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).