Minsterman

Nooooooooooo I dont have an alarm! - Damn that p*ssed me off! I thought all cars come with alarms as standard! :? :? Even my dads N Reg Mondeo LX has an alarm :shock: Think in my insurance i put that I had a Thatcham Cat 1 :oops: B You could always get an aftermarket alarm fitted. There are a couple of places in the FFOC Discounts part of this forum that give a discount to FFOC members on fitting car alarms etc. Its one way of protecting your 'investment' and also may reduce your insurance premiums a bit. Pete

I asked my Ford dealer this when I bought my Zetec. He said it would need a new alarm module as well as the interior sensors and associated wiring. It did not appear to be as simple as just adding sensors. Pete

Hi, I've never had any problems whatsoever playing either shop bought CD's or copied CDRs in my CD6000. Sounds like yours could be faulty. Pete

The perimeter alarm operates on the bonnet, doors, hatch, and radio/cd head unit. The Thatcham has, in addition, interior movement sensors. Pete

As standard all come with an immobiliser. The Zetec comes with a Perimeter alarm. The Ghia and Titaniums have a Thatcham Cat 1 alarm (with interior sensors). Of course owners can upgrade or add an alarm to the lower models or change alarms from the standard fits. To see if you have an alarm try what Timbo has suggested above. Pete

Hi, I am not an expert, but I think tracking makes sure all the wheels point in the same direction. Wheel balancing is where they attach little weights onto the wheelrims to make sure the wheel 'weighs' the same all the way round and so runs true. Something like that anyway!!! Pete

I asked about dimmer switches in Mk2 Zetecs ages ago, see:. http://www.ffoc.co.uk/modules.php?name= ... ght=dimmer Was very hit or miss whether you got one or not!! Pete

Hi, The 1.6 115 (113bhp) engine has variable valve timing (ti-vct) and is in effect a differant development to the 100ps (98bhp) engine. The 115 engine is also belt driven whilst the 100 has a chain driven camshaft. I suppose offering both engines gives the customer some sort of choice? Interestingly the 115 engine has now been dropped from the Mk2.5 Focus line up for some reason leaving only the 100ps engine available in the petrol 1.6 litre on the facelifted model. It maybe that Ford have decided to rationalise the Focus range or that they have chosen not to carry on with tivc

Hi, I went for a test drive in a new Mk2.5 Zetec yesterday. Whilst I was really impressed with the new model over my Mk2, there were a couple of minor 'niggles' however. The first was that Ford now fit the 4 spoke steering wheel on the Mk2.5 Zetec as opposed the 'sporty' 3 spoke on the Mk2 Zetec. I really like the feel of my current 3 spoke wheel so was a bit disappointed to find they have changed it. The dealer told me it was because they now offer a Cruise Control option on the Zetec which needs the 4 spoke wheel (however he couldn't explain why the new Titanium has the 3 spoke also wi

Hi, Going back to your original post, your Ford Warranty will not cover accident damage. Thus if you have bent the chassis you would need to either pay for it to be 'jigged' or claim off your insurance. As you have already paid to have some work done to it, I am not sure how your insurance company would view it. I wouldn't try to 'bluff it' with the Ford garage and try to get it fixed on Warranty as it is a bit unethical and they would soon realise that if the chassis is 'bent' it could only have happened in an accident. If the parts used to repair it are pattern parts then they would so

Hi Geoff, Yes you mentioned your car was an import from Cyprus in your post on the 'New Forum Joiners' bit of the forum. I would seriously reccomend you do get bodywork examinations carried out, as the then 'duty free' Mondeo that I imported began to rust after about 2 years in the UK. I made some enquiries both in the UK and Cyprus and it eventually turned out that when they build cars for the Southern Europe Market (where they class Cyprus) they do not use as much rust proofing, as they do not expect the cars to corrode in hot, dry(ish) climates. Ford initally denied it, but later ad

Hi, The gap between the dash and the door cards being different on both sides is quite a common problem. Mine are about 6mm out but to be honest, I have lived with it as no one else really notices it. Re your CD6000, I would certainly get the dealer to sort it out asap if your warranty is about to expire. otherwise it could be a case of trawling on ebay trying to buy another to replace it (much cheaper than buying a new one from Ford) or upgrading to the Sony unit, again at your expense. Re your other snags, fortunately i haven't had any of those on my 2005 2.0 Auto which I have had s

Hi, I haven't got this problem on my Mk2, I had to do an emergency stop on a rutted road last week and all was okay. Does the problem appear to come from the front or rear brakes?. Do you have discs all round or rear drums?. Just thinking that maybe one of the calipers has not been secured properly and causes the problem as it moves. I would let your dealer have a good look at it, i don't think the other things should affect the validity of the warranty. Pete

Hi, Sorry but my other half has my digi-camera at work. I will try to explain it as best as I can. On the petrol engines, the spark plugs are located in a recess on top of the engine. When the bonnet is closed, the washer jets lie immediately above this recess. If there is a problem with the washer jets, or if they are not sealed to the bonnet correctly, water drips from the jets and into the recess where the spark plugs are. This then causes the problem of corrosion on the spark plugs etc, as the water has no means of escape. I hope this helps you visualise the problem unti

Well, according to my 2006 Mk2 brochure, it should be fitted on the Ghia and Titanium trim level. However, as usual with Ford, what 'should' and what actually 'does' happen can be completely different!! Pete

Hi, I manged to seal the washer jets and its connector hose with some black silicone sealant under the bonnet (so it didn't show on the outside of the car). I used black sealant as my car is Panther Black, just in case any sealant did appear on 'the other side' but it also made for a tidier job on the underside of the bonnet as well. It seems to have done the trick as it doesn't leak anymore whatsoever. Might be worth giving it a go if your Ford dealer won't play ball and change the hose, connectors and jets for free. Pete

Hi, I could be barking up the wrong tree here, but I seem to remember from wayyyyyyyyy back, something about, in hot countires they put brighter lights etc in the dashboard so they can be seen in bright sunlight. Also, such as the amount of anti corrosion applied was also markedly reduced as cars in hot countires rarely rust. The air-con unit was also more powerful from what I recall. I think I remember it from when I was in the RAF in Cyprus and bought an alleged UK spec car that was not quite to the full UK spec although they denied it at the time!! I notice your car came from C

Was the other Titanium an automatic? Just to add my 2005 Mk2 Zetec Climate Auto has the display box above the mileage reading. It shows what mode (ie Park,Neutral,Reverse,Drive etc) the auto box is in, or if driving it in clutchless manual mode it shows the actual gear you are in(1,2,3 or 4). Pete

This happened to a friend of mine's Mk2. How it happened was a connection coming loose on the front heated washer jet hose. The screen fluid then leaked downwards into the well around the spark plugs. The same also started to happen on mine but I managed to mend the connector on the screen wash hose. I was told by Polar Ford that this is quite a common problem Pete

Hi, Going back to your original question, will your new car have the Ford CD6000 fitted or have you 'upgraded' it to the Sony one like in Yorkshire Pud's picture above? Just nosey thats all as I hopefully will be ordering my new Mk2.5 soon in ZC spec but am thinking about upgrading to the Sony unit. Pete

Hi Colin, Well, as I said above, when mine went flat, all that Polar did was put a new battery in and gave me the key straight back. It worked fine without any reprogramming what so ever. Pete

Hi, Sorry I cannot answer your question, but are you saying it is the battery in the remote key fob or the actual car battery that got changed?. When my key fob one went flat, I just got the fob battery changed. No need for re-programming anything at all. Pete

Hi, I always use either AutoGlym Super Resin Polish and then their Extra Gloss Protection stuff, or Meguirs Gold products personally. If you have a look in the Car Care & Show Preparation bit of the forum, it may give you some ideas: http://www.ffoc.co.uk/modules.php?name= ... orum&f=102 Pete

Well, when mine was in for its service at the main dealer, I asked what oil they had put in. They told me Ford/Motorcraft Formula E 5W30 semi synthetic which is the Ford reccomended oil. I bought a 1 litre bottle of it for top-ups but so far have never had to use it. Having read other posts on this site, it seems this is about the best oil for any mark of Focus and not overpriced like Castrol Magnatec. As far as I am concerned, if Ford reccomend it, its good enough for me. Pete

Hi AFApe, Thanks for the links. I will give my local Ford dealer another try later in the week. Pete