I've just bought a ford focus 1.8 2004 in grey :) (petrol) very nippy well compared with the 1.4 polo before which I could not fault bar a few usual running problems. That said the focus does seem to drink petrol sadly. My right foot is not made of led either more a hollow brick.
Sadly the car didn't come with a handbook to check this so I my friend suggested asking here as its frequented by mechanics and hobbyists.
I'm trying to figure out what grade oil it takes.
I found this stuff at halfords and says its ford spec but wanted to ask heres the link
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Its fully synthetic and 5/30 and on sale at £17.50 for 4 litres which is cheap by my abacus. What do you reckon ?
It will be fine, but before you buy it try your local Ford dealer for their own oil. It can be quite reasonable in cost, and if needed you can pick up genuine filter(s) at the same time
If in any doubt as to their age, fit new plugs and leads. Only use genuine ones! (A bit pricey at around 70UKP, but they last 40K miles.) If a lead or plug fails, it may well damage the coil, and they are over
100UKP now.
WRT fuel consumption, my 1.8 used to average around 34mpg in mixed motoring, and get close to 40mpg on long motorway runs.
If you need any help with fixing your running problems, post back; there's plenty of knowledge of the Focus here.
It will be fine, but before you buy it try your local Ford dealer for their own oil. It can be quite reasonable in cost, and if needed you can pick up genuine filter(s) at the same time
If in any doubt as to their age, fit new plugs and leads. Only use genuine ones! (A bit pricey at around 70UKP, but they last 40K miles.) If a lead or plug fails, it may well damage the coil, and they are over
100UKP now.
WRT fuel consumption, my 1.8 used to average around 34mpg in mixed motoring, and get close to 40mpg on long motorway runs.
If you need any help with fixing your running problems, post back; there's plenty of knowledge of the Focus here.
Chris
Top man Chris, you hospitality if much welcomed.
I'll check in with ford how much they charge. I should know better as I've been surprised a few times on parts from VW previously were cheaper than the likes of GSF or eurocarparts. The car has not been serviced in about 12 months according to service history so I'm starting with a full service, plugs and leads included the clocks on 46k so sounds about right for the plugs as well. Good heads up there in genuine plugs/leads worth it in the long run considering the cost of the coil.
All else that needs doing is the rear pads and discs and that's a simple job, so the brave man says :)
Could be well worth a trip down to Ford to pick up everything.
Also ordered a haynes manual which may well be handy. From what I read they are pretty bullet proof so not much goes wrong, touch wood so hopefully not too many Sunday's under the bonet.
It will be fine, but before you buy it try your local Ford dealer for their own oil. It can be quite reasonable in cost, and if needed you can pick up genuine filter(s) at the same time
If in any doubt as to their age, fit new plugs and leads. Only use genuine ones! (A bit pricey at around 70UKP, but they last 40K miles.) If a lead or plug fails, it may well damage the coil, and they are over
100UKP now.
WRT fuel consumption, my 1.8 used to average around 34mpg in mixed motoring, and get close to 40mpg on long motorway runs.
If you need any help with fixing your running problems, post back; there's plenty of knowledge of the Focus here.
Chris
The oil is £36.63 for 5 litres, which is ok, seems this promotion halford have on is well priced compared to all the usual motor factors. Castrol magnatec is a decent brand I guess when compared to asada's special pot of lovelyness :)
It will be fine, but before you buy it try your local Ford dealer for their own oil. It can be quite reasonable in cost, and if needed you can pick up genuine filter(s) at the same time
If in any doubt as to their age, fit new plugs and leads. Only use genuine ones! (A bit pricey at around 70UKP, but they last 40K miles.) If a lead or plug fails, it may well damage the coil, and they are over
100UKP now.
WRT fuel consumption, my 1.8 used to average around 34mpg in mixed motoring, and get close to 40mpg on long motorway runs.
If you need any help with fixing your running problems, post back; there's plenty of knowledge of the Focus here.
Chris
The oil is £36.63 for 5 litres, which is ok, seems this promotion halford have on is well priced compared to all the usual motor factors. Castrol magnatec is a decent brand I guess when compared to asada's special pot of lovelyness :)
Magnatec has had a variety of API oil specifications over the years. Halfords often sell an older spec on special offer. So check the actual spec before comparing.
There was another thread running by "pete" WRT the 1.8 Focus and mpg etc. The gist is you will find you can release the accel.pedal once you reach desired speed a certain amount and it will maintain speed, but mpg vastly improves. Both I and Chris found this out as we got to know the car.
For me the 1.8 Focus is still by far the best car i've ever owned and the best engine option for keen drivers.
From 0-70,000 miles I used Ford's Formula E 5w/30 which is a boggo mineral oil, and changed it every 5000 miles along with the filter, purchased from the dealer with a healthy discount - if you dont ask, you dont get. The 2nd owner was also keen on oil changes for the time they had it, and the car is now with a 3rd owner and has 140k miles on it. They report the engine is as sweet as a nut and burns none.
As far as the leads are concerned, about 40k is their lifetime. Only use the genuine ford or bosch replacements. You will notice a splutter at about
2000rpm and certain point during warm-up which will get slowly worse when its time to change them.
It's quite common with COP - too wide a gap can burn out the coil. That's the price you pay for making them small enough for this job. I presume they are just coils if they can damage the ECU - ones with built in igniters shouldn't do this.
These run at around 70,000volts. If the HV cannot jump a suitable gap in the plug because the lead is faulty, it tends to travel back to the coil pack and blow the insulation in that. Worst case scenario is the voltage generated on the coil primary as the HV goes back to the coil blows the output transistors in the ecu. VERY common with Pugs / Cit's with the Marelli management.
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