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I wouldn't moan about less hours lol. We're in a quiet month at the moment as we've finished digging both conventional & organic spuds and I got home at 17:30 tonight, only started at 8 How do I apply for a position at your work lol

8 mile cycle after 36 years...good luck walking tomorrow! On the same vein though, I do like increasing my own walking stamina lately, did 6 miles of 'rough' terrain and hills yesterday and didn't even feel it today.

Car looks great. What are those wheels? Give the rear drums a scrub and a couple of coats of black paint to match the wheels. Will improve the visual.

I like what you've done so far. With the tints and black wheels it looks a little mean. I'd de-tango it - a cheap and easy mod. After that I'd lower it and cover up that chrome with some matte black wrap. If I had more money to play with I'd think about putting the side skirts on it (you'll probably need to change your mud flaps if you do this).

liking the sun strip very nice

Welcome to my build thread for my brand new Fiesta ST3 (with options of reverse sensors and a spare wheel). This is my second build thread having started one last year when I did a lot of work to Eve (Focus Mk2 Zetec Climate 2.0). We’ve now become a two car household and Eve will now be Mrs P’s car – build thread here – so I’ll still be updating that one every now and then. I purchased my ST through DriveTheDeal after getting some very good advice on the forum – see this thread for more info. I ordered the car on 18th April and was told to expect to wait 10-14 weeks before delivery but received a very surprising phone call last Friday to say that I would be able to collect the car today after a wait of just four and a half weeks. I spent the weekend sorting out insurance (ended up with AXA – best price and accept my planned modifications without altering the policy) and GAP insurance (5 year policy with Easy Gap). So here he is at the dealership: There’s a tiny paint defect on the rear bumper – I tried to get a photo but couldn’t capture it effectively – so the car will have to go back for a little touch-up in the next few weeks. Other than that the car is perfect and I enjoyed my drive back home. Having learned a lot through working on Eve I’ve already got a few modifications planned and I’m not going to hang around to do them either… Over the last few weeks I’ve been very busy researching and buying parts so that I can get Bastian just how I want him ASAP. I’m really not a fan of the ST alloys, so I knew they’d have to go. After a lot of Google image searches and trawling through online car forums and wheel shops I ended up buying some Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 (which were the wheels I always wanted anyway) in Anthracite Gloss. For those who are interested the original wheels on the Fiesta ST are: Diameter 17”, Width 7J, PCD 4 x 108, Offset ET47.5, Hub diameter of 63.4mm. The Team Dynamics are: Diameter 17”, Width 7J, PCD 4 x 108, Offset ET38, Hub diameter of 73.1mm. I bought the wheels from Demon Tweeks who supplied a fitting kit (spigot rings to cater for the difference in hub diameter and appropriate nuts) and I also bought a set of McGard locking nuts. Team Dynamics recommend an offset of 38 for the Fiesta and from my research on the web, consensus seems to be that offset of 38-42 is preferable. I received the wheels a couple of days ago and had fitted the spigot rings ready for installation. So, having driven home from the dealership this afternoon, I loaded up the boot and the back seats with wheels and headed to my local tyre shop to get my alloys swapped over with just 66 miles on the clock! (The ST alloys will be up for sale soon – PM me if you’re interested). Going forward I’ve got the following modifications planned (I know I should have done the security mods first but I was too excited about the wheels): Security Install dummy OBD port and relocate original Tracker – Rewire Security TK102 and hard-wire kit Cosmetic Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 alloys Rok Blokz Mud flaps Silvatec indicator bulbs Replace number plates Performance Mountune MP215 Audio Subwoofer – Alpine SBG-1044BR 5-Channel Amplifier – Alpine MRV-V500

I've recently bought a used 2008 Ford Focus, it's a 1.8 petrol Titanium, generally the car is in nice condition, it just needed a few minor things doing which i knew about. One of the jobs is to replace the rear end pipe on the exhaust, basically the exhaust support mount that goes into the rubber bush has come away from the exhaust. I got a price from a reputable exhaust centre which was £35 to change just the end pipe section inclusive of fitting, i thought fair enough i'll get that done. While i was having it fitted the lad came over and said that i'd have to change the entire centre section at the same time due to the way Ford have designed the car, he said that you can't get access to undo the rear pipe because of the way it goes over the rear axle, he said their is no way to get in there to get it undone. Basically they want another £254.00 to change the centre section which is fine on my car.

I'd love a Friday afternoon finish, although at my last place I was given a 3 day weekend on the rota & I moaned about it because I couldn't afford it. We load spuds into boxes and there is a grader on the back of the harvester(it's self propelled & weighs 22 tonne, 24 tonne with the bunker full) and the grading is easy. Carrots though, I hate carrot grading. Have to load the carrots into tipper then load onto a grader, into bulk lorries and your the only one on the grader, I hate it

Less hours would mean less basic pay though! Could be alright though, home by dinnertime on a Friday Ah, tattie picking! Mixed emotions about that job, the extra pocket money was welcome but the early starts and cold, long days were painful!

Well today I found out how much! £57 for two bits of plastic & four metal clips!! Yeh right do Ford think I fell off a christmas tree or something! Rip off or what ?

Extremely pleased with my purchase today. Diffuser & Spats £20 for the lot. Bargain of the year so far!

It's draining rainwater from the scuttle and depositing it on the ground under the car!

yes when i fitted mine it was catching and went down, i did the advice above and now it works a dream

i will second that

Is it literally the last arm before after the back box? Mine did this, two Jubilee Clips crossed over the arm and the tail pipe and one MOT later and all is well :) An older exhaust probably won't take kindly to a weld, so just went for the clips, properly solid.

I have the same issue on a 2.0 tdci 150 hp 2015 which i think has the same type of dipstick. Really anoying....

Hard to see from the pic, but always worth keeping the paint up so they don't take away from the overall image and to prevent rust. A silver finish would look good on your car, but also the standard black if you don't want to stand out as much. Make sure you use high temperature paint, especially on the calipers.

Hi John, I can't help specifically with your problem but you are more likely to get help from the gurus here if you provide a bit more info. e.g. Petrol/diesel, engine size, recent service history if any, warning lights etc etc etc More info = more help = more chance of solving problem

Thanks for the reply! Was definitely considering some side skirts and MIGHT pair them with a side splitter to go with the whole aggressive look I've got going on. Lowering it would look so good but I've got o be careful with that because where I live there are so many steep hills and speed bumps. http://www.rimstyle.com/alloywheels/wheel/?wheel=ronal_r53_trend_mb Those are the wheels you see! You might get them cheaper somewhere else but this link is just for reference :) Definitely need to paint the rear drums, do you think I should paint the brake calipers? Either in a colour or just go over them and make them look clean and keep them black?

Thanks for the reply, Ive used a Bluetooth obd scan, Ive also had a £20 and a £45 diagnostic scan and nothing from them. The Ford garage quoted £90, Im just unsure whether to use them as nothing has been found.. I've looked at previous threads with similar problems to mine and most common is glow plugs or fuel filter. Also will the obd scan work with forscan? Or will I need a new adapter

Hello & welcome

It is. Mpg has suffered slightly lol

sounding good mate.bet it is very adictive

The J1 at least has some shielding between the intake and the hot engine bay. The others will be drawing in hot engine bay air = less power.

Why the hell do you guys place so much importance on the sound of your cars? When I hear a noisy car I immediately think there's a Richard at the wheel. The 125 is quite capable of burning off most boy racers. Hit 50+ in a 30 and they're long gone. Actually, when you get it right, pulling away from the lights is amazing. Most of'em are way back in the mirror. Similar to the MkII XR2 96bhp.

A j1 with milltek exhaust is supposed to sound pretty nice! I went to a place called powerflow, they do custom exhausts and you choose the sound, tips, system! Set me back £350 but it's one of the best investments I've made, especially with the lifetime warranty you get for them! i love mountune and highly recommend them, my engine bay in my zetec s isn't very appealing but in my st150 is amazing, no mountune but have k&n full induction kit, swapped out the hoses, will be doing all my work on that car! but have a wee look around and you'll find something, everyone has there own personal opinion, mine, mountune and k&n but others like different jonny👌🏻

Get a black car But no seriously, probably not much you can do. Washed my Frozen White ST today and just had hundreds landing on it when it was dry, wet, trying to prep for a sealant etc. Just had to keep waving my hand around to get them to shift.

Oh yeah? That's my patch! Whereabouts did you go?

I managed to get away for another week in Wales, this time with Bastian, my Fiesta ST. I found some more great roads and revisited some stretches from my previous trip. 1175.7 Miles (including to/from London) 37.4 mpg (taking it very easy on the motorways to and from London helped compensate a lot here!) 37.8 average mph 31hrs driving over five days Highlights A4059 in the middle of the Brecon Beacons A4069 Llandovery to Brynamman over Black Mountain (west of Brecon Beacons) A4120 / B4574 / Minor road via Cwmystwyth Aberystwyth to Rhayader (disused mine at Cwmystwyth was an interesting stop with a beautiful backdrop) B4518 / road to Machynlleth "via narrow mountain road" Llanidloes to Machynlleth via Dylife A4086 (Llanberis Pass) Snowdonia Evo Triangle (A5 / A543 / B4501) east of Betws-y-Coed B4521 Abergavenny to Ross-on-Wye (this will be my chosen route in/out of Wales from now on). The weather wasn't quite so good this time and I spent quite a lot of the time in the first couple of days driving inside a cloud! My first stop was at Raglan Castle (not great) and then I did a bit of driving around the Brecon Beacons before heading to Swansea for the night. I then went down the Gower peninsula, but given the terrible weather, the allegedly wonderful beach at Rhossili lacked appeal! I then headed to Tenby (I'd imagine it's lovely in the summer), Pembroke Castle and then onto St David's before heading up the coast to spend the night in Aberystwyth. I then headed inland with a fantastic drive to Rhayader before making my way back to the coast and went for a lovely long walk on the huge beach at Morfa Dyffryn. I then headed into Snowdonia National Park and stopped in Llanberis and visited the National Slate Museum (mildly diverting). I continued north after that and spent the night in Llandudno. I started the next day with a trip up and around Great Orme which had great views over Anglesey and Snowdonia. I then went over to Anglesey and visited Beaumaris Castle (very good) before heading to Holy Island and visiting the RSPB centre near South Stack lighthouse. I then came back to the mainland and visited Caernarfon Castle (also very good). I then went south down the other side of Snowdon and then turned east and headed for the Evo Triangle which was so much fun I did a lap in each direction! I then headed back to Llanberis for the night. For my last day I took a bit of a random route south dictated mostly by what looked interesting on the map. I spent 20 nervous minutes going down the tiniest road I've ever driven on (near Llangadfan) desperately hoping I wouldn't meet anything coming the other way as it would probably mean that I'd have to reverse a few miles as there were no passing places at all! I continued south to Brecon then joined the A40 heading east before hitting the B4521 at Abergavenny and heading back into England. Route Raglan Castle Swansea Tenby Pembroke Castle St David's Loving the view Cwmystwyth Dylife Morfa Dyffryn Llandudno Beaumaris Castle South Stack lighthouse Caernarfon Castle B4391 near the Evo Triangle

Will do..

There will be some codes (DTCs) stored, but it needs a full diagnostic check, not just a generic OBD2 scanner. Try Ford IDS (at a garage, up to £100 per reading), or Forscan (diy, from £15 to obtain). Glowplug problems and DPF problems are two areas where the light comes on with no OBD2 codes on a 1.6TDCI. For some info on Forscan, see:

If you've got a Barclaycard, you can log in to your online account and check your Experian score for free. If you want a 100% non effect score, then see your local independent financial adviser as they can access it without effecting the score.

Had a sunstrip fitted today, didn't want to go too dark so had it to match the factory grade tint that's on the rear doors & tailgate, only cost £20 so happy with that

try that. and are you checking oil level when the engine is hot or cold ? it can make a difference......

Focus 2006, immobiliser on, lots of lights on, looks like absolutely classic IC (instrument cluster) problem. Try tapping (quite firmly) on the facsia around the IC. It may make it better, or worse! Either way it further locates the problem. Also, if you turn the ignition on & wait, the immobiliser led should change from rapid flashing to a code. One flash, pause, 6 flashes, pause & repeat is flash code 16, and means communications error, also typical of the IC fault. I had this, and fixed it for free. If you are not up for the dismantling & soldering, places offer to repair it for about £100. A Ford dealer will charge you about £800 for a new IC. For a report on my fix read: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=40491 (This also outlines a simple resistance test that can help pin down the fault.) For a recommended repair company, see:

Hello and welcome Ken Try post in here Ken http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/forum/13-ford-mondeo-vignale-club/ This section for introductions only

Have you checked all the fuses? Hopefully its just blown one of them rather than melted anything!

I have a 63 plate Zetec S which I have serviced by a local garage. VAT registered and only genuine parts. I've used them for years and all our family cars are serviced there. I've just had the engine replaced by Ford under warranty due to the degas hose fail. No quibbles, questions or bull. Local garages are generally better value and often go that extra bit for customer service.

my local ford dealer £20 a pair, fully legal with bs markings and sellers post code.

Or gel plates are getting popular now, £27 on ebay... Unless you specifically want the dealers name on the plates there's no need to buy them from the dealer.

Alternatively you can get a pair of metal pressed plates for £30 from http://ukmetalplates.com/

The Seimens injectors in the Mk2 Focus do not have calibration codes to set into the pcm, as Russ says. But there is an advice that if all 4 are changed (or pcm changed), then Service function "Reset the Knock Sensor Learned Values" should be run. Forscan can do this (from version 2.1.18). But odd power dips at low rpm can be caused by the EGR valve. It can be blanked off on this engine without causing error codes, though if the valve starts badly going wrong, it will give codes whether blanked or not. The pcm checks that it operates properly, each time the engine is switched off. My 1.8 rolls along very nicely at idle rpm (even in 3rd gear, on the flat), and pulls like a train once above about 1600rpm. But there is a gap where I have to be very gentle with the throttle, below 1600rpm. Or change down. It can clank & knock if pressed in this rev range.

£25 per set from my Ford dealer. Only issue is that all their plates have a border and dealer name on them. They are no more expensive online.

Nipped by the St Neots grafitti tunnel for a few snaps. Would have been better if it were darker rather than the middle of the day: (A couple of different cameras / settings used to get different saturations etc) Stealth grey?

Park on drive, double click key to lock and walk away.

it makes sense but i doubt it to be honest otherwise high milage commercial drivers would use it and they dont. the very slightly increased mpg nowhere near balances out the additional cost of the fuel and i really didnt see much better fuel economy in my petrol engined estate when i last used super / premium. i think your being extremely optimistic with that assumption.

some folk love it some think its a waste of money. Facts are, normal diesel will be fine to use. however vpower will be better, itll lube up your injectors better, help keep it a little cleaner and potentially give you slightly better mpg. Personally I find there is less rattle when using vpower, if I use asda fuel it sounds like a bag of spanners

On Wednesday morning I took Bastian back to the dealership for the paint repair to the rear bumper. They had offered to collect and deliver the car but I didn't want someone else driving my car 120 miles to Cambridge and back! Having dropped the car off I got one of their demonstrators as a courtesy car whilst the work was done - a 5 door Fiesta Titanium 100ps automatic with loads of extras. I'm not a fan of autos and I certainly wouldn't choose to have one but I was genuinely impressed. The car was very comfortable, handled well, was pretty nippy and had very good fuel consumption (55mpg based on 100 miles at 70mph on the motorway and the rest around town). On Thursday morning I returned to collect Bastian. The repair was completed perfectly and the car had been given a very thorough clean - which I was quite grateful for as we'd been having fun on some country lanes after the rain on Tuesday night and the whole car was filthy (although not as filthy as it would have been if I hadn't fitted the mud guards!) I've also added another Recaro seat (from Amazon) for my most important passenger.

Hi. Update on this fault. I have received and fitted the new solenoids (although it only needed one) and the fault is now cleared. Sorted! So, as a summary and how to confirm you have the same problem causing the P2008 code and orange EML (Engine Management Light) to stay on. The clue is looking at the "blue" end of the Swirl Flap actuator as shown in my photos. 1. With the engine OFF, open the bonnet and identify where the BLUE end of the Swirl Flap actuator is. It should be obvious (with a bit of searching) as the swirl flaps default to the open position making the end of the actuator easy to see. 2. Whilst watching the blue end of the actuator, get someone to start the engine. (keep revs below 3000rpm) 3. If the actuator does NOT move with the engine running from it's default position, you have a problem with either the solenoid, the vacuum pipes or the signal from the ECM/ECU. My bet is it will be the solenoid nearest the base of the windscreen not working and needs replacement. You can confirm this by swapping the two solenoids over and trying again. The solenoids are the same spec. 4. If the actuator DOES move (ie. closes the swirl flaps), then rev the engine gently to just over 300rpm and check it also moves back. If it does both these things, you do NOT have a problem with the solenoid or signal from the ECM/ECU but the orange EML light and code is caused by something else. Maybe the swirl flap feedback switches in the Inlet manifold are not telling the ECU what position the swirl flaps are in. If you are a bit of a techy and have a multimeter handy (I am old school and still call them an AVO). I have measured the resistance (Ohms) between the electrical pins in the socket of each of the solenoids. The Unserviceable (U/S) solenoid is reading in excess of 500 ohms (high resistance for a coil) and the Serviceable (S) solenoid is reading approx 30 ohms (low resistance), which is more or less what I would expect of a good solenoid coil. My AVO is not a high quality one, so not entirely accurate or calibrated. However, it is good enough for Government work to give a relative reading between U/S and S solenoids. This is another way of confirming if your solenoid is serviceable or not. (Of course, ZERO ohms would indicate a short circuit, which would also mean a duff solenoid.) Just for the saddos like myself, here is a solenoid, which I opened up. The coil is the 2nd black bit from the left and is NOT repairable. ps. 11/5/2016 I now have ONE spare SERVICEABLE solenoid (tested on my car) and OBD2 code tester for sale. I will be putting them on E-bay for £20 inc P&P. This will fix a P2008 fault where the solenoid is faulty AND will enable you to clear the code, thus turning off the EML!

Here's the schematics: