Another Ford - 2000 Ford Focus: What to watch for?

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Glad you got a good laugh!
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I know a few 00s floating around, and both have held up pretty well. I know one is very close to 200k, which is not too shabby...
 
Originally Posted By: millerbl00
$500! I would buy it on the spot. Sounds good!

+1

Down here even the sludge monsters with over 200K miles with broken a/c's and a million other issues are going for at least 1500 bucks.
 
Guy works with a buddy of mine, he was asking $1000 for it, and when we started talking and realized we knew some of the same people he just turned and said that if we really wanted it, 500 bucks and we could take it. So we did
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Pics later today.
 
So, she's home. Has temporary plates. Other than the front brakes, the car runs like a top.

Oil is pretty clean. I fixed the PCV hose, which was a big vacuum leak.

Very happy so far!
 
I have 170,000 on my 2000 4 door. No drive line issues. Noisy rear brakes since new. I have replaced 3 power window cable drums. (three different windows) The ignition lock cylinder failed locking up the steering. Had to have it towed to the dealer. That problem cost me $250. $850 at 160,000 for new timing belt.I had them replace all the wear elements such as the water pump, serpentine belt, tensioners etc. Over ten years it has been among the most reliable cars I have ever owned. Only my '64 Fairlane and my '73 MGB were better.
 
"An MGB was reliable? crzy Was it parked all the time?"

May have been a fluke,but I bought it with 17,000 on the clock in 1975 and drove it for 12 years as my main transportation. Went through 3 soft tops,had those lever arm shocks rebuilt twice and sold to my brother in 1987 with 150,00 miles. Loved that car. The drive train can only be described as agricultural. Never left me stranded though. The only electrical problem was ditching those twin 6volt batteries. Replaced them with a group 72 12volt. John Lucas was not the "Prince of Darkness" in my case. Syncing those carbs was a joy only a Brit car owner could fully enjoy.
 
Wow, I'm impressed... My dad tells me stories of all the ones he used to keep on the road back when they were around.

Nightmarish stories... He speaks of the syncing the carbs as well!
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I talked to my Ford Tech friend about the 2000 Focus, he says there really isn't a set of common issues for the car. He said they are reliable overall once the recalls were taken care of.

What he sees most on them are window regulators, some OD issues, and PCV hose and valve issues.
 
OK, so the car is now perfectly drivable.

What I did today:

1. Front brakes.
-El Cheapo grande rotors
-Raybestos NASCAR Select pads

Whoever did the brakes last on this car should never, EVER do brakes again.

One of the sliders was cross-threaded into the caliper mount on the drivers side, so the caliper was riding cock-eyed. No wonder it had brake problems!

The passenger side caliper was tightened on by HE-MAN and I was expecting to break the slider pin I had to use so much force. Somebody had also used grey anti-seize on the sliders, so they were sticky and gummed up. YUMMY! The caliper was "spun" on the brake line, so the brake line had the "licorice stick" look to it.

Used scotch brite to clean off the hubs. Applied liberal quantities of copper anti-seize to the flange. Cleaned the pad slider surfaces with scotch brite, cleaned off the slider pins with scotch brite, and used synthetic brake lube on the sliders and the pad sliding surface.

Brakes work GREAT now!


2. Oil change.
-Tried to use a Donaldson filter but I couldn't get it to fit without taking a die grinder to one of the block casting tabs and I just didn't have the time or the patience.
-Ended up using a K&N HP-2009 filter (FL400S equiv.) after my wife erroneously brought me back a FRAM, which she then took back and got me the correct filter.
-Used Petro Canada DURON-E Synthetic 0w40. Hope the HDEO does some cleaning! It needs it.

3. Transmission flush. I determined this was necessary after looking at the dip-stick.
-Found a use for my stash of Motorcraft Mercon V! Did a cooler line flush (the whole system only holds 6.8L of fluid) and the stuff that came out of the transmission was absolutely AWFUL! It was almost the colour of well-run engine oil out of a diesel, with just a hint of brown to it instead of black.

Car is shifting PERFECTLY now with the fresh Mercon V. It had a slight hesitation and seemed to "hunt" with the old garbage in there. I would not be at all surprised if that was the original fluid.



I still need to change the power steering fluid (Petro Canada Mercon V), but that can be done later, along with a cooling system flush and new plugs.

I've spent a whopping $145 on getting the car ready to be road legal thus far and have been driving it around this afternoon and it's a lot of fun!

Here are some pics:

focus01.jpg

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Looks pretty decent for a $500 car. Give it a good was job and it'll be cherry!
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