Hi Everybody

I brought a Focus last year and I love it, it has been such a good car for me and I want to keep it that way, so I want to do a service on it and check for things that may need to be replaced before they break.

I used to own a rover, so obviously I'm used to doing work on a car, so I think I can handdle this, I'm really just looking for things to check or replace. The car has done 106 000 miles and its a 2002.

Do any of you guys have any suggestions of things I should check / replace ?

Many thanks

Matt

Timing belt and pulleys - that's your first job. I'm sure Ford recommend it at 100k for that car, but most people do it way before that, to be sure. Yours might have been done already, but if you don't know, do it anyway.

Other things - just the usual service items; oil/filter change, air filter (most folks replace the crappy ones with a washable K&N), diesel filter. My 2001 Focus was the best car I ever had - only got rid cos it was a saloon with 160k (TDDI), and I needed a car I could get my GSD in. I'll always regret swapping to a Mondeo.

Oh, and I hear you on your comments about Rovers, damn things! I had a 414Si - spent more time at the repair shop than it did on the road.

Hi. Thanks for your reply.

Yes the timing belt and Water pump were the first things I did whn I brought it on 98000 miles last year.

I suspected it would be just the normall stuff like Oil filter, Air filter, I'm picking that up tonight.

I was just looking to check there Isnt anything else tho that you would recomend maybe just to check, are Focus's prone to haveing certain things wear more quickly so need replacing more frequently ?

if you havent had the timing belt done, just pay out and get it done now. Visit etis.ford.com and go to vehicle selector, enter your number plate and you can do a service schedule printout to see exactly what needs to be done.

The biggest problem with the Mk1 Focus, as with most Fords, is rust. The common places to look out for it are around the door mirrors, the bottoms of the doors, and around the boot handle (most commonly on models with a chrome handle). And it goes without saying that Ford rear wheel arches will rot before your eyes. If yours haven't yet, get into the habit of cleaning out the build-up of dirt from inside the rolled-over bit all along the edge of the wheel arch, as that's what causes it.