benweston

So I was replacing the front grille on my Mk2.0 (with the Ford logo lock), put the new one in and thought I'd test the locking mechanism before I slammed the bonnet shut. Didn't work. On loser insepction, it seems the lock's made up of two bits: the lock itself and a cable to the locking mechanism. These seem to clip together but I cannot, for the life of me and no matter how much I try and line them up, get them to clip back together again! Is there a trick I'm missng? Does anyone have any pointers as I now can't drive my car anywhere as I can't close the bonnet and if I DO close the bo

It does it because they're LCD displays. Liquid Crystal Display. The liquid is cold so it takes a while to accept charge. All LCD display will do this when cold. The colder they are, the longer it takes the individual "crystals" to take charge, and the slower it appears. That's why you see this "morphing". 8) The flicerking/dimming of instruments (and headlights if you look very carefully) when accelerating, stationary, etc is indeed because of the smart charging function of the alternator. I personally find it quite annoying!

Yeah, I don't see why not, to be honest. The Focus chassis has always been great and the new one, I'm sure, will be even better. It'll also be the basis of the C30 Mk2, I should think. I'm glad Ford (and whizzpopper, come to that) are getting more exciting again. The whole reason people were turning away from them in droves to go to marques such as Audi and BMW was because their cars were getting so boring and average. Bring on the Capri 8)

To be honest, I'm more excited about this: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoe ... _last.html

Oh right! Well I can't say I've tried that :lol:

The Focus (with ESP) has been fantastic in this weather, so no :D

Inspektor, are you sure your traction control's working properly?! My traction control light has been flashing pretty much constantly the last few weeks. Any ice at all and it will flash. As RB2004 said, it even flashes if you accelerate quick in the wet. Any sort of wheel spin, and the traction control cuts in to stop it. I actually find it very invasive, and end up switching it off in this weather as I know how to drive in these conditions! You can definitely feel it working when the light flashes. Traction control, at its most basic, intervenes when the car loses good traction. It cuts po

+1 8)

12mpg!!! :S When absolutely caining the nuts off it, lowest I could get was 28mpg. And I was seriously caining it. Good effort!

Nice car. God, I wish I had a Mk2.5. The Mk2 is soooo boringly average!

Does anyone know if the voice control and bluetooth modules are built into the dash or the radio headunit? I want to replace the Sony unit but I find the voice control invaluable and although I know I can link the Pioneer unit I want up to the stalk controls and bluetooth, I don't know if the voice control will still work?

Love the colour. Great choice. Exhausts look good too 8)

I think the 2.0 TDCI uses the MT60 transmission. It's a 6-speeder. Don't know about the petrol though, as it's only a 5 cog and doesn't have silly torque to tolerate.

The headlights and all the dash lights in my 2006 2.0 TDCI surge in brightness a tiny, tiny (but noticeable) bit when I tap the accelerator, no matter how soft or hard. They are ever so slightly dimmer at idle. I had a new alternator a few months ago and it still does it so I think it's just a niggle with the Focus' electronics or I've got a dodgy battery (not sure that would totally explain it though!).

The furthest single journey so far is to London and back and that's only a 250 mile round trip. Done nearly 9k miles in 6 months since I got it though. Will very probably be taking it to France (and Germany for the Nürburgring :twisted:) next year like you so can expect to whack a good 2-3k miles on it then.

Could be a huge number of problems to be honest, ranging from easy and cheap to very expensive. Is it a diesel or petrol? What engine? Year? They should get a better idea from the fault codes when they read those.

The Sony unit is a decent one, if a little disappointing as the 'premium sound' option. Certainly of a much higher build and sound quality than those Hong Kong-based units with cheap and cheerful DACs and poor GPS. I'd avoid downgrading to one of those. Your best bet is a decent Kenwood or Alpine headunit. That'd be the next step up on the Ford Sony one.

I don't have a creaking but I do have a bit of trim somewhere in the rear that rattles every time I go over a speed bump or pothole -- VERY annoying!! :evil:

Thanks for clearing that up, that's great. Been struggling for months to find out information like that. Let me know how it goes with John's. As it happens, I do visit Essex and Kent a few times a year to see family, etc so if it transpires not to be too time-consuming, there'd be a few pints in it for your time ;-)

Yeah I have to say in response to another comment about getting the petrol if you do less than 10k/year, I'd still get the diesel. Economy aside, the diesel is still much better to drive. I'd say every TDCI is punchier, more laid-back and more frugal than all their equivalent petrols. And i've been fortunate enough to drive every engine currently in the Focus (new RS excepted)

pichacker, how would you go about this then? I have the Titanium cluster from the 08 facelift for my 06 Titanium so it should be like-for-like. When I swapped them over, obviously the mileage was wrong and the engine wouldn't start because of the ignition data, but it otherwise worked fine. I could get in to all the menus and all the correct lights came on, etc. Is it a case of Ford recoding the ignition data on the new cluster and I'm away? I'd be surprised if they even did this and, if they did, surely they would charge an arm and a leg? As regards mileage - as my 06-plate car has 100k o

+2 Especially with a heavy car like the C-Max where the petrol engines are quite weedy and have to be worked very hard for any meaningful power - even the 2.0 petrol FEELS hard worked.

Good morning FFOCers :) The N/S and O/S driveshafts (i.e. CV joints) have gone in my 2006 5dr 2.0 TDCI. I'm looking round salvage and ebay at the moment for low-mileage, second hand parts as the cost of them new is quite high! I can get the 'shafts from a rear-ended 2008 Focus CC 2.0 TDCI in perfect condition. These should be the same as mine, surely?

Out of interest, how much do Wolf charge to change all the SMDs in the cluster? I want to get all the green ones changed for white but they didn't reply to my e-mail!

I just phoned my local Ford dealer and they put my registration number through their system and it came up that mine's on the recall list for the replacement fan assembly and loom. It's a 2.0 TDCI Titanium built on 1st April, 2006.