Hallo one & all,

I picked up a 53 plate 4dr Focus 1.8 TDCi last Sunday, seems & looks like a crackin little car.

She's not quite immaculate, but very clean & only 79k on the clock.

Apparently has a 'cold start issue' which hasn't made itself known as yet (not been cold this week) and apart from both low beam lamps needing replaced (jeezus what a PITA that was) it's brilliant !!

Wondering if a set of glow plugs might resolve that - any thoughts?

With a lotta head scratching, swearing & generally getting angry I managed to replace both headlamps without removing the units (though YouTube suggested I should), but it was missing the retaining clip on drivers side lamp. I've just found that in the glove box so I don't need to buy one, but do need to fit the bugger which should be interesting :)

Anyhoo, thought I'd pop in and say Halloo. Joined a few days ago, have mooched around the focus section a bit & want to upgrade speakers, replace headunit, eventually install a sub.

As far as the car goes though, I'm a happy wee bunny!

Hi welcome :)

Welcome to the family Jay, Good to bump into you again!

With regards the glow plugs, its probable, I had (before I got rid of it) the same warnings on the CMAX! It was warning of a low voltage on the glow plugs and on the really cold days, it took a little longer to start the car, but not too long.

Its highly likely that the replacement glow plugs will resolve the issue, however, they are a sod to do! if you don't pull them out straight, then they can break in the block and that is a PITA!

The cost itself is pretty cheap and if your careful you will get a good cheap fix and more reliability. It really depends how confident you are!

I'm always around to try and help out if you need it matey, as long as I can spare the time just give me a shout, you know how to get ahold of me :p

P.S. how does it compare with the Pro_Ceed?

Thanks Dez & James :-)

Drive is similar to the Pro_ceed tbh, bit more grunt from the diesel lump which is nice & handles very well. The Astra was a total shed, tho I didn't even like driving the 2013 Astra I hired a while back, so will avoid them totally.

As for the glow plugs, hmm. I might get my local garage to replace as I'd not considered that could be a pain.

Can anyone tell me where the ODB socket is on this thing?

on a 53 plate mate, its not guaranteed to be there, I suppose it depends on the build date. go to etis.ford.com, then vehicle lookup, enter the number plate and that will show you the details.

Ordinarily though its about knee height, under the headlight switch to the right of the steering wheel.