Hello folks.

I go by the handle of Teribus, but my name is Chris. I'm 25 years old, and I live in Selkirk, Scottish Borders. I work as a vehicle examiner on buses, and I have been married for a year now.

I run a modified 1999 V-reg Ford Focus 1.8TDDi Zetec. My baby is a Diamond White 5-door example with over 200,000 miles on the clock, which is why she gets called "The Bicentenarian". She's also known as the White Knight - a name given to her by fellow members of the Ford Focus Owners Club, where I am East Scotland Regional Co-ordinator.

Think that's everything you need to know for now. Any questions, just ask!

-T

Woah! High millage but Diesels can take it! :)

Welcome to Ford-Owners-Club! B)

I should probably add a couple of photos....

-T

WHEW! I don't usually like modified cars but that thing is a BEAUTY! I bet it'll still be here when it hits 400,000 miles! ;)

WHEW! I don't usually like modified cars but that thing is a BEAUTY! I bet it'll still be here when it hits 400,000 miles! ;)

I'd like to hope so, although it might take me a while! My first two years (from October 2004 to September 2006) of owning the car I put over 50,000 onto the clock. In the past four years I've only added 25,000. Since my last MoT in September 2009, I've added just 2,500 miles :(

And the other side of that is that the lay-ups the car keeps getting aren't doing her any good :(:( I've got a flickering oil light to attend to soon with it - which I hope is electrical (i.e. the wiring - it already has a new switch), but I am installing an oil pressure gauge soon to be certain...

-T

By "Lay-Ups" do you mean sporadic driving distances ? (E.G one year driving it loads and the next it basically just sits in the drive way)?

Hopefully it's an electric issue, but as far as I know Focuses electrics were pretty much rock solid...

By "Lay-Ups" do you mean sporadic driving distances ? (E.G one year driving it loads and the next it basically just sits in the drive way)?

Hopefully it's an electric issue, but as far as I know Focuses electrics were pretty much rock solid...

By lay-ups I mean it not being used over winter.

It sat this year from Early January through to June without moving. Sadly, time and money aren't on my side for giving her the attention she deserves at the moment, having just bought a house last year. I hope to address that though, as I'm looking to get a garage built at my house for her, so she'll be nearby for me to tinker with more often.

That said, thanks to a special promotion at the U-Pull-It scrapyard at Inverkeithing, I have got some bits to start her tidy-up process, first of which being a replacement tailgate (a notorious Focus rot spot, mine has gone around the boot handle and at the bottom edge of the window).

Just got to hope the oil light is a wiring problem - I'll be gutted if it's the oil pump, as it means dismantling all the timing gear which was only replaced in summer 2009 when the fuel injection pump had to be replaced...

-T

Well being left for 6 cold months could have just simply made the oil sludgy. Start the car up and let her idle for 20 minutes. The oil should liquidise again and the light should go out.

I would say change the oil, but if it has gone sludgy it will be very hard to actually empty out.

Well being left for 6 cold months could have just simply made the oil sludgy. Start the car up and let her idle for 20 minutes. The oil should liquidise again and the light should go out.

I would say change the oil, but if it has gone sludgy it will be very hard to actually empty out.

She was given fresh oil and a new filter before being brought out of the garage ;) I change my oil regularly, it was at 5,000 mile intervals, but I now do it more like annually - generally after it's been laid up for a while.

If my oil pressure is low, then I'll look at giving her a flush through before I go into stripping it down. If I need to strip it down, the first step will be taking the sump off to assess things from there.

-T

Hopefully it won't come to that... I change the Fiesta's oil every 3,500 miles with Fully-Synthetic. Just to be extra safe!

Mine gets Comma X-tech 5w30. Used to fill her with Magnatec but that stuff got expensive!

That said, might give her a dose of that one of these times and see if that flushes any gunk out.

-T

I use Magnatec. Brill stuff! It's money well spent, and the lil' Fiesta is worth every penny :)

Welcome to the FOC, lovely car! :D

Gazjs - thanks :)

jmurray01 - yeah, the Magnatec's good oil, but a bit pricey for me just now :(

-T

Well personally I would either use the best oil, or not use the car. But as long as you let it warm up before doing any serious driving, it should be fine. Besides, Diesels can cope with doing in excess of 10,000 miles before getting another service.

I always follow the proper procedures.

Car always ticks over for at least a minute before ANY revs are applied. Never labour the engine or rev too high until it's fully warmed up. That's why my 200,000 mile TDDi sounds better at tickover than a 20,000 2.0TDCi :D

I am a mechanic too, so all this stuff is drummed into me ;)

-T

Welcome to the Ford Owners Club Teribus, and am sure I know you and your car.

Make sure to check out the Southern Scotland region for meets in your area

Davy

hi welcome

Welcome to the Ford Owners Club Teribus, and am sure I know you and your car.

Make sure to check out the Southern Scotland region for meets in your area

Davy

I'd rather hope you know my car, Davy!

@dezwez, cheers mate

-T