Hi All,

Long time reader, first time poster.

I bought a second hand 59 plate Focus Zetec (100bhp) about a year ago from a main Ford dealer. It's had no real problems to speak of, except for a strange pinging noise that occurs every time the car gets to roughly 19mph from a cold start. This noise is exacerbated to the point it sounds like something is grinding rather destructively when the steering is at or near full lock when it hits 19mph.

I spoke to the service desk at the garage itself and described the problem, and called Ford Direct and explained it to them too; neither could say what the cause was. I handed the car in, and the mechanics said they couldn't hear it. Eventually I took one out in the car, turned the engine off and on, did a U-turn, and the grinding noise occured as it usually does. The mechanic straight away said that it was caused by the ABS doing a diagnostic test. I was dubious, but the car is still under warranty, and I found no information to the contrary, so took that as gospel.

The car is going back in for a service, which got me thinking about it again, so thought I'd ask you folks to get a second (and third, and fourth, etc) opinion.

Seemed a bit strange to me at the time that no one was familiar with the problem I was describing, as presumably everyone with a Focus 59 plate at least would be experiencing the same...