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My car is running perfectly, has a steady idle of 800 RPM, temperature stable and gets there quickly, suspension controls car without drama, no squeaks, bumps or rattles, car drives smooth, fuel economy as expected, acceleration & braking all to expectations, everything electric works, windows, A/C, all lights etc... Now, what kind of impending doom is this? I'm sure my car is plotting in secret to throw me a surprise, I'm scared! 🤣

For all you youngsters out there.......

I'm a child of the 70's so a bit of an old soul. I embrace technology quite well though so not a total luddite. [emoji57] Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

I do appreciate where you're coming from. I don't doubt for a minute that you feel your life has gone quickly because it sounds like you've had quite an interesting one...and indeed still do! But I'm in a weird situation where I can't cope with life (and haven't done for the last 15+ years!), dread it every day and don't see how that could change either...the future terrifies me tbh... I know that's a bit deep for this thread lol!! I reckon you are the youngest regular. You don't really act your age tbf though! Car forums used to be overrun by annoying teenagers...I should know, I used to be on several and was top poster (spammer) on one particular forum well before I'd hit 20! I hate reading back my old posts lol, even over the last 5 years on here let alone a decade ago over there!!

To pick up the generation / age discussion again... I think everyone's circumstances are different, irrespective of generation. Having said that, I do feel very fortunate that I'm a Xennial. I graduated in 2000 aged 22, bought a house with my fiancee aged 26, and got married aged 27. We had plenty of time build up our careers and savings before moving to a bigger house and starting a family at age 32. The description of Xennials having an analogue childhood and digital adulthood is true, and almost certainly shaped both my choice of career in IT and preference for less technological hobbies.

I can't possibly fathom the insurance on your Focus RS at 20!

I’m wondering if I’m one of the youngest regular contributors on here, I’ve only been 20 for a month and a half and it feels very weird writing that!

Oh...I'd better check mine...might still be '18-25'...that'll be depressing! I've found myself to referring to my age as 'mid 20's' now... Edit - Nevermind, still got a while before it'll need changing again...

Can't see his DOB, but can see the age category. It's always painful when you have to change it. 😅

Plenty of people mortgaged up at my age - area I live is not too expensive so housing is somewhat-affordable - with gov help to buy and high LTV mortgages, it's doable to get up on the property ladder provided you don't live somewhere expensive like Surrey or London. In many cases the mortgage you pay each month would cost less than the equivalent of paying rent on the same property. I personally saved up like crazy for my mortgage deposit by not throwing away money on expensive holidays, iPhones/iPads, not going away on expensive summer holidays, staying in and not dining out, living in with parents after graduation, etc. However people seem to be waiting forever to have children nowadays, compared to the old days. Which I'm not sure is a good thing or bad thing. You're right about the uni degree thing being a necessity, and it's utter bull tbh. Too many jobs where a uni degree would be useless, it's just become a tick-box exercise. Every electrician I've spoken to has said there's plenty of work, and it's one of those recession-proof jobs (at least compared to something like IT). Plus it's easy to become self employed and become your own boss! I know you said only 2 people in your class found apprenticeships - but it's also competitive for say university students finding graduate scheme jobs! As long you're happy that's what matters! Nice motor btw, I bet the 2.3 is a peach...

Millenial with IT job here too. I couldn't afford to move out till I was 27. When I was going through school I wanted to do IT, I've always loved computers, but was told it wasn't a good career choice at the time, too many people going in to it, the indusry wasn't a patch on the size it is now. So I picked a "proper" career, did 2 years of Architectural Technology and failed my 3rd because I just didn't have the passion for it. Had the choice of redoing my dissertation in the summer after my third yr and decided "for what?" I didn't want a job based on it, so found a job at a small local industrial IT firm and I've been here ever since. I've never been bothered about chasing big salaries, I can afford my ST the mortgage/bills on my Flat and a few gaming/computer hobbies, I'm happy.

How many people your age do you know that were married, mortgaged and childed (not sure that's a word!) by the age of ~23 like our parents and grandparents? I don't know any lol! Mad to think that by my age, my Mum had two kids and a husband living in a mortgaged house with a decent car each and enough money for an annual UK holiday on just one IT salary. Go back another generation and my Nan and her husband had mortgaged a new build bungalow on two low paid jobs before the age of 30! Employment & housing are totally different for our generation than previous ones, there's no chance of a cleaner and a shop assistant in their 20s mortgaging a new build today. With regards to electrics, out of my whole electrics course back in 2008...only 2 people were able to find apprenticeships! Yeah if you could find one it eventually paid well, but there just weren't many about as people couldn't afford to pay an apprentice at the time. Electronics is a slightly different matter...if you can get into robotics that would've been a better way to go...but I don't even remember that being big back then. Uni degrees are also necessary for a lot of jobs these days and I can only see that becoming even more common...my sister applied for an events managing/assisting job recently...part of the 'necessary' criteria was a Uni degree! How is that relevant for that job? It isn't...but it helps them thin down the amount of applicants because there are too many for every job now... Also slightly surprised that £30k is seen as paltry...I'd feel like royalty on that...

That does seem to be the case, and sometimes firmer doesn't necessarily mean more uncomfortable as the better body control stops the car moving around so much. It's a shame that at the moment there are 48 hour test drives available on all sorts of cars that I have no interest in buying. A couple of days zooming round the Dales in an ST would sort the question for me one way or another!

Millenial having gotten into a tech/computing job checking in... Honestly I probably would have been far better off if I had stuck to a trades/apprenticeship job, and become an electrician. Or stuck with electronics in general. Uni degrees cost way too much nowadays, and everyone is doing them, so my industry is extremely competitive. The IT industry is oversaturated, and sure you can find a job - but most of them will offer a paltry salary (e.g. high 20's to low 30's - which I'm sure a retail store manager would get).

In many reviews of the ST, there’s a lot of comments saying the MK8 ST is far more comfortable than the MK7 so hopefully the comfort for a performance vehicle will be surprisingly good though obvious, I think the biggest change will be the power. Like Eric says there isnt all that much difference between an ST Line X and a ST3 (in terms of everyday usable toys) so I think you’ll see a lot more smiles each time you put your foot down

GUIDE:: Fitting Front Sensors and Autopark (with conditions) - MK3 This is a supplemental guide to @Bannko's excellent work which can be found here: Have a read through the instructions there first. The main difference between the two guides is this guide is for adding the wiring from the car to the front bumper for the front sensors. This method does not require sourcing of appropriate pins as we will be taking them from the car itself. Throughout I will refer to Driver/Passenger side - this is for a RHD vehicle. We will also be cutting your car's wiring. If you are uncomfortable with this, do not proceed. If you follow the instructions carefully there will be no problems, but I accept no responsibility for any issues which may arise, nor does FordOwnersClub or any of its members or users. Crap you will need:: Already present: Mk3 Focus (prefacelift) Rear sensors 3 plugs in the boot (as described in Bannko's guide) Correct wiring for the dash buttons (likely there if 3 plugs are present, more on this later) You can follow instructions below to check for these elements. Parts (Finis codes and part numbers in Bannko's thread): Active Park Assist Module - for Mk3 (not Mk3.5) Front bumper loom (Mk3 or Mk3.5) - Most looms for sensors I've seen come with foglight plugs. If you do not have front fogs, they can be retrofitted, or left unplugged. Sensors - There are 3 different types, you need two of each. Use the catcar link in Bannko's thread to get correct part numbers (change the car to CB8 2011-2015 for Mk3) Brackets - for the sensors. 3 different types - The flat ones as found on the rear, 2 of these. The outer brackets are specially shaped and are left and right handed. 1 each of these. Front Lower Grille - The central sensors attach to the lower grille, either side of the numberplate. This can be swapped over without having to change the entire front bumper. Rear ABS Sensors - FACET 21.0186 are one manufacturer of the correct type - around £11 new (instead of £120 each directly from Ford...) Tools T25 torx driver, right angled for ease Electrical screwdriver (or similar small prybar for removing plastic bolts holding the front bumper on) Soldering Iron Wire cutters Dremel style tool appropriate for cutting accurate holes in the front bumper Sim removal tool, needle or similar - For removing wires from plugs - familiar to you if you have upgraded Sync 1 to Sync 2/3! Multimeter may be useful Materials Stranded Wire (approx 30m) Electrical tape Kitchen Roll Solder (+flux, etc) Heatshrink Tubing Silicone sealant Skills Soldering (strongly recommend against scotchlocking here) BEFORE BUYING ANY PARTS::: Check for 3 parking module plugs: Undo the two T25 torx bolts on the Driver's side parcel shelf support in the boot. Peel back the carpet over the wheel arch (tricky but can be done) Check you have 3 plugs there - may already be plugged into the Rear Park Assist Module If not, this retrofit is still possible, but you will need to add the wiring from the boot to the front of the car for the front sensors and the dash buttons. There is info on this in Bannko's thread as another user has done this, but this guide does not cover it. Check for dash button wiring: If you have 3 plugs, you should also have the appropriate wiring in the dash for the buttons Remove the passenger side centre console panel (it pulls away from the front first) and check you have these wires: Credit to @Tommo17 for this picture. NOTE: These wires will be bound with the main loom on your car and may not be these colours. If you have wires going to the same pins in the plug as shown here (4 in total), then you have wiring to the dash button. If not, you will have to add them. This is discussed a few pages into Bannko's thread. Check for sensor wiring at the front of the car: If you have 3 plugs, you should also have wiring for the front sensors already in the passenger footwell, but let's check. Remove the glovebox: 2x T25 torx bolts at the top when you open it. 1 at the side nearest the door, behind the small panel with the passenger airbag sticker on it 2 underneath in the passenger footwell. Remove the small carpet and search with a torch. They are hard to see. Pull the glovebox forward and unplug the lihgt at the right hand side. Behind the glovebox, you should have this plug: I have obviously undone it here, but it is left of the fuse panel. Check you have these 8 wires on 'plug' side (not the 'socket' side, fixed to the car with the grey lever attached): I believe I had flipped the plug over to better see these wires. They are pins 25-32. The wiring colurs should match yours but there may be differences - I had a red/white wire instead of what the schematic said I should have - just be aware of this. You should notice that you do not have the corresponding wires on the 'socket' side of that connection. Check the wiring at the bumper: Take the front bumper off (videos on Youtube explain better than I can here). If you have front foglights, you will need to disconnect the loom between the engine bay and the bumper. It looks like this: If you do not have this plug, it is still possible to retrofit, but you will need to find a plug from a scrap car. If you have this plug and it has more wiring than shown above (8 more wires to be exact) then this is your lucky day! You can follow Bannko's guide in its entirety as the whole system will be plug and play for you. You smug git. If your plug looks like mine above, then continue reading. As mentioned above, this guide is mainly for adding wiring for the front sensors to the engine bay harness. This will be described in detail, whereas for general fitting of parts, refer back to Bannko's guide. If you have got this far, and everything on your car matches what I have described above, then you need to make a loom of 8 wires to go from the passenger footwell to the bumper plug. This is easier than it sounds, though parts of it are a little tricky. First, you need 8 lengths of stranded wire approximately 3m in length. Disconnect the battery (we don't want an airbag going off) and unplug the connector in the passenger footwell: Unclip the grey cover over the end of the plug: This will reveal the pins. Relocate the 8 wires from above, Pins 25-32. If you look carefully you should see a number 1 at one end of a row of pins on the plug. You can use this to count to the correct pins: Using a needle or similar, lift the clip which retains each of these 8 wires and remove the pins one by one. I haven't got a picture for this, but you will see what needs to be done. Cut these 8 wires off. We want a careful balance here: as much wire attached to the pin as possible, but also a reasonable amount left attached to the car so we can comfortably strip and resolder to them later. I recommend around 5-6 inches of wire attached to the pins, if possible. Put the grey plastic clip back on the end of the plug and reattach the plug with the retaining lever. Now use these 8 pins to make your loom. I took a small piece of wire from each of the pins to attach to the OTHER end of my loom - for easier identification later (we will be matching wire colours when re-attaching to the car). This is not necessary, but will make life a LOT easier! Top Tip: When you are ready to tape all your wires together, wrap them first in strips of kitchen roll or similar. Wrap round the wires at a rough 45 degree angle, so that the strips overlap each other slightly. Then do the same over the top with electrical tape. By doing this, it enables the wires inside to slide past each other so you can form curves in your loom. The very ends of your tape binding should be on the wires directly though to prevent water ingress. You should end up with something like this: Now we have to re-attach it to the car. With a cold (or slightly warm if you like!) engine, remove the engine cover under the bonnet. On the firewall there will be a large rubber grommet shaped a bit like a bell, with a thick loom of wires coming out of it: Not a very clear picture, sorry about that! The inside of the grommet is above and to the right of the passenger footwell fusebox, behind the soundproofing material. You will see wires coming out of it. Now you have a choice: Either undo the electrical tape on the grommet (inside and out) and attempt to pass your wires through as well. This was what I did but it was extremely difficult as there is not much space left in the grommet. Or, pierce a hole in the grommet to pass your wires through and use silicone sealant afterwards to seal it all up. This would definitely be easier, but be sure you do a good job of sealing the hole afterwards. It is possible to remove the grommet slightly to aid the work, whichever method you choose: Be sure to pass the cut wire end through the grommet, from outside to inside!! We want the pins at the bumper! Once through the grommet, carefully pull enough of your loom through to the inside of the car to reconnect to those wires we cut earlier, leaving enough on the outside to snake through the engine bay and down to the bumper. Now strip and solder the wires we cut in the footwell back onto our loom. By colour coding the ends of the wire as I recommended, this should be straightforward colour matching. Back under the bonnet, route your loom from the grommet, round the back of the battery box and down in between the battery and the fusebox. You should have the bumper off at this point and can join up with the bumper loom around this point. Now you need to add the pins to this bumper connector: There are clips on the front and back of this plug similar to the one in the footwell earlier. You need to remove both. The rear clip has plastic pins to prevent water ingress to unused pin slots. We will need to snap these pins off where we want to add wires. You can do this by bending them back and forth with your thumb. Be careful not to remove the wrong ones. Underneath this is a light blue rubber seal. We will need to pass our pins through this as well. They will fit! Now, the schematic I had did not match the pin numbers for the two sides of the connection, so I simply matched the colours when passing the pins through the clip and seal. However, to seat them in the plug properly, it must be disconnected. It started chucking it down at this point so I had to speed the job without taking photos. After passing the pins into the plug, they will click past a retaining clip, like the ones we lifted to remove pins from the footwell plug. But these retainers only stop the pins being pulled back out of the plug, not secure them in place and you will find that they will flop around all over! Once all the wires are though, line up the pins in the clip that was removed from the front and carefully replace the clip and wires together. Do the same for the seal and rear clip and connect it up the the sensor loom! Congrats, the hard work is done! For fitting and programming of all the parts, refer back to Bannko's guide!

Not sure where the valve is, but the EGR blank goes at the back of the engine, where the chrome pipe on the right hand side mounts.

Not sure if you already did this but also make sure the android auto toggle is enabled in the Sync settings 🙂 It can be a bit of a fiddle to get it working, but I've rented loads of Sync 3 cars (Fusion, Escape, Explorer etc) and it's worked on all of them, although on some of them I've cursed out loud a few times because of the struggle to get it working! If you have easy access to another Sync 3 vehicle (perhaps a dealer one), might be worth trying connecting your phone up and seeing if it gets recognised on that vehicle

Hello! I see you're from Oregon 😎 In regards to the Sync 3 / Android troubles - did you go through the setup wizard on the android auto app? Simply installing the app on your phone and connecting the phone to the car isn't enough, you need to go through the steps within the android auto app. On most Sync 3 vehicles I've driven (including my own car), sometimes the USB connection is a bit finnicky, and wriggles around, you need to be careful and position the cable so that it's as straight as possible. Let us know if you're still stuck.

Never knew this topic would generate so much interest, it's almost taken over the thread 😄 I guess I must be a Gen X at heart then, because I'm in the exact same boat as you - deal with technology on a day to day basis (work in IT), but hate it the moment I step outside of work! I don't obsess over social media (don't have instagram, snapchat, facebook etc.), don't like gaming, and basically try and avoid technology as much as possible (bar the self-serve checkouts at supermarkets lol). I also listen to a lot of 90's and early 00's rock/pop-rock which millennials typically don't listen to. That said, I do love a night out every now and then and have friends slightly younger than me, so I guess I mustn't come across as too old 😄

£58 from ford. Sensors you can get from focuscity if you ring them.

Thanks both -- I assumed it was connected to the silver pipe but didn't know which end. I actually took the car to a diesel specialist today who is very highly-rated and renowned for his knowledge. He started looking at it today and noticed 3 things all relating to air intake including an air sensor. He also thinks it has a DPF (which I doubted based on the Vehicle Tax cost) and he thinks this has been clogged up. He didn't get chance to look at it properly today but is going to start first thing tomorrow so will report back once I know more. At the moment it does sounds more like a sensor issue or air escaping. Nothing was mentioned about valve seals or leaking oil.

Could drive it 3rd party on own insurance. EDIT: Forgot you have to be over 25 for that 😞

Oh if only it was mine! My Dads car unfortunately, though I have been lucky enough to drive it a few times. I’ve got a little old 1.6 petrol Zetec.

BLIS may require the circuits overlaying into the cabin harness and the door harnesses (for the mirror illumination). The cabin harness may have the connections present and taped back depending on how high a level vehicle you ordered. (rear camera and B&O play etc) if you remove the rear bumper they will be below the tail lights on corner of the rear quarters. Same as above for door harnesses. You can change the entire mirror unit for BLIS ones or add the wiring for the warning illumination and buy new Mirror glasses. You will need to purchase 2x rear sensors that go underneath the bumper. Then it's a matter of getting it switched on in Forscan.

We have loads of time...it's a horrific thought that my Nan had to go through 3 times as much life as I have so far! 😮 It's health that's the commodity...no point having time that you can't use! 🤔 I'm here for a good time, not a long time. Not that I've had a good time either so far!

I read a few places that EB engines only really open up after 1k miles... What's the highway MPG like? Asking for a friend... Oh yah - that is out of date! I wish I was still 24 All I can say is make the most of your 20's, time is the most precious commodity there is!

No job is perfect, but I'm certainly happy with the career path. The 2.3 is lovely yes, still only got 250 miles on it, but I've stretched it's legs a couple of times 😄 And btw, either you're only just a Millenial @Incontro or you need to update your profile 😛

Thanks mate. That looks good to me. Will order.

I paid £97 per side for new shocks and top mounts (fitted), they were a decent brand as well. I'd definitely make sure you you fit a decent brand and not some unbranded (pretend brand) cheapo chinese crap parts. (Don't get me wrong most of it is made in China but the decent brands actually have standards).

My MK2 Focus saloon had become REALLY bouncy, especially when cornering hard. Hitting a deep pot hole at 50 MPH broke the top mount on one side which forced my hand, new shocks and top mounts later and the difference is truly day and night. Prior to replacing them, if I bounced the rear up and down there weren't any noises etc so you would have assumed they were fine.

There are references to fuseable link in some focuses, but ive no concrete evidence to that, most posts I found say in the wire between alternator and battery. So id just check the continuity of the wires between alterantor and ground, and alternator and battery, and if they have continuity id say they are ok. measure the voltage between alternator + and the alternator -, then you'll know if its the alternator? No fuses that are changeable inside the alternator - although you may find you can switch out the regulator pack, which is a lot cheaper than a full alternator and most likely the culprit. Can often be changed on car too without removing the alternator. the regulator will be something like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alternator-Voltage-Regulator-fits-Ford-C-Max-Fiesta-Focus-Fusion-12-VOLT/123599078079?fits=Model%3AFocus|Cars+Year%3A2009&hash=item1cc71442bf:g:kkMAAOSwJp1cQHZk or this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALTERNATOR-VOLTAGE-REGULATOR-FOR-FORD-KA-Fiesta-Focus-Fusion-Mazda-2/123602295145?fits=Model%3AFocus|Cars+Year%3A2009&hash=item1cc7455969:g:-4oAAOSwGq5cQwzL or this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Genuine-HELLA-Alternator-Regulator-5DR-009-728-341-Top-German-Quality/193137135589?fits=Model%3AFocus|Cars+Year%3A2009&hash=item2cf7decfe5:g:t34AAOSwAaJaFJIP but you'll need to find the alternator and regulator parts numbers to check which you need. If you find all the numbers, lots of the eBay sellers are helpful and will select the right one for you if you send them the info.

What was the deal and why wasn't I offered one? 😄

ruble red

It's also the age difference tbf...you are of a different generation to Zain, and I'm the generation between both of you! You were well into work and mortgaged while the economy was still good...I left school in the middle of the financial crisis so we were suddenly told that work and property would be much harder for us than it was our parents...Zain's generation grew up through the financial crisis knowing not to expect easy jobs and housing etc... Us millennials get a lot of stick but the reality is we were dealt a crap hand trying to go into a jobs market where everyone was being made redundant and having no idea what you should study for future security...of course we know that's services like tech & computing lol!

It's a no brainer! One months PCP will get a replacement engine, and the next month will get it fitted with change to buy a decent curry as a treat! 😀 Oh, and much more environmentally friendly than buy a new car!

Rather someone else did the writing off for me. But yeh 182 was always on the cards anyway. 1.0 felt underpowered.

Shhhh then... now youve said it you'll get in car tomorrow and it will fall to bits 🤣

I’ve only ever had the twist beam on both so cannot comment on that. But overall I find the car a good drive. Also the reason being that the ‘68 was written off unfortunately. 1.5 is definitely a better drive. Having had the ST225 previously to me the car handles well, I’m pleased with it. Alas I did order to get multi link but missed out, but again I have to say the build quality is noticeably improved.

Thank you both for your replies. I have found a Youtube video which shows how to test if it is the swirl flaps by unplugging vacuum pump. I will give that a try and see what happens.

I had this a couple of winters ago with my 1.6 diesel. Hesitation and surging for a day or two then i lost all power and had an EML. Turns out the fuel filter needed changing - Evil Halshaw whom I'd bought it from told me they'd done it when they hadn't...

Any particular reason why? The original Ford coolant is good for 10 years. May as well wait until the cambelt & waterpump need changing and do it all together.

I got it new from Ford. I’ll take it out and look when I get the chance.

Hi. Join the Facebook group I admin, it is the most active in the UK and we have loads of hybrid drivers, one in particular Tibor is very passionate and knows his hybrid well. https://www.facebook.com/groups/693277794183606/ Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

It's got the same getup and go as the 2.0 diesel up to 62mph, but then after that the get up has got up and gone. Top speed is 116mph if you got a long enough road to build up speed.

Yep, its a 2.0 Petrol Hybrid, with 187bhp on paper but nothing like it in the real world. Real armchair of a car and great for eating up miles at 80. Streets ahead of the Passat I just swapped it for. It only has 70 miles on the clock, maybe (hopefully) it will loosen up in time.

Duracell? 🤔

I've got a MK4 1.5D and i notice the engine noise above any road noise. It could do with some added sound proofing on the firewall.

Hi Michael. Make sure you have notifications enabled on your phone for Android Auto as it pops up a request relating to permissions for the connection.

Thanks. The funny thing is , I was going to service it myself. Ha. Fat chance of that now Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC