Hello, just bought a Focus ST170. It's a black 53 reg with 96000 miles. It needs a service and cambelt change, possibly needs a wheel bearing, has a slight rattle from the Powerflow exhaust (I think, usually happens when I come of accelerator or drop clutch) and has some shocking aftermarket alloys but I still think it's great.

The bonus being it only set me back £850, body work and interior are pretty good too.

If it's not the heatshield I've heard it could be where decat joins manifold/engine.

Just wondered how much the wheel bearing and the rattle are likely to cost?

given a scrap st170 of that year goes for £600 for me it seems too cheap which makes me wonder a cambelt and service you wont see much change from £400 at 96k and over 10 years old i wouldnt even drive it till its done as its way over is the rattle from the exhaust as it could be the cat or the gearbox causing it the wheel bearing is a complete hub and will need tracking and alignment done the decat is now an mot fail and will be checked so thats not going to work either so you need cambelt change £250 for a kit a service you could do youreself if not £99 wheel bearing hub and alignment £100 a new cat or sports cat ? ide say £600 at an estimate

the cam needs done asap before it snaps and the decat needs sorted before its next mot at that year ill say the rear bushes also will need done £250 rough estimate

i think this is the wheel bearing for your car but youll need to verify that. not too bad @ http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Ford_Focus_2.0_2003/p/car-parts/car-transmission/transmission-parts/wheel-bearing-and-wheel-hub/?628720180&1&f5eff314fdc93e54cd5d64aef664a5fec2620c16&000370

youll need a hydraulic press to remove the old & fit the new

Cheers, don't know why I said decat, I meant cat. (still has the cat on). It will be doing about 50 miles a week for the next two weeks and then in for service and cambelt change, possibly the wheel bearing if that's what the rumbling is ( could just be the shocking aftermarket alloys).

I'm hoping it's just the heat shield rather than anything more serious. I don't mind the price of £600ish. The car will only owe me 1450 which ain't bad.

If so its s nice bargain my friend its a year over the change time for the belt and most dont make it that far its youre choice but i would be careful if that belt or tensioner goes bye bye engine if possible can you remove the cover and give it a visual check listen for any noises on start up as well

If its a heat shield the ones under the rear back box running to the front can come loose and rattle everywhere so tapping on them should show if they are loose

On the mk1.5 you can change the bearing without replacing the hub. The mk1/1.5 wheel bearings are pretty straight forward so including parts I would say £100 should cover it.