MDG950 Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 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: 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! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emzy1992 Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAIDER32 Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 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! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Finance Guy Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 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 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 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 wellMakes sense to me [emoji6]Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 Carried out the fried egg delete the other day. Fitted these all round: They look quite orangy in the picture but happy with the results. I've gone from this: To this: 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. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 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. Removing the cruise control switch revealed the extent of the surgery I'd have to perform on my wheel 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: 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. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 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!!! 😡 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 21, 2020 Author Share Posted May 21, 2020 @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 🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Finance Guy Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAIDER32 Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAIDER32 Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 21, 2020 Author Share Posted May 21, 2020 Awesome, thanks i'll give it a go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 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 Then pull the plastic trim up and away Pulling up the carpet revealed the electrical connector 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. From here is seems there are two variants one where you can see the solder connection between the LED panel and the ribbon cable And one where you cannot (mine) 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 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Finance Guy Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAIDER32 Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAIDER32 Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 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. Struggling to get the white section apart for now but I'll not be beaten by it! 😏 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAIDER32 Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 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 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 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. Remaking the vias at the top of the board gave me this 2/3 of the way there! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG950 Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 Done 😀 just got to put it all back together now. @RAIDER32 thank you for the moral support! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAIDER32 Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 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 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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