the car, but it's off the road for a few weeks which necessitated me trying to find something else which may eventually be a long term successor. There's not much else I fancy to be honest; the original list was Peugeot 406 2.0 Auto Rover 75 V6 2.5 Volvo S60 Ford Focus 2.0 Auto 4dr Mercedes C Class W203 Subaru Legacy and that's all I could muster any enthusiasm for really. Had a 406 for a couple of years which was nice and refined but completely gutless and a bit soporific. Liked the Rover's ride and appearance but the cost of maintaining one was frightening, plus hated the seats and general space efficiency. Same goes for the Volvo S60 which I roffled last year - lovely engine but too big, too complex/expensive and poor ride to boot. So it was time to try a Focus 2.0. Fortunately the cars I like no one else seems to want so they're generally cheap - thirsty 2.0 petrol automatic saloon anyone? I've always thought the Mk 2 Focus in saloon form was a very elegant car, and not too huge, so I went up to Yorkshire on the weekend and bought this one. So I've only had it four days but to be honest I'm a bit blown away by it. It's nothing like I thought it would be, it's actually very refined, handles beautifully and the ride is better than I thought it would be. Not 405 standard, but not too far off. Very comfortable seats, VELOUR trim, and very good visibility (the back screen is huge unusual for a modern car). I'm finding it hard to believe this was really a bog standard 'small family car' in 2005, feels like something from the class above. There is one main issue with it which I don't know if any Ford/Focus aficionados can help with. When accelerating much past 2000 revs it makes a very noticeable booming noise throughout the whole car, could be engine, or exhaust, or combination of the two. I thought it had an exhaust blow but apparently not. They did find the rear box bracket was broken, welded it up but it made no difference at all. Has anyone had a 2.0 petrol Focus/C-Max? Do they all do it? Thinking I might be just imagining it, I found this thread on the web recently which seems to describe the same symptom: "I find it superb in every regard but one. There seems to be an excessive amount of noise in the cabin when the engine is revving at all. It sounds like a mixture of engine noise and exhaust booming. The cabin seems to resonate this sound and it's rather disappointing. When I cruise with no throttle, the car is very quiet and glides along beautifully, but touch the accelerator and the background booming sound returns. It seems to come more from towards the rear of the vehicle. It was put on the ramp but apparently the exhaust system was brand new, so there was nothing they could do." Couldn't have put it better myself, unfortunately there weren't any replies to this particular thread. Anyway, let's see how much I like it next week. The signs are good. Stevebrookman, jumpingjehovahs, BL Bloke and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Broken exhaust manifold bracket, bolts on at the back to hold the manifold to the block. Shears straight in half then vibrates against itself. stonedagain and 00833827 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 Interesting. The engine diagnostic light is currently on with a fault relating to the engine manifold, but that's as far as I've got with it without booking it in for more thorough investigation. Perhaps that's the culprit! Expensive to fix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Has it got an original intact induction system? They often have resonator assemblys added and if they are not present it’s surprising just how boomy they car gets. I had a mk3 mondeo where I bypassed it as it was damaged. Good grief man it was dire without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 10 minutes ago, HMC said: Has it got an original intact induction system? They often have resonator assemblys added and if they are not present it’s surprising just how boomy they car gets. I had a mk3 mondeo where I bypassed it as it was damaged. Good grief man it was dire without it. Not a clue unfortunately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artdjones Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 I think the exhaust manifold is a manicat,so the part will be expensive,but surely a broken mounting bracket will be able to be welded back together,if that's the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 13 hours ago, carlo said: Interesting. The engine diagnostic light is currently on with a fault relating to the engine manifold, but that's as far as I've got with it without booking it in for more thorough investigation. Perhaps that's the culprit! Expensive to fix? No, just a pain on your back reaching down the back of the engine. You need to have the manifold out though to replace it. I’d just check first if it’s broken on the 90 degree bend on the bracket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 12 hours ago, artdjones said: I think the exhaust manifold is a manicat,so the part will be expensive,but surely a broken mounting bracket will be able to be welded back together,if that's the problem. Can’t off hand remember on these but I think the flex is a separate piece not like the maniflex on the 1.4/1.6 Zetec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artdjones Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 This is the picture in the Bosal catalogue.It looks like manifold,cat and Flexi are all one.Which is around £500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Weld a replacement flex in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 I’m thinking of these, this is what’s fitted to the 2.0 in the Mondeo Mk3, same unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Snipes Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Even for Bosal shit £500 seems cheap for a combined manifold & cat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Repair is usually the most effective way at this age, any decent exhaust place should be able to weld in a new flex on it if that’s what’s gone, if the webbing round it is loose causing a noise then just bind it up with some wire. Don’t think these are anything like as troublesome as the Mk1 Maniflex, they were practically a service item on those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyersey1234 Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Nice looking Focus you have there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted March 19, 2020 Author Share Posted March 19, 2020 Well, discovered the reason for the boomy exhaust; whilst investigating the manifold/diagnostic light issue we discovered there was a big hole in the plastic intake airbox behind the bumper on the nearside, no wonder it was making a racket. Car seems to have had a small whack at the front hence everything is a bit skewiff. Currently trying to fit a replacement lock for the bonnet which is proving difficult as nothing lines up 100%. Still enjoying driving it very much, although it's a thirsty bugger - 25mpg! Even the 405 does 28. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegod Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I'm breaking an 05 1.6 zetec hatch in that colour if you want any bit's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 Only thing I'm really after is the dashtop storage box but think that only come on the Ghia & Titanium. Thanks anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volksy Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 It's odd that this and a Volvo S40 are pretty much the same car. Volvo sold shit loads of S40s in saloon form over a large demographic , yet the Focus in this guise only appealed to more 'traditional' buyers and are rather rare as a result. My recently acquired Salty Slut Dog has impressed so far, no squeaks or rattles, everything pretty much works, and it drives far better than it should. I did some back roads in it yesterday and, much to the annoyance of the chap in his Bini CooperS, can hold it's own! Mine is the 1.8 Mk1 Wagon, in manual flavour, and its not that bad on fuel. Must be the slushbox thats sapping it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 13 hours ago, omegod said: I'm breaking an 05 1.6 zetec hatch in that colour if you want any bit's What are the front wings like? Mine are fucked at the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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