The wife's Focus has been showing it's age as of late. 2 weeks ago I go to the garage to take out the trash and am greeted with a pool of antifreeze on the side of the car. An examination revealed a water inlet block on the back of the engine was leaking. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be many videos of how to replace the thing, and most online stores couldn't even tell me what the part was (most pointed me to the thermostat housing, which is on the other side of the car and I need to replace when I get to doing the thermostat anyway, but that's later this month). After maneuvering through the wiring and hose nest that the part is buried under I find the part number etched on the side of the part and cross reference it on Ford's site and figure out what it is. A call to the dealer early the next morning got the part ordered, and after leaving work early I managed to get the antifreeze drained, the part replaced and the coolant refilled before 11 that night. Sweet, right?

Sweet until the next week, when the transmission went haywire. We were hopeful the TCM was acting up, which Ford extended the warranty on for their Powershift transmission (which, while a good idea, ended up being a woeful experience in practice). After a weekend at the dealer for diagnosis, it turns out one of the internal clutches and slave cylinders in the transmission is shot, and replacement will run about $2k. Not exactly what you want to hear unless you have $2k laying around, which we don't. So, checking out what options we have to get her rolling again. The car runs, but feels like driving with an 85 year old driving a stick with bad synchros and grinds every gear.

Other than that, I need to detail mine after I take it to get some recall work. Probably do the tune up this month too (not at 80k yet, but I need to replace a fuel sensor anyway, so may as well spend another 20 minutes with the plugs).

Not sure if it's related to your problem.

I was a broke college student who wasn't about to pay like $800 to replace a cracked radiator. So with no car knowledge, a lack of proper tools I went to work myself.

I used YouTube+written guides and it took my damn near 15 hours of blood sweat and TEARS to replace it. I refilled the coolant. Started it up and saw no coolant leaks, so I gave myself a big pat on the back and called it a night.

Went to drive it the next day, and the automatic shifting was all messed up. Jerking into gears, refusing to shift at high rpms, grinding noises.

Come to find out, I drained a lot of the transmission fluid when draining the coolant, so it was super low. Luckily I didn't drive far.

Put in a little transmission fluid and everything was back to normal.

But I was scared to death. And that's why I'll never do another repair myself. That and I have money lol

The transmission Ford used in the last gen Focus and Fiesta is a known POS. I want to say the two problems were coincidence, but I can definitely say it wasn't from low transmission fluid

it feels good not having to worry about mechanical car problems but i guess that monthly note is more in a year than your repair bill. how old is the car??

biggest issues ive had is the amp went into protect mode last friday. i had the volume so low too.

I assume you’re out of the factory powertrain warranty. A lot of manufacturers use the “automatically shifted manual” tranny...most notably, BMW. Your’s was a particular piece of shit...not quite on the level of the Nissan CVT....but, still bad. Sorry, man...wish there was something I could tell you. Ford knew/knows they are shit...I thought there was an extension on them.

of the head. If you have a Focus, it’s either been replaced or needs replacing. Good job diagnosing it.

When I went to add coolant I could rear it running out somewhere, then scoped it out. Not the best feeling at 11:00 at night when you find out, but had figured out what it was and where to get it before I went to bed. Wasn't terribly difficult. Just needed to remove a slew of hoses (and I really need to invest in some hose clamp pliers, as those SOBs are a bear to get off) and blindly thread some bolts. Replacing the thermostat looks to be the same thing (except I need to go between the intake manifold to reach two of the bolts. Either need a flexible extension or something)

As for that Powershift, Ford extended the warranty on the Transmission Control Module, which tells the tranny when to shift. Once that starts to go wonky, the car may or may not go into gear, may or may not start, may stay stuck in 5th, and may just quit on you. We had that replaced at least once (and that was just when the TSB came out on that extending the warranty to 150k for that part). This go round, the TCM seems fine, but the clutches inside are shot. Whether that TCM was partly to blame is unsure, as that seems to check out fine.

At this rate we just want to keep it a year and get something else. Probably look into a 3rd party warranty to be safe as the Powershift is, well, Powersh*t. Just about everything else with the car has been fine, and it's a fun drive. Were it a stick, or had a conventional transmission (like the Escape) it would be a winner. But that's not the case

there is no way i can convince my wife
not going to try
thats what im telling myself
damn
being an adult sucks sometimes

I hated spending the money, but it feels like a new car. I don’t feel the bumps as much and the car is definitely faster when accelerating.

totally different experience with new tires.

absorption of road noise and vibration...and all tires are NOT created equal...they just aren't.

I went from white knuckle driving in the rain out of fear when the stock tires were nearing their EOL to pushing 70 in torrential rain on the highway with a new set of BFGs.

Pays to do your research too. I always recommend hitting up Tire Rack to see what's recommended for the car then base your purchase on that. Getting the cheapest is rarely the way to go, but you may not necessarily need the ultra high performance summer tires either (but if your car DOES need them, better go get them)

so I'm in an XC60. It feels like a scale model of my own car. I could do this. I'd rather a (new) V60 though.

bad news: I now only have one Honda Civic instead of two.

good news: I'm here posting this bs instead of relearning how to walk (s/o to marcus gravey) or worse

Safety features these days are worlds better than a few decades ago.

yeah

got nailed by a truck in an intersection, idk what happened. a week later I'm still sore, but no major injuries for me or my wife.


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at