Jump to content
Do Not Sell My Personal Information


Mark's Mk3 Focus ST Estate


MDG950
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi all, just spent the last few weeks reading some of the content of this really impressive forum, what a wealth of information you guys have here. For the first time it's inspired me to share my musings about my modification projects.

So...Introductions:

At 228,000 miles it was time to pension off the old 2.2L 2006 Civic. So I went shopping for a nice sensible diesel estate in grey. Something I could run up and down the motorway to work and move the little one and his paraphernalia around in comfort. So I brought this:

1567706582_IMG_20200315_1206077702.thumb.jpg.79c9c4b78a3ebe202c4cf627c1c48935.jpg

Yeah, not quite sure what happened there. It's an estate but I guess I got distracted after that, but I'm absolutely loving it so far. All standard ST3 kit with added nav and the style pack with 51000 on the clock. It looks absolutely immaculate, I just hope I can keep it that way.

So plans are:

Enjoy it

Silver indicator bulbs

New rear badge

Cruise control

Sync 3

Replacement scuff panel (Drivers side is damaged)

And anything else that takes my fancy!

Wish me luck!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I love this car and its colour. I own a club tangerine scream st owners club TSSTOC and when you see some of the mods its amazing. I really do love the colour its amazing in the sun. Cant wait to see the updates 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the Forum and ST Estate ownership.

23 minutes ago, MDG950 said:

So I went shopping for a nice sensible diesel estate in grey. Yeah, not quite sure what happened there. It's an estate

Yeh, I too tried justifying it to myself, and my family, and girlfriend, and my friends, my 'need' for an ST by getting the 'Estate' version which is much more practical lol 😂

23 minutes ago, MDG950 said:

So plans are:

Enjoy it

That was my plan too when I bought my ST2 Estate back in August, it was raining then, and that continued until the Virus Lock Down in March, now it's endless sunshine!!
Only done 2,000 miles in 9 months, done one coast trip and one proper country drive so far 😥

27 minutes ago, MDG950 said:

New rear badge

First job I did was replace the badge, same with most second hand owners of Ford's, £25 on a badge after buying a car isn't something you really want to do.

42 minutes ago, MDG950 said:

And anything else that takes my fancy!

Wish me luck!

I'm waiting for Turtle Wax to ship me their new Black Acrylic polish & wax, then I can give it a good detailing and get some nice photo's, hopefully somewhere nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/5/2020 at 10:20 PM, RAIDER32 said:

That was my plan too when I bought my ST2 Estate back in August, it was raining then, and that continued until the Virus Lock Down in March, now it's endless sunshine!!
Only done 2,000 miles in 9 months, done one coast trip and one proper country drive so far 😥

Tell me about it, I actually picked mine up the Sunday before lockdown, drove to work twice and then furloughed 😠 The missus has driven it more than me. She's an NHS keyworker who's Peugeot 3008 keeps spewing it's coolant everywhere!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I told my wife I was buying a sensible grey estate car. 
 

ST-3 petrol in Stealth grey. 
Sensible?


You should wrap the roof black - it makes it look amazing. I’ve got a Quaife limited slip diff to get fitted as well

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I told my wife I was buying a sensible grey estate car. 
 
ST-3 petrol in Stealth grey. 
Sensible?

You should wrap the roof black - it makes it look amazing. I’ve got a Quaife limited slip diff to get fitted as well
Makes sense to me [emoji6]

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, The Finance Guy said:

You should wrap the roof black - it makes it look amazing. I’ve got a Quaife limited slip diff to get fitted as well

Nice, I quite fancy fitting an LSD. Having ridden in my brother in law's MSport fiesta the increased grip is amazing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Carried out the fried egg delete the other day. Fitted these all round:

IMG_20200425_123729509.thumb.jpg.1f20be9663ed8c262d2c8d08dacdf697.jpg

They look quite orangy in the picture but happy with the results. I've gone from this:

IMG_20200425_130452816_HDR.thumb.jpg.707707f7dcab2ac0b6b4145e58486537.jpg

To this:

IMG_20200425_140030849_HDR.thumb.jpg.ef9757dbad805afa37762d53a0d0ac0e.jpg

Happy with that. One point I'll share is just how stiff the rear clusters are to remove. Once I'd got the plastic wing nuts off, I found my wing nuts were particularly tight, I then had to do battle with the pin to the left of the picture below. Hopefully the picture helps show the direction you need to pull the clusters away from the body without breaking the pointy bit. Get a plastic trim tool to get behind it at the pin and it'll pop off.

IMG_20200425_132512491.thumb.jpg.49f03727999f95b81970bdb423157e07.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Should also mention I followed Madmole's guide on getting access to the mirror bulbs and it worked a treat. It's HERE if anyone is looking for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cruise control was next. I chose the harder route and decided to modify my steering wheel. I purchased a very second hand standard focus steering wheel that had the cruise control switch from eBay along with the two looms I needed. 

IMG_20200401_154234186.thumb.jpg.207bfe338a0ac390623564926618ca0a.jpg

Removing the cruise control switch revealed the extent of the surgery I'd have to perform on my wheel

IMG_20200401_154404157.thumb.jpg.452d15f9b7f00049b13ecb9414e41b4c.jpgIMG_20200401_154418890.thumb.jpg.0615fe0d0c819666b2f2d6a5d586dae9.jpg

Following JW1982's tutorial and some videos on YouTube I finally got the airbag removed, it really was all about perseverance. Just when you think you're getting close you'd hear a quiet little metallic snap and you knew you were back to square one. Finally managed it and my new car suddenly looked like this:

IMG_20200403_141456487.thumb.jpg.4d9f21bc03719a73135b5cee7664d6fa.jpg

As JW1982's tutorial on retrofitting cruise control says the metal threaded standoffs were present on my wheel once the overmold had been removed. The cutting took quite some time to get right and using the second hand wheel as a template to work from really did help. My cutting does look a bit ropey but once the switch is installed there is to way you'd know it hadn't had cruise control fitted from the factory.

Again, following Wilco's tutorial to the letter I was able to activate it using focccus and forscan. As others have said before all the lights and sounds the IPC makes while it's being programmed is quite alarming. Just have to hold your nerve 😋

A quick lap around the block showed everything was working as expected and I was left feeling quite pleased with myself.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I bought a sync 3 APIM and screen off eBay last week, arrived yesterday and turns out it was from a transit, (the advert said Focus) No problem I thought until I offered it up to the fascia I'd brought separately. The Transit screens are 6.5" and the focus is 8". Why Ford why!!! 😡 

IMG_20200517_121502207.thumb.jpg.0ab32413760b04ffdeac638c6c5e7d22.jpg

 

Needless to say I have my unimpressed face on right now. Currently fishing in the Transit forums to see if anyone has done the same and wants to swap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@The Finance Guy / other ST owners, with the front doors open do both your scuff panels light up? Only the driver's side is on mine 🤔

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, MDG950 said:

@The Finance Guy / other ST owners, with the front doors open do both your scuff panels light up? Only the driver's side is on mine 🤔

I had to go out and check there, but I don’t know if either of them actually lights up. There is a bit of a glow but I think it’s just reflective no?

Would need to check again when it’s dark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, The Finance Guy said:

I had to go out and check there, but I don’t know if either of them actually lights up. There is a bit of a glow but I think it’s just reflective no?

Would need to check again when it’s dark

Having an ST-2 mine don't, I know it's standard on ST-3's but I'd be surprised if it was just the drivers side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, MDG950 said:

@The Finance Guy / other ST owners, with the front doors open do both your scuff panels light up? Only the driver's side is on mine 🤔

Just had a quick search and found this https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=69&t=1510843
 

Quote

I have been reviewing a problem with the illuminated scuff plates on the 2014 Focus ST were the lights are not working on the plates I made a discovery today and found the source of the problem.

I have an Focus ST 2014 and after about a month of purchase I noticed the lights on the passenger door scuff plate was not working. so i went on a search to fix the problem, after looking for DIY videos and reading through hundreds of forums thinking it was a fuse or faulty strip i decided to take a look myself before i took it back to the dealership to get it fixed under warranty.

This is what i discovered

Pull the rubber door seal off around that area and you will notice a LED light Cable strip.
you will need to remove the plastic cover plate just inside the door and lift the carpet in that area, you will find the end of the LED light cable strip and a small black push plug mine was disconnect push this back together and hey presto LIGHTS ON all of the plastic trims & rubber seals just simply push back into place

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Awesome, thanks i'll give it a go.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I took a look at the scuff plate today as discovered by @RAIDER32 the electrical connector was very easy to access. Just pull the rubber weather seal off

IMG_20200522_145741265_HDR.thumb.jpg.bc8d263b15d84a27231124784321086d.jpg

Then pull the plastic trim up and away

IMG_20200522_145803218_HDR.thumb.jpg.02c24dabb5bfb025e0f27fafe5ea8f9e.jpg

Pulling up the carpet revealed the electrical connector

IMG_20200522_145946321.thumb.jpg.181d78054c43d5f960fd23a000a73520.jpg

On mine the electrical connection was annoying well connected. I started to check voltages at the connector and down the wire towards the scuff panel by scraping away a tiny piece of insulation. 12V all the way into the back of the panel ☹️ The panel is double sided taped on so didn't take much to remove.IMG_20200522_152006777_HDR.thumb.jpg.afeaaa5211102121d032c3444d11c33c.jpg

From here is seems there are two variants one where you can see the solder connection between the LED panel and the ribbon cable

Screenshot_20200522-171431.thumb.png.65f157457ecf3d1890913e6f46e368ad.png

And one where you cannot (mine)

IMG_20200522_152006777_HDR.thumb.jpg.9c02fbf737f2dc2cc44de760c6c79483.jpg

I tried lifting the LED panel out of its plastic surround but the ribbon cable just disappears into the panel and is not replaceable. So in my case it looks like the LED panel itself has failed.

I've seen videos where the connection is the first type and they've been able to resolder the ribbon cable onto the panel but in my case I was SOL.

I need to replace the driver's side one anyway due to it being a bit stoved in. Wonder if anyone will do a buy one get one free 😂

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went and had a look last night at mine in the dark and sure enough they do light up! 
 

You could maybe get a random LED strip cheaply and wire it on to the connectors? Don’t know how your soldering is...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, MDG950 said:

I need to replace the driver's side one anyway due to it being a bit stoved in. Wonder if anyone will do a buy one get one free 😂

You can buy your wheels cheaper than these things omg 😮
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Ford-Door-Scuff-Plate-1933672-/273083229254
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Ford-Focus-MK3-Focus-Estate-MK3-Door-Scuff-Plate-1933671/272379302510

Looks like they are side specific because the ribbon is at opposite ends,
I'd suggest looking through scrapers on eBay but you probably wouldn't know if they worked anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure if you've seen these but one guy striped his down and found a faulty LED, the other a corroded ribbon connection.
If you can't get the cover off, maybe use a Stanley and cut a section out to expose Ribbon?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Talk about giving me the inspiration to carry on, thanks guys. With a bit or help from the wife's hair dryer I've got to this stage.

IMG_20200522_185306712.thumb.jpg.5d7554b1d36e0c039ee0fe948a5d7cef.jpg

Struggling to get the white section apart for now but I'll not be beaten by it! 😏

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, MDG950 said:

Talk about giving me the inspiration to carry on, thanks guys. With a bit or help from the wife's hair dryer I've got to this stage.

Ah the trusty hair dryer lol
20190914_101840.thumb.jpg.8dfb84486aab230c48973a09dc63aea1.jpg

The dental floss I'd wrapped under the sides failed to pull off the badge,
I then used a small screwdriver on one side with bit of wood for leverage, made a mess of the badge but it was easy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I found a lot of corrosion to the circuit board, lots of copper oxide where there should just be copper. Water has definitely been in and done it's dirty work.

IMG_20200522_194642770.thumb.jpg.312c8ee222ddb97e6e725650a1e518d8.jpg

Remaking the vias at the top of the board gave me this

IMG_20200522_200449229.thumb.jpg.997285843ce589fbe8de9aaf124e1830.jpg

2/3 of the way there!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMG_20200522_203706875.thumb.jpg.b2ea52b328c10aec85fe91f67b0d892d.jpg

Done 😀 just got to put it all back together now. @RAIDER32 thank you for the moral support!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, MDG950 said:

Done 😀 just got to put it all back together now. @RAIDER32 thank you for the moral support!

It's great to see someone add so many photos to their project,
I'm sure there will be loads of people finding this page and fixing theirs.
I'm amazed at how many ways these things can go wrong (disconnected, broken LED solder & rotten ribbon cables)

I was glad to have an ST-2 because I didn't want Key-Less Entry, I'm now doubly glad I don't have Illuminated Plates waiting to fail lol

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share





×
×
  • Create New...

Forums


News


Membership