March 2009
In my Ford Focus (UK) petrol owner's guide it says that 5w30 engine oil should be used at all times for optimum performance. However, further down the page below where it says engine oil top-up it says that 5w30, 10w40 or 5w40 oil can be used albeit with reduced fuel economy, performance etc. Does Ford mean that e.g. 10w40 can be used for a complete oil change (as it says "top-up" it doesn't say by what amount e.g. 1 litre or more) or only for topping up. Even more confusing, the Hayne's manual for this model says that 5w30, 10w40 or 5w40 can be used but higher viscosities e.g. 15w40 could cause damage. I have read in the car mechanics magazine that the use of higher viscositites than 5w30 can cause valve or other problems later on.
So I would like to know once and for all whether 10w40 oil would cause damage to the engine
thanks Read more
My daughter's car was in the main dealers for a recall. He said her timing chain was noisy.
I took it to my local garage and he said an engine flush/oil/filter change might fix it. The last service was about 11 months ago. It has only done 19,000 miles and about 4000 miles in the last year.
Cheers Shug.
{guessing you meant 1.0 for engine cc?} Read more
Can I have your old engine?
Most Corsas die through neglect, by which time the timing chain is the least important issue....
Ever since I had the washer pump changed, and a new battery fitted, the alarm has been prone to going off every now and again for no apparent reason. I am getting pretty tired of this now and have resorted to leaving the car unlocked.
The alarm seems to arm whether it is deadlocked or not. It also activates when I press the button that is meant to turn off the interior monitoring. Is there a way that the alarm system can be deactivated? This is the latest in a long line of other faults with the car and I am hopefully going to get rid of it soon, so therefore don't wish to spend much in the way of money on it.
Any help would be appreciated! Read more
On the above:
I had the same issue, locking with fob, and alarm sounding. The led on the running man was flashing when set... This means a sensor fault. On the estate, there are alarm strips on the rear windows... This had been sliced when I had tinted windows done. In the boot, the shelves that hold the boot cover, are 2 screws, 1 at each end. Remove these and the boot light, and pull the shelf off. There are 2 spade connectors attached to the window it's self, remove the connectors and connect the 2 wires together, I just used a chocolate block connector. Do this on both sides to be sure. Start your engine to clear any faults, then set the alarm from fob. The running man light comes on for 10 ish seconds, then flashes... Job done.... Took me 20 minutes... Of this don't cure it, you will need a tech 2 scan (upto mid 2009).
Good luck....
I spoke to my insurance, and it increased my policy by £28, but is far cheaper than £300+ for a new window and a scan!
was in halfords other day and saw many oil treatments. i was looking at wynn's stop smoke oil treatment as my Vectra-B is starting to smoke a little but then i saw other's so not sure which would be best to get. have you peeps ever used any oil treatments and if so do you rate them ?
{made non make/model specific as question could apply to any vehicle} Read more
Maybe an Italian tune-up and a tank of high octane non-supermarket fuel could help.
im picking up a new car on thursday (second hand) can i drive it back to mine with no tax ? it will be insured and with mot. i dont want to tax it till i have sold my other car. Read more
>> Get out of the wrong side of bed this morning?
Looking at the time it was posted, it would seem he hasn't been to bed! ;-)
Hi Guys and Girls
Got intermitant EAC fail on a Fiesta 05 14 Tdci. I was told this was due to the injectors leaking so paye a garage to do them and solved the smell. But still get EAC fail. I notice that the car seems to rev fine but feel the turbo does not kick in ??. As soon as you hit the motorway you struggle to get to 70mph. Then the fail pops up . Leave the car a few min and you can drive again and it come back . Every time it still feel like no turbo boost ?.
Any Ideas Im at my wits end not to mention the end of my bank book
Mark Read more
Where exactly is the connection on peddle wire
Total clutch failure this afternoon depositing SWMBO, my two daughters, the family hound and me at the roadside for the first time in our ownership. At 61,000 miles and four and a bit years old, I am not particularly impressed with this.
Symptoms were literally none before today. About 10 miles before this failed, the clutch pedal did not return to its "up" position after a gearchange, stopping about half way. SWMBO (who was driving) hooked the pedal back up with her foot, and all seemed well. During the next 10 miles worth of driving, the clutch behaved perfectly normally.
10 miles or so later while coming to a rest for a roundabout entry, there was a truly alarming crack / bang from somewhere up front as the pedal was depressed (the last time I heard anything like it was a rod going through the block of a mate's Montego Turbo), the clutch pedal dropped to floor, and clutch now cannot be disengaged. It's also losing hydraulic fluid from the bellhousing area. It's definitely hydraulic fluid because the reservoir level has now dropped enough to trigger the "BRAKING FAULT" warning on the dash.
Clearly the clutch slave cylinder has gone, but is this likely to have done any other damage? Engine starts and runs fine, sounds perfectly healthy, no vibes, and all six gears (and reverse) engage cleanly if you switch the engine off. I had the engine idling when being towed the final 7 miles home in order to have PAS and brake servo working.
Labour is hopefully going to be mate rate (to be negotiated), but what do you reckon I'm looking at parts-wise? I have horrible DMF and clutch kit thoughts in my head at the moment.
Cheers
DP
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Having spent so much on it, is it not best to keep it to recover some of the cost?
There's probably another 40000 miles left in it yet.
hi, just a quick question.
can anyone tell me if a 02 mondeo ghia 2.0 (130) tdci has a cam belt or cam chain?
thanks in advance Read more
I know this question is sorted now, but as a general tip, sometimes you can see the cam chain through the oil filler neck depending of course where on the cam cover the cap is located. That's certainly the case with my mum's StreetKa.
Any engine with a black plastic cover mounted on the end (drivers side) is likely to be belt driven.
My remote key fob suddenly stopped locking the doors, the light on the fob still worked so the battery should have been fine. I changed the battery anyway but still can't get it to lock the doors.
I have searched on the site and found a solution you gave for a 98 Avensis, but that doesn't seem to work for me. Is there another sequence I can try or do you think there's a problem with the system itself?
thanks
Mike Read more
Two weeks ago my fiesta 1.2 (Duratec Zetec es) lost power then missfired badly so i put it to a garage. They diagnosed a leaking core plug and put leak stopper in. the car seemed to go fine for a week then lost power and miss fired again.
This time the garage said if the leak stopper didnt work then the only other option was to remove the cylinder head and have the core plugs machined out, as aparently they are fixed in so tight that attempting to force them out could damage the head.
They said this could cost around the £600 mark. I accept that a cylinder head removal can be expensive so gave them the go ahead to do the work, also i had read up on this problem on the internet and this site so knew the core plug problem was well known.
They then phone me and say its not the core plugs but its leaky washer jet housings and so i say great! put on new ones. I go up and pick up the car very relieved im not looking at a £600 cylinder head removal. Three miles down the road the car starts miss-firing again and i limp home. I check under the bonnet and pull the plug leads out and vapour comes steaming out of the cylinder head top, evidently the garage was right the first time and it is a leaking core plug. I test the water and its pink in colour (the same as the coolent) plus i never used the washer jets and it hasnt rained so no other way water could get into the plug wells.
Im now very annoyed with the garage the leak stopper fix cost £150 + the washer jet renewal was another £100 (both times i had the car picked up by recovery vehical, hence the cost). Im going to phone the garage tomorrow and see what they can offer me to get the car finally fixed properly and if they will accept they should have got the problem sorted the first time and not incured me these extra costs. I used the garage becouse it was well recomended and its a Bosch franchise which i thought would mean quality work, but im annoyed they made a fix and obviously never did a test drive or even really properly examined the water in the plug wells which i would have thought was a basic first step.
IM also going to call around some other garages tell them whats wrong and ask for quotes to have the head sorted once and for all. Now heres my real question.
What is a reasonable price for having the core plugs machined out.
Is there a good way of fixing the problem without removing the cylinder head.
Is there any other rubbish which a garage might try to fob me off with as either a possible cause of the leak of water into the plug wells or as a way to fix it.
Is there any way i can get satisfaction out of the garage ive just used.
If driving with the missfire has damaged my catalyst is this the garages liability seeings they handed the car back to mee on two occasions supposedly fit to drive.
PLease help me out this has got me so mad im about ready to just sell the car after its fixed and never own another one. I bought the car last year after getting rid of a 94 escort that had become uneconomic due to rust (otherwise great runner). The hope was getitng a newer car with lower milage would end my increasingly expensive car costs.
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I have the same problem but my core plugs are the dish type easy job you might say...
But took it to the local garage £70 all done 1 week later same again. Took it back did the job again with a sealant. Two week later same again only a small amount of water but the steam causes juddering under load. Garage did it again for the last time two weeks I think they got it right ... wrong started again
Looking to do the job myself I need a good sealant any recommendations also added K seal to coolant still same
Ford must have known about this because of the change to threaded plugs, might have to get tapped out, can you get this done with out head removal?
Also does any one know the difference between Zetec and Duratec ?
Thanks
Browse
Ford started to recomend a high quality thinner oil some years ago, as there was a problem with cheaper quality oil on gently driven cars coking up small oilways and valves. At around the same time newer engines from many manufacturers tightened up engineering tolerances to use 0/30 or 5/30 oil which would result in a very small percentage improvement in fuel economy. I have 2 Ford cars in the family and after 70k miles oil consumption increased. As being thinner it would pass the rings and burn off. So these are now using a 5/40 fully synthetic, which has helped consumption and fuel consumption is not noticeably different. I can not think any "damage" has been done as such. A 5/40 would have been a better bet (flows better at VERY cold temps) and usually that grade is fully synthetic.
Although fully synthetic is more expensive, I push oil changes to 15k-20k (all "home" service) with little worrying top up, and most vehicles have run to or past 200k miles without issue. I know several people who run Mercs, Fords and Vauxhall who report increased consumption around 70k-80k miles using 0/30 or 5/30 who switch to 5/40 and problem solved.
Very good article on oil quality and grades on Honest John front page:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=33...1