Eve, It's Time For A Face Lift (mk2 Focus Zetec Climate 2.0)

[Dan P]

Dont forget to fit eibach adjustable rear camber bolts when having it lowerd followed by laser tracking wheel alignment to correct camber,

Prevents uneven tyre wear,

I understand why camber bolts may be needed when lowering a car but I've read of numerous forum members who have fitted the Eibach spring kits without the bolts, seemingly without issue. Also as the springs were an option for the cars at point of sale, wouldn't they have been fitted without adjustable camber bolts? I will however check with the garage fitting the springs and I have already made sure that wheel alignment is being included as part of the fitting.

Some RS Green on thr brake calipers would be good contrast,

35% tint on rear windows

I would've been tempted to do the callipers yellow but Mrs P vetoed painting them any "lary" colour. She's also forbidden window tinting - I'm not sure that I'm going to get away with the Vanstyle UV car shades!

[Lenny]

I understand why camber bolts may be needed when lowering a car but I've read of numerous forum members who have fitted the Eibach spring kits without the bolts, seemingly without issue. Also as the springs were an option for the cars at point of sale, wouldn't they have been fitted without adjustable camber bolts? I will however check with the garage fitting the springs and I have already made sure that wheel alignment is being included as part of the fitting.

I would've been tempted to do the callipers yellow but Mrs P vetoed painting them any "lary" colour. She's also forbidden window tinting - I'm not sure that I'm going to get away with the Vanstyle UV car shades!

Stock rear camber bolts are non-adjustable,

I suppose keep an eye on the wear of rear tyres after lowering if garage say its ok then you have a name to point finger if it goes wrong.

In my case Adjustable rear camber bolts were 25 quid compared to two prematurely worn 18" rear tyres @ 270 a pair to replace

With that said; ford billed me for laser tracking alignment but didn't do it, resulting in excessive tyre wear of inner side wall costing me a set of rear tyres before there due.

I had the shades fitted before they add a deep gloss black to the windows but sort of feels a bit prison bus inside with the mesh on windows

[Dan P]

Stock rear camber bolts are non-adjustable,

I suppose keep an eye on the wear of rear tyres after lowering if garage say its ok then you have a name to point finger if it goes wrong.

In my case Adjustable rear camber bolts were 25 quid compared to two prematurely worn 18" rear tyres @ 270 a pair to replace

I understand exactly where you're coming from; if it needs doing, I'll be doing it. I certainly don't want tyre wear like in your photo! I get my tracking checked every year as part of the service - the garage loves me because they don't have to do a hard sell. Preventative maintenance is a more efficient way of doing things in the long run.

I had the shades fitted before they add a deep gloss black to the windows but sort of feels a bit prison bus inside with the mesh on windows

I think I'm going to use that for negotiations with Mrs P if she rejects the shades: "It's either tints or the prison bus look, you decide..."

[b4zz]

great job on the plasti dip looks really good and as you say has changed the overall appearance of the car

[Dan P]

Being the impatient type, I've decided that I'm going to keep the pace up and have got my next phase of mods lined up already.

I have just taken delivery of the glove box LED and car shades and I have a replacement set of mats ready which I'll fit after I finally get around to having the car valeted.

Mrs P has taken the car away this week whilst she’s visiting family but I’ve arranged for a Terraclean to be carried out by A1 Terraclean. I've read a lot of very good reviews and a lot of skeptical reviews. Eve seems like a good candidate - 9 years old and 65k on the clock - and I may get a small improvement in performance and fuel consumption. It's going to be hard to quantify the difference given that I'll be getting a remap done very soon afterwards but I figure I should try and squeeze every last bit of performance out of the car! If it's snake oil, as some sceptics claim, then I'll have wasted £108 but I figure it's worth a punt.

Once Mrs P returns I've booked Eve into AMD Essex to be lowered and remapped - I'll have the car serviced whilst it's there too.

I've also been reading through The Epic Cruise Control Thread (currently approaching 700 entries - I must confess that I haven't read them all yet!)

There are a few different methods outlined of adding cruise control and I have opted to go for a modified radio remote control stalk thingy (have no idea what the correct terminology is) which is costing me £50 and is on its way from China - bought from Aliexpress.

Thankfully I've got a bit of time to read up on how to get it activated before it arrives.

[Lenny]

Steering stalk looks sweet,

You need a modified elm327 cable to activate cruise control,

I can send you a loan of mine, with a self addressed return envelope if you would prefer not to purchase your own.

[Dan P]

Steering stalk looks sweet,

You need a modified elm327 cable to activate cruise control,

I can send you a loan of mine, with a self addressed return envelope if you would prefer not to purchase your own.

I think it's the tidiest solution for the 3 spoke steering wheel.

Thanks for the very generous offer. I shall come back to you once I've done my research properly and worked out my plan!

[Dan P]

A little package from China arrived today - not bad considering I only ordered nine days ago.

It appears to be a brand new genuine Ford part which has been customised to accommodate the Cruise Control functions. I'm impressed with the quality. Amazing that it only cost £50 from the other side of the world when a brand new unadulterated stalk is around £83+VAT from a UK dealer!

I'm working nights this weekend so hopefully will be able to find some time to read up on installation.

[Lenny]

That looks awesome mate,

I have factory fitted cruise control but id almost fit 3 spoke wheel and this instead,

I was looking at it before but couldnt see the plus & minus buttons which adjust cruise speed without touching pedals,

I can see now that these buttons are fitted on the rear of the stalk,

Very tidy indeed.

[Dan P]

Hopefully I won't get into too much trouble confusing my faster and louder buttons!

[Lenny]

Hopefully I won't get into too much trouble confusing my faster and louder buttons!

in fairness there both great options to have during a number of activities.

The faster and slower buttons only work; after you have pressed "set"

Then if cruising and say you have to brake

This cancels cruise control but if you press "Res"

This will resume the speed you were at prior to the braking.

[Dan P]

A bit of a big post today with a few topics to be covered: initial impressions on Terraclean, Cruise Control installation (part 1), glove box LED installation, plasti-dip update, Cruise Control installation (part 2)…

Terraclean

Mrs P was away with Eve for the last week but I had arranged for a Terraclean to take place whilst she was up in Teesside. Having been reunited yesterday morning, I've only managed a few short trips so far and I’ve not been above 30mph. The difference is phenomenal! Mrs P had commented that she thought Eve felt a little smoother, but I'd say that's a massive understatement.

On starting, driving at low revs (<1200rpm) and when sitting stationary, I previously would have described Eve as being a little rattly and juddery. All of that is gone - it feels like a new engine, incredibly smooth. Previously I wouldn't have considered using 5th gear until I was doing more than about 32mph as she just wouldn't feel comfortable, but at one point today I found myself doing 25mph in 5th and it felt just fine. I’ll be doing a run around the M25 tomorrow morning so will see how she feels at higher speeds and if she's pulling any more strongly.

Fuel economy appears to have increased too - on the way back from Teesside Mrs P got about 2mpg more than she normally does.

Cruise Control Installation – A New (Functionality) Hope

Yesterday afternoon I set about installing the modified stereo remote.

Firstly, I removed the original remote by depressing the small tab on the rear and then unplugging the connector.

I then removed the covers from the steering column, undoing the two torx screws underneath.

Then depressing the tabs on either side of the wheel which hold on the upper cover.

I then headed for the fuse box and removed the GEM connector. The two wires for the cruise control are the brown attached to pin 10 and the white attached to pin 18.

I then took the red and black Cruise Control cable which came with my modified stereo remote, cut off the two metal pins at the end and stripped the wire back a little.

Having removed the cable tie holding everything tidy on the GEM connector I took a brave pill and cut through the brown and white wires and stripped them back a little.

I then twisted together the brown and white wires (from the GEM end) with my supplied cable (it doesn’t matter which way round black and red go as the cruise control circuitry will work either way round). I then used some electrical tape and a few cable ties to make everything nice and secure and tidy and replaced the GEM connector in the fuse box.

At this point I decided to carry out a test to see that everything had gone according to plan so far. I plugged the stereo connector and the other end of the supplied cable into the new remote and then started the “heated rear windscreen test” – all Cruise Control buttons were recognised with a satisfying beep and the stereo functions successfully controlled the stereo.

I then disconnected the remote and started on routing the cable through. I removed the glove box and stereo and passed the cable through the top right near the air vents, then fed it behind the stereo and it popped out near the steering wheel. I then secured it in place with a few cable ties and in the clips holding the wiring to the steering column.

I then replaced the glove box, stereo and steering column covers and fed the connectors through before fitting the modified remote to the steering column. (I forgot to get a picture of the finished installation!)

All in all a pretty easy job.

Glove box light

Whilst I had the glove box out I installed my LED light. First I popped out the light fitting by squeezing the little clip and then I used a small screwdriver to very carefully prise out the old light bulb. I then fitted the LED connector, replaced the glove box, fed the wire through and then stuck on the LED. Now I can finally see what’s hiding in there!

Plast-dip update

I had a bit of a nasty surprise when I noticed that the plasti-dip has started to come away on one wheel. I'm very disappointed as I was very careful with my preparation and when I was applying it. Not sure if there's anything I can do to repair it. Refurb and repaint of the alloys may be happening sooner than I’d hoped!

Cruise Control Installation – The ELMpire Strikes Back

This morning I took delivery of a modified ELM327 with FTDI chipset from eBay.

I had done a massive amount of research on ELMConfig and what was required to enable Cruise Control – I have now read ALL of the Cruise Control thread! I had made my own notes of the process to follow and some of the problems other users had come across. Modifications are required to the GEM (General Electrics Module) – where I also intended to activate double-lock on one button press and auto-heated screens – PCM (Powertrain Control Module) and HEC (Hybrid Electronics Cluster) – where I also intended to add instant fuel consumption to the trip computer.

I installed ELMConfig and the runtime pack. I installed the drivers for the ELM327 and with an extension lead through the living room window I headed to the car with my trusty Windows XP laptop.

It took me a little while of playing with the ELMConfig settings to get it to connect to Eve and then I kept hitting error messages. After multiple attempts I was able to read from the HEC, save it, tick the “Cruise Control Configuration” and “Trip Computer Instant Fuel Consumption” buttons and write it back to the car.

I was also able to get into the PCM once and started to read the firmware. I’ve read elsewhere that this can take a few minutes but mine was terribly slow – it probably would have taken 90 minutes had it ever got to the end! After about an hour I got this error message:

The only way I could get out of it was to kill ELMConfig. I had error messages on the dash and when I tried to start the car it wouldn’t turn over. I must confess, I was feeling a tad anxious at this point! I removed the key, counted to 60 and then tried again. Thankfully Eve started and my pulse started to return to normal.

I was completely unable to read from the GEM.

No matter what I tried I kept hitting errors like this:

I wasted about 4 hours in total and all I’ve managed to achieve is adding instant fuel consumption to the trip computer.

I hope I’m not missing something obvious (if I am please feel free to tell me, and even have a good laugh at my expense, I’m thoroughly p’d off by it all!) – I thought I was well prepared and I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers but to no avail.

At least tomorrow should be a better day – service, new springs, remap!

[Dan P]

At least tomorrow should be a better day – service, new springs, remap!

Yesterday was definitely a better day!

Eve spent all day in the care of AmD Tuning being serviced, getting Eibach lowering springs fitted and getting a custom remap.

Power has been increased from 140.7bhp to 147.3bhp

Torque has been increased from 138.4lb.ft to 144.0lb.ft

Added to the effects of the Terraclean, Eve now feels totally reinvigorated! I went out for a little cruise last night and she feels more eager and is pulling more strongly. Although the remap only added around 5% more power and torque, she's definitely feeling more responsive as a result. The springs feel good - stiffer, but not uncomfortable.

This morning I took a few photos to show her in her new, lower state! I took some rough measurements too and it appears she's dropped around 15mm at the front and 20mm at the rear. I figure she'll probably settle a tad lower once the new springs are bedded in. I'm very pleased with the look, as well as the feel of the new springs.

I then set about giving Eve a wash. I was sick of our hard water leaving horrible marks on the car and leaving Eve looking like she had a leopard print paint job! I'd been to Halfords and bought a Turtle Wax squeegee and a couple of Meguiar's drying towels to see if I could eliminate the problem. Suffice to say, they worked brilliantly and Eve looks better than ever.

[b4zz]

looking good and like the drop

[Dan P]

looking good and like the drop

Thanks Barry... I'm very pleased with it myself!

[Dan P]

I had another rest day today so managed to get a few other little jobs done. I set about addressing the spoiler leak using Stoney's guide. When I removed the spoiler I found the grommet on the wiring feed (left hand one on the image below) had come out of the hole, so I figure this is probably where the water was getting in.

15 08 04 - Spoiler leak 1.JPG

After refitting the grommet I applied silicon around the bolt holes too as a precaution.

15 08 04 - Spoiler leak 2.JPG

15 08 04 - Spoiler leak 3.JPG

15 08 04 - Spoiler leak 4.JPG

Next time I wash the car (or it rains) I shall check to see whether this has worked.

I gave the spoiler a good soaking whilst washing the car last week and then checked inside the tailgate. I removed the trim to inspect the area behind it and it was perfectly dry.

It worked!

Thanks again Stoney.

[ScorpionSX]

Hey Dan,

first of all, nice job on your car, looks great! (I'd take off those mud flaps though...)

Two questions:

1. I'm also interested in buying the same CC controller from AliEx., I've seen some debate about it in CC thread in guides, but what I'd like to know is, if there are also "+" and "-" buttons added on the controller, right next to the volume +/- buttons. It's visible a little bit on the pictures here:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/FORD-FOCUS-CRUISE-CONTROL-SYSTEM_643107992.html

The buttons should work as speed adjust, just like on the regular OEM CC controller.

2. Did you manage to make it work, after having trouble with the OBDII cable?

Keep up the good work, and just a tip, get a ST spoiler, either in black or blue, it would look great on the car ;)

[Dan P]

Thanks.

If you look at the pictures in post 58 the five cruise control buttons are the round buttons. The +/- buttons are immediately behind the volume buttons.

I will hopefully have an update later today about activation...

[Dan P]

Wahey! I've got cruise control!

[Dan P]

Having suspected that my previous issues with ELMConfig were due to a faulty connector, Lenny had very kindly sent me his ELM327 adapter on loan. Armed with this I had another bash at playing with ELMConfig last night.

Everything I did was informed by the contributions of a great many others on the Cruise Control and ELM327 Guide threads.

ELMConfig launched without issue on clicking on “Open Port” with the following settings:

With the switch in the MS-CAN position I first entered the GEM (General Electronic Module). On Configuration Page 1 I selected “Read from GEM”, then “Save to file”, then made alterations to the timings for the Courtesy Light and AutoRelocking before selecting “Write to GEM”.

I then selected Page 2, read, saved and then ticked the boxes for “Window heating auto switch on” and “Double lock with one RC lock button press” before selecting “Write to GEM”.

On to Page 3 – read, save. Tick box “Cruise Control Configuration”. Write.

I then operated the switch to HS-CAN and selected the HEC (Hybrid Electronic Cluster). Configuration, Page 1 – read, save. Tick boxes for “Trip Computer – Instant Fuel Consumption” and “Cruise Control Configuration”. Write.

Now to the PCM (Powertrain Control Module). On the Information Page I selected “Read” in order to determine the module type (ESU-131 in my case).

On to the Procedures Page 2, I selected the PCM type as identified on the information page from the drop-down menu.

I then pressed “Read firmware from PCM to BIN-file” and got the following warning – I checked I’d disabled the screen saver and power saving options and clicked OK:

After a very long wait the firmware was finally read.

I then selected “Load firmware from PHF/HEX/BIN-file”. There was then a warning about a non-empty VID block – I selected “No”.

On the configuration page I ticked the box for “Integrated speed control”.

I then switched back to the procedures page, turned the ignition off and then switched it back to position 2. I then selected “Write current firmware to PCM”. I think it was at this stage that I was asked if I wanted to use the current configuration for the PCM – I selected “Yes”. After a bit of a wait, it was done.

I then returned to the configuration page, read it and saved it. I then ensured that the “Integrated Speed Control” box was ticked and then wrote it.

I packed everything up for the night and had to wait until this morning to test it. As I’ve already mentioned, it worked, and as I had to do a couple of hours of motorway driving today it was the perfect opportunity to get used to it!

The control worked perfectly and the positioning of the + and – buttons made them very easy to access and use. The “on”, “off” and “res” buttons aren’t quite so accessible but I guess I’ll be using them less frequently so I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

On completing my journey today I noticed that the front wheels had deteriorated further – this is very disappointing considering they haven't even done 1,000 miles yet and it’s only been three weeks since I plasti-dipped them.

[ScorpionSX]

Thanks.

If you look at the pictures in post 58 the five cruise control buttons are the round buttons. The +/- buttons are immediately behind the volume buttons.

I will hopefully have an update later today about activation...

Oh, sorry, I didn't see it there! Good to hear that you got it working! I'll be ordering one soon too :)

[Dan P]

Oh, sorry, I didn't see it there! Good to hear that you got it working! I'll be ordering one soon too :)

I can highly recommend it! Installation was more straightforward than having to swap out the steering wheel and having to worry about the air bag. Also, I really like the 3 spoke wheel and wouldn't have wanted to sacrifice it to gain cruise control.

It looks like the controller in your link is slightly different to mine - they may be the same electronically but just with different stickers. There's a link to the one I bought in post 55. The labeling of the buttons has been done very well and it looks consistent with the original stereo control text.

[ScorpionSX]

Oh yeah, I only put that link in for an example, I didn't find any better picture of the buttons that I was asking about :) ... I have this in my wish list (or watch list, or whatever is it called on AliEx. :D ) for some time now, so after I'm finished with some other mods, I'm right onto this one :)

I like the 3 spoke wheel too, it's a shame Ford didn't make the CC as standard for this too, they could've make it just like this, on the stalk controls, no need to mess with the look of the steering wheel...

I'm still not sure how will I wire this thing, your installation was pretty easy and straightforward, and I reeeeeaaaally don't wanna mess up the airbag, but I also would like to make it look as OEM as possible...but I'll see, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it :)

[Dan P]

I had neglected previously to take photos of the finished install of the Cruise Control / Stereo Remote so took a couple today:

[Dan P]

The other evening I was browsing through the guides and one of those I read was Lenny's Guide To Converting Stock Climate Controls To Custom Set. I didn't really think too much about it at the time - another nice mod, and a well written guide.

The problem was, the next time I got in Eve, I glanced down at the heater controls and thought to myself "well, they don't look all that great"... so that evening I found myself ordering some black and aluminium controls from eBay.

I put them in today and they do look better!