05 ford focus drivers

Nowhere near as bad as the doors falling off 05 registered Astras made in Ellesmere Port. On a number of cars the doors have been spot welded in error. If you have an Astra with an 05 plate I suggest you check all the doors out to make sure they are welded correctly at the hinges! Vauxhall are not classing it as a recall yet, but a number of doors have "fallen off" when any weight was put on them - for example someone leaning on the door while it was opened.

Every major manufacturer has these problems from time to time. If you were to ever sit and read the complete list of known issues, you'd be paranoid about what might be wrong with your own car.

I'd be far more concerned if you drove a vw from a few years ago that's fitted with side airbags ;-)

Moray Cuthill Every major manufacturer has these problems from time to time. If you were

Bloke at work's diesel Focus destroyed its engine the other day. He says the garage told him the water pump had disintegrated taking the engine with it and that it's a common fault. Not one I've heard before. (He's not very mechanically minded, so I'm wondering if it was actually the diesel pump.)

Willy Eckerslyke (oss108no snipped-for-privacy@bangor.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Water pump's usually driven off the cambelt, though...

Most engines in Fords these days aren't. I can't think of any that are, actually.

You're right, that sounds more likely, doesn't it. He was talking about bits coming off and churning around the inside of the engine so I assumed at the time he was refering to the impeller breaking up, which seemed odd. Then afterwards I did a google and found this:

"A problem has been identified with the diesel pump and wear to the rollers and shoes. This is caused by insufficient bedding in when the car is new. This can also create small metal particles to contaminate the diesel and damage many components including the injectors."Dunno. It's not a subject I really want to raise with him again, as he's not having a good week!

Willy Eckerslyke (oss108no snipped-for-privacy@bangor.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

At least it'll still be in warranty, though...

Hardly. It was a few years old. Still, he gets paid considerably more than me.

Willy Eckerslyke (oss108no snipped-for-privacy@bangor.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I'm getting confused with the subject line.

Can I go back to bed now?

"A problem has been identified with the diesel pump and wear to the > rollers and shoes. This is caused by insufficient bedding in when the car > is new. This can also create small metal particles to contaminate the > diesel and damage many components including the injectors."> Dunno. It's not a subject I really want to raise with him again, as he's > not having a good week! The diesel pump issue was a well known fault, and affected a very broad range of ford diesels, but it just meant the engine cut-out.

It's most likely the water pump bearings have collapsed with the result the cam belts failed, but thinking about it, it was only the 1.8 diesel that was used in the focus a few years ago. And that only had a belt from the injection pump to camshaft. It was a chain from the crank to pump, and the waterpump was driven of the alternator belt.... Off course, if I've got the years mixed up, it may well have one of the newer PSA engines, which do have a cam belt driven water pump.