The Missymobile: Ford Focus - Zoflora to the rescue

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Fancy.  Must fancier than the 1.4 Studio with no options ticked that graced our drive for several years.  Only moved it on a couple of days ago and then only to relatives.

Nice cars, these.

[Uncle Jimmy]

'Climate', was that an early admission of guilt by those beancounting scallywags I wonder. 

[sierraman]

19 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Fancy.  Must fancier than the 1.4 Studio with no options ticked that graced our drive for several years.  Only moved it on a couple of days ago and then only to relatives.

Nice cars, these.

I’ve been knocking around in ours past few days and you are right they’re ok. Nothing fancy, just basic heater, no six speed box but it just does the job. 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

I’ve been knocking around in ours past few days and you are right they’re ok. Nothing fancy, just basic heater, no six speed box but it just does the job. 

There really aren't many of them knocking about.  They feel like an 'old-fashioned' drive in many ways but other than the completely lack of acceleration, they're a nice steer.

[sierraman]

1 minute ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

There really aren't many of them knocking about.  They feel like an 'old-fashioned' drive in many ways but other than the completely lack of acceleration, they're a nice steer.

The 1.6 was ok once it got up to speed on the motorway. Performance as you say isn’t a strength but in this day and age sometimes you want the motoring equivalent of Chicken Kiev, chips and peas. Not going to bowl you over but cooks in 20 minutes and does the job. 

[Eyersey1234]

Phoooaarrr that is lovely. I miss my old Mk2, mine was a 1.8tdci Zetec Climate Estate, there's plenty of photos of it on the Eyerseys Motoring Adventures thread.  Though I do love it's replacement, a 15 reg Mk3.5 1.5tdci

[Eyersey1234]

On 1/6/2022 at 3:13 PM, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Fancy.  Must fancier than the 1.4 Studio with no options ticked that graced our drive for several years.  Only moved it on a couple of days ago and then only to relatives.

Nice cars, these.

I didn't know your Mk2 had found a new home 

[Eyersey1234]

21 hours ago, Uncle Jimmy said:

'Climate', was that an early admission of guilt by those beancounting scallywags I wonder. 

Basically Climate means it has the Quick clear heated front screen, bloody handy this time of year 

[sierraman]

4 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Basically Climate means it has the Quick clear heated front screen, bloody handy this time of year 

If it works still...

[Matty]

2 hours ago, sierraman said:

If it works still...

It's an absolutly brilliant feature. So good I went out and bought a fiesta with a broken one 😁

[Missy Charm]

3 hours ago, sierraman said:

If it works still...

Oh, it does...

[sierraman]

Just now, Missy Charm said:

Oh, it does...

Annoyingly mine has a ‘dead zone’ down the middle.

Think the clutch switch sensor is causing problems on ours, when you shift gears it hangs on to the revs a bit, the throttle body is clean and no learned values were showing a problem on Forscan. I’ll clean the MAF anyway as it’s a ‘free fix’ if you like. But I think the clutch switch is the culprit especially give the Cruise Control is out of action - the clutch switch is one of the inputs to this. 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

4 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

I didn't know your Mk2 had found a new home 

It's been given to my partner's Mum and Dad and we've wangled a Bini.  So it's still 'in the family'.  Still needs the slight bubbling on the front wing doing, three years on...

[loserone]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Annoyingly mine has a ‘dead zone’

Scrap it

[sierraman]

20 minutes ago, loserone said:

Scrap it

Can’t fucking afford to now everything is worth eleven million quid.

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 hours ago, sierraman said:

Think the clutch switch sensor is causing problems on ours, when you shift gears it hangs on to the revs a bit.

My Fabia did this with a throttle pedal position sensor as well, if that's any use to you.

[sierraman]

56 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

My Fabia did this with a throttle pedal position sensor as well, if that's any use to you.

Could be either, I’ve a spare pedal off a breaker, I’ll try swapping it. 

[sierraman]

Really did speak too soon singing the praises of the Focus. Ours has just dumped its coolant tonight, coolant everywhere. Looks like thermostat housing which is a ridiculous £60 on the Ti-VCT and the obligatory drive belt that you chop off to get the alternator out. FFS...

Got it all off now just need to pick up a new thermostat housing, coolant and belt tomorrow. 

[purplebargeken]

Ace car. Oddly I have never, ever, ever had a Focus. I have no idea why. 

How very strange.

[Eyersey1234]

38 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

Ace car. Oddly I have never, ever, ever had a Focus. I have no idea why. 

How very strange.

You're missing out. Should have been your new years resolution to buy one. If we ever meet at FOD or at any other forum meet you are welcome to have a go in Eccles 

[sierraman]

Ever wondered why the front wings on these rot so readily? In their infinite wisdom Ford fitted a bit of soft sponge inside the lip to help retain moisture. Wire brushed it up and waxed it whilst waiting fourteen business days for the bits to arrive.

[Missy Charm]

MOT passed and car serviced.  Advisories issued for broken exhaust hanger and worn bushes in the lower front suspension arms, both issues now fixed; further advisories for a small oil leak and rust on the rear road springs, left alone as hardly seemed worth the worry.  Good to go for another year, especially as the insurance has now been renewed.  

[sierraman]

Happy days. Just negotiated the purchase of an ‘05 Zetec Climate for a mate for his first car. Needs a few minor jobs so pads on front and a bit of rustproofing. 

[smellypoo]

Great cars, we've had a few MK2 Focus in the family, and the 2.0 petrol is great - we have one currently, as a Ghia saloon (at the time it was cheaper than the hatch, presumably because less practical and more giffer)

Our experience has been that they're pretty solid for being 'just a car' - reliable, economical, safe transport that gets the job done as long as you do the basics of looking after them.

 

 

[sierraman]

The 2.0 petrol was fantastic in those, the car light enough that the engine wasn’t working very hard so economy isn’t as bad as you’d think.

[Metal Guru]

On 01/01/2022 at 20:38, warch said:

I outed my dad still using a 1970 Reader’s Digest AA Book of the Road to get about only 9 or 10 years ago. 

I used an ancient road atlas for years until I spotted Aldi selling up to date ones for £1.99. Now I get a new one every two years or so.

 

[smellypoo]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

The 2.0 petrol was fantastic in those, the car light enough that the engine wasn’t working very hard so economy isn’t as bad as you’d think.

I've actually found the 2.0 to be more economical than the 1.6/1.6 Ti-VCT (purely my own experience of course, could be down to the way I drive it) - our old blue 1.6 Ghia hatchback still soldiers on with the in-laws, and my sis sold her 1.6 Ti-VCT Ghia Saloon a couple of years back (it was in Verdigris!) but that served her very well.

They're not perfect cars, with niggly common faults - ours currently has a boot that gets wet when it rains - but they're pretty good value.

[Missy Charm]

I used to have pink plastic floor mats.  Unfortunately the driver's side mat has split, which allowed dirt to pass through to the carpet below.  That mat was, therefore, pointless.  The solution to Katastrophic Kar-Mat Kollapse Gate was to buy a new set.  An unrelated trip to B&M to look for a potato peeler was unsuccessful, however did turn up a set of RAC branded car mats.

The price was reasonable and they are BRITISH.  

Now in place.  The pink ones were nicer looking, however it's nice to have carpet mats back in the car.  

[Missy Charm]

MOT passed, serviced and good to go for another year.  Filthy inside and out because time of year and rear wiper blade has split (the horror).  Onwards!

[RoverFolkUs]

They seem to just sail through MOTs, I very rarely see them fail miserably.

Mine has passed all but one MOT first time in its lifespan, and all but three being advisory free. 

Just something about them, they're a modern old car, that just does well at being "an car"