Been a while so apologies and once again, hello to all.

Its been a challenging few years with various stuff going on but last week the aging but until now, entirely reliable Mk3.5 Focus started to misbehave.

Offside Door mirror stopped retracting and the mirror stopped moving.

Should be simple to sort out i thought but alas not. after series of driver door button pushes i got it moved back out but it wouldn’t retract as it should, i got the mirror back to where it belongs but then the door wouldn’t open.  Open the window unlock from outside followed by randomly locking / unlocking issues and the occasional concerning grinding noises in the door. you name it it was having problems. Curiously if i locked the door inside the mirror would operate again, for a while.

Its possibly a coincidence but the dashcam also stopped working about the same time but was being powered from the BCU so not a million miles from the DDM.  Absolutely no time to diagnose beyond a wiring diagram which suggests a common link either on the a Ground wire or the DDM itself, the indicator, windows and puddle lamps all work as normal and are separate to the mirror other then the DDM. 

After the days of time i  spent trying to figure our that wiring problem on the Mk4 Mondeo, i just dropped it in to a garage which predicably didnt lead to a result and they will likely just start fishing for problems and charging me every step of the way.   

Also took the time to ask them about the cost for replacing the timing belt, its approaching 10 years and knowing the issues on the 1.0 ecoboost thought id get ahead of the game.  I was expecting a good £1200 for it knowing what a PITA it is.

£2200 quote later ive decided to screw it and get rid, i was hoping to drive it in to the ground but with the electrical door problems that locks you in the car as well, im done with it

 

Sooo, 

My wife is keen on staying with what she knows and was looking at the 1.5 Dragon  Mk4 Focus. 

I see its a wet belt on the oil pump and a chain for the cams. Does anyone have a clear indication of how much this will be to change when the time comes? and is it such a PITA like the 1.0 that garages will quote high to avoid doing it?

Was also considering dropping ford and going to a Mazda 3 2018/19, 2.0 be interesting if anyone had any opinions on that or for that matter any other suggestions!

 

God a hate electrical issues !!

Oh, i need to change that Picture, been a while since i drove that old girl, looks like shes scrap now 😞

The oil pump wetbelt is fitted behind the cam chain on the later 1.0 & 1.5 EcoBoost engines.  The chain needs to be removed for access to the belt (I doubt many would refit the chain rather than replace it at that point) and it's about the same amount of labour time, so will cost about the same overall as the original 1.0 wetbelts change.

The Mazda 3 2.0 of that age will be a SkyActiv engine I think.  Ford haven't been anywhere near it, so I'd have to say that's probably the better option.    It's chain driven and non-turbo, decent fuel economy, though no torque surge like you get from a turbo so potentially less fun, if that's important to you.

Cheers Tom, that quote was from Gammers in stow, no one else will touch it lol! It's absolutely mental that to change the belt is literally half the cost of the cars worth after 10 years.  Ford have done a number on loyal owners with the ecoboost

 

Re Mazda, that's where my gut is just now, the torque down low on the 2.0 Mazda is a bit anemic.  That being said if it's anything like the skyactiv 1.5, first gear is extremely nippy, get it up to 4k and it's no slouch.

Trouble is the wife will be driving it and has a strong dislike of the Mazda info system control 🙄 she's used to sync on ford and now everything is compared to it.

4 hours ago, Dee_82 said:

£2200 quote later ive decided to screw it and get rid,

I think that's one of the highest quotes we've seen on here. There are quite a few specialists springing up that have been favourably mentioned on here, so it might be worth a bit of a search and see if anyone's near to you. I recall one guy said it was cheaper to take his car a fair distance and book a night in a Travelodge, versus what he'd been quoted locally.

Have you tried Grose in Ipswich?  Guessing they can't really turn EcoBoost belt changes down, but could still give a daft quote to put people off.

I haven't tried a Mazda infotainment system.  Though I must admit I wasn't massively impressed with Sync myself.  Prefer the VAG systems pre-2020.

10 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I think that's one of the highest quotes we've seen on here. There are quite a few specialists springing up that have been favourably mentioned on here, so it might be worth a bit of a search and see if anyone's near to you. I recall one guy said it was cheaper to take his car a fair distance and book a night in a Travelodge, versus what he'd been quoted locally.

Certainly something to have considered.  The trouble is now we have another electrical issue, ford can't get to the bottom of, I don't particularly rate their fault finding skills, so far it seems like they have read the DTCs found none and decided the best thing to try is swap a loom.

Just don't have the time or inclination to tell them how to do their job.

If the loom doesn't work I'll maybe comsider swapping the DDM, no idea how much of a pain it is to get to it but,  they look pretty cheap, swap the wing mirrors to see if the problem moves with it should have probably been done. If that doesn't work it's game over

 

8 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Have you tried Grose in Ipswich?  Guessing they can't really turn EcoBoost belt changes down, but could still give a daft quote to put people off.

I haven't tried a Mazda infotainment system.  Though I must admit I wasn't massively impressed with Sync myself.  Prefer the VAG systems pre-2020.

Not tried anyone that direction, just over stow / bury/ bacon direction.

Cost nothing to ask I suppose.

 

I'm half tempted to write to ford and give them both barrels, wont help but it might make me feel a little better 😁

 

15 minutes ago, Dee_82 said:

Not tried anyone that direction, just over stow / bury/ bacon direction.

Cost nothing to ask I suppose.

Ah, all up North so far then.  

I wonder if Scholar at Mendlesham do belt changes?  They're mainly a machine shop, rebuilding engines, but they must fit belts within that at some point.  Might be worth an ask. 

It would be good to know if there are any decently priced EcoBoost belt changes available in this area.  We have seen a few as Roger says, but none locally that I can remember.

The Gift that keeps on giving!

After their £300 "Repair" which didn’t fix the mirror but did get the doors working, until they stopped working when i got home, i decided to take some leave and not be so damned lazy. 

Pulled the mirror off and the doors worked. Swapped the Passenger mirror over, no problem.  Put the old one back on, problems started. Bought a second-hand power fold mirror, all is good in the world once more, except I’m embarrassed, annoyed and £300 lighter.

The lesson of the day folks is that the "specialists" are no more special than their ability to plug in a computer, somewhere along the lines basic diagnostics has gone out of the window.

In any case, the car is going which will mean for the first time in 20 years, there will be no Ford in the Driveway. 😞