14 replies to this topic

[Alexm]

Hi all, first poster here!

I'm due to get this model of focus next month, it's been family owned and has 50k on clock and FSH,
I plan on giving it a full service myself when I get it.

My Question is, is this year of manufacture any more/less likely than other mk2's for DMF failure ? I really like the car, and going from a 12 year old vauxhall to this is gonna be lovely, but the more googling I do about DMF the more tetchy I'm getting, is the problem really that common on my particular choice of car ?

Is there a sort of average life before they WILL go? Or Is it inevitable how longs a piece of string, just would like some trouble free motoring !

[Stoney871]

I have a 2007 Tdci Sport on just over 80k and it's as solid as a rock.

[Mike77]

Bought mine with 111k on the clock, with full documented history, and had never had a clutch or flywheel, I put both in as it was showing signs of going. Some have gone earlier. I guess its all down to how well the car has been looked after. The horror stories aren't all that bad when you consider that the vast majority of diesels now-a-day's have a DMF.Stop searching for something that may not ever be an issue for you, if it does, you deal with it as and when. No car on the market today is fault free, and anything on any car can let go at any time. The 1.8tdci is a trusty old horse, and should serve you and your family well.

[Alexm]

Excellent. Thanks for such a constructive reply guys, Im glad it's pretty reliable in general, like I said its going to get a good old service when I get it whether it needs it or not. I am also going to use that millers diesel stuff that everyone seems to rate so highly, it will be the first car Im not going to rag to death and get sideways (well its not RWD so u can't but still lol)

I've never actually owned a diesel before as my personal car just driven lorries and vans etc(which lets face it,get ragged) is there a particular way to drive these to minimise stress on clutch etc, I keep seeing conflicting reviews, some people say pulling away on just the clutch (even though the engine has plenty of torque to do so) is bad for the DMF also, I guess the stories are there for anything if you search for it, seeing as the focus is so popular car I guess it's obvious it will be found

[Pitmonster]

To minimise stress on the clutch:

- don't accelerate hard from a standing start
- don't sit for long periods at the lights with the car in gear and your foot pressed on the clutch. Put it in neutral and bring your left foot up

Like most "wear and tear" parts, the life is determined by how it's been used.

If your car has spent 99% of its miles cruising on the motorway in 5th gear the wear will be low and the lifespan will be long.

If its spent most of its mile in heavy town driving (and has suffered the abuses shown above) the wear will be high and the lifespan will be short.

Who knows how your car has been treated by previous owners?

My own 1.8 TDCi has just had a new DMF and clutch (cost £1020) at 82k miles.
The symptoms were an audible tick-tick-tick sound in the tip half of the clutch pedal travel. If yours has no noise like this, you should have no problems

My post on my DMF is here : http://www.fordowner...__fromsearch__1

I chose to get it done early, rather than wait for it to break. Better safe than sorry, I suppose. It's not possible to tell how worn it actually is without doing a visual inspection - and by that time you've done 90% of the labour of the job itself, so you may as well go all the way - if you have the signs of wear.

[Alexm]

Thanks again for all the suggestions put forward, corrrr gone are the days of 80 quid clutch plate, quick in-situ swap over and go lol I feel old and I'm only in my early 20's!!! I'm defo going to go ahead and get it, it's from my old man anyways so I'm sure i could just drive it through his front room if it is a lemon haha

[TDCiST]

Ah the 1.8TDCi! its a trusty old engine, and relatively bomb proof! I loved my old one!

My DMF Started to get a bit rattley at 110,000 but it didnt seem to give any of the idle issues that some people talk of, i think that would have been ok till 150,000!

[Alexm]

Sure you guys don't work for ford ? I'm sold lol
I used to favour vauxhalls over fords but Im going strongly the other way!

It's gonna get treated like a baby ! Another concern of mine if anyone is still following, is the accessibility of the pollen filter, I want to give it a Maticulous OCD service, all filters and a decent quality opieoils fully synthetic oil as I heard fords can be quite fussy with the incorrect spec oil.

Just trying to think if there's anything in particular I may have overlooked, and would be good practice to change out when I get it. Even down to white greasing all hinges and catches etc. I would also like to replace the bulbs (not a Barry HID kit) but some bulbs with a cleaner white light and perhaps LED rears and number plate lights, just so I probably won't ever have to worry about changing them out ever again, however reading up on the headlights they look at right old pain to change ! if I was to buy cheap eBay LED's or headlight bulbs, would I need to be buying those error free ones ?

[Alexm]

PS I'm sorry if I'm asking stuff that can be found with a simple search, but I thought I might aswell get the latest opinions within one thread instead of spamming the whole board up, don't know if I'm doing anything wrong or where I post from an iPhone but the search seems to throw up real hit and miss results

[Stoney871]

Read my signature picture concerning bulbs for the Mk2.
I recommend Osram cool blue intense for headlights, if you browse my posts. You'll find videos of them in action.
I also recommend Cree Q5 bulbs for reverse and rear fog lights, but for a little touch of aesthetics I recommend you get an European market reverse light lens which will replace the red fog light lens then you can fit a red Cree bulb and it looks much better.
Concerning error free bulbs- waste of time, just don't bother with led indicator bulbs as they will flash too fast unless you fit resistors which in themselves can be a problem as they get very hot and cause their own problems.
If you want to change the indicators I'd go for SilverTec bulbs as they look silver when unlit but amber when flashing, looks much better in the indicator lenses and gets rid of most of the horrible orange tint (de-tangoing).

[Alexm]

Oh nice that sounds like a nice little setup you have, I have never used them in a car but I have a really good Cree LED torch so know just how bright a q5 is !

So the car doesn't flash any errors at you anywhere for blown bulbs ?

[Stoney871]

None at all.
Afaik Ford don't fit a canbus system to their cars and definitely not on a Mk2 focus.
As I said though. The only ones that cause problems are indicator bulbs as the reduced resistance increases the indicator flash rate.
I fitted LED smoked side repeaters but just used SilverTec bulbs for the front and rear.
All of my other bulbs are LED's apart from headlights and all work fine.

[johnH]

ive had a 1.8tdci 2006 since 52k miles and got it to 93k miles in the space of 2.5years. Safe to say i havent had a DMF issue yet! touch wood (touching my head). By no means do i drive like a maniac but i also dont drive like driving miss daisy either and not a single issue.

i would say though change your fuel filter asap, if it hasnt already.

As for your pollen filter ive done mine 3 or 4 times and it still is a pig...my peugeot used to be simple open bonnet, pull sound proofing slighly pull tray and change....nope focus is remove glove box, drop fuse panel, unscrew 4 bolts and work it out and put new one in....real pain on the knees.

[Alexm]

Yeah from my experience a lot of people just tick the service box and don't actually change the fuel filter, that's something I will sort out in the first week I get it, FFSH or not ! I just read that thread in your sig and I had no idea that a fuel filter even really could cause a fault unless it fell to pieces or something!.. Mad !

What is the general consensus on using flush with these engines? I don't think this ones ever been flushed & it's at 50k, I know it probably won't happen with a diesel motor but every petrol I've had I've managed to get the oil golden.

[johnH]

yeah just kept kangaroo effect when at around the 70mph as the fuel pressure and demand isnt up to scratch.

you'll never get the oil golden in a diesel. soon as the engine starts its burns the oil black....its the diesel nature. as it is a low miler i would think about using flush, but it depends on what treatment it has had in the past. Ive never used engine flush before, what i tend to do is, replace all filters and fluids and around 6k miles later ill change them again as oils and fluids typically contain additives to clean anyways. i will only do this on the first service on getting the car.

i then take it down the motorway for around 40+ mins at 3k revs and hold to clear the system.