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Ford Focus question

FordDude

FordDude

Well-Known Dude
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I bought a 1990 Ford Escort new, it was a 1.9L HO 4 banger. I learned the hard way that the timing belt needed to be changed after 60-80k. I am looking for a Focus, and they are also 4 banger front wheel drive cars. Going to try and find one with around 100k, budget/price we all know the story. Does the timing belt still need changing, or is there something else that I should be concerned with?

fd
 
My 04 Fucos has 95,000 miles on it and it still has the factory TB. The 07 Fucos has 80,000 miles with the factory TB.

Had a 99 Escort and it made it to 130,000 miles before the timing belt let go. It's not that hard of a fix either. I sold it to a friend and it now has over 200,000 miles and still going strong.

I did just have to replace the front sway bar end links on the 04. It started making a clanking racket up front. Bought the new parts for $25 and it took 30 minutes to fix. Also replaced the valve cover gasket last year. Other than that, all I've had to do is general maintenance on both cars.
 
im not sure of the years, but some of them had problems with the heads. I forget now what the specifics were, but i heard it was much more cost effective to change the whole motor then the head. What ever that problem was, it was harsh.
 
The main problem with the earlier Escort engines, as well as many other makes, is that it's a "zero tolerance" design. What that means is NO clearance between the valves and pistons. Should valve timing be out, with a broken TB being an extreme case of this, the valves WILL contact the tops of the pistons. This leads to, at minimum, bent valves. It will break valve guides as well, generally destroying the head. Later Escort engines had clearance, I believe through fly cuts in the piston tops. One cause of the belt breaking is failure to change it. I never ever let one go over 60k. The biggest mechanical failure resulting in TB breakage was the water pump freezing up. It's driven off the TB belt.

I bought a pretty nice little manual tranny Escort wagon for $200. The water pump had failed causing the TB to break. This of course destroyed the head. The car belonged to a guy I worked with. He'd replaced the water pump and belt but couldn't figure why it wouldn't start. All you had to do was listen to it to hear it had ZERO compression (you know, the sound an engine makes while spinning it over with no plugs in it!). When I told him the problem he said screw it and offered to sell it on the spot! I found a rebuilt head for $200 and slapped it on. For $400 we drove that little car half way across country when we moved and then for several years before selling it! They're not bad, but you just have to be aware of the issues they do have. :steer
 
Like ponyman66 said , change TB and waterpump every 60K and you have no problems.
When things go wrong with the TB , its most of the time very bad.
 
I'll check the manual on my Focus - 2007 model. I've got 73k on it with zero problems... I haven't even changed the air filter yet!
 
Didn't mean to put an unnecessary scare into anyone. Most of the more modern cars/trucks with a TB have valve clearance. The biggest concern with those is being left stranded on the roadside. It's always good to find out exactly what type of motor style you have though...just in case! :roll
 
The TB on the Escort we had crapped out in the driveway (with the car still running) just as Deb got home. There was no damage to the valves at all.
 
I dug thru my owner's manual and it did not mention the timing belt at all.

Online, I found a couple of sources that say to replace it at 120k miles.....
 
On my 01 Focus, I changed the timing belt at ~117k miles. Took about 4 hours. The original belt looked VERY good, ready to go another 100k miles. 100-120k is the recommended service interval. IIRC, parts were $75 for the Gates timing set from rockauto.com.

The Focus timing belt does not drive the water pump - maybe it did on the 90's Escorts, but not on the Zetec Focus. Also, the non-SVT Focus Zetec is not an "interference" engine - a TB belt failure will not take out the valvetrain. However, while you've got the thing apart for the TB is the perfect time to go ahead and change the water pump, as you're "right there". I also took the opportunity to change the serp. belt, tensioner, and idler pullies...

The biggest thing on the Zetec is the crappy thermostat housing design. About $40 to replace - you either get a good one, or you get to do it again in a couple years. The valvecover gasket is a common leak, but easy to replace - usually coupled with a PCV Valve that doesn't get replaced often enough...
 
I have the PZEV 2.0L engine and it's da bomb. The inside of the tailpipe is still clean galvanized steel after 73kmi...
 
Thank you Bob. Very good information as I am looking at around 2000 to 2003 Focus.

fd
 
Oh sure, we answer your questions for like a week and Bob just rides in on his white stallion and gets all the credit.


:nut
 
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