/g/entooman here, Little backstory, no tl;dr, Kinda going be a bit scattered as I have a few points I want to hit. Have a lazy father i've been trying to pay to fix my car and not family price either. Have full home shop with a car Lift, And three Chest 6 foot high of almost every tool ive also seen in pro shops, have an engine lift, One of those Rugged OBD scanners with up to 2016 codes(Havnt used it yet).
My issue beside changing plugs, oil, tires and fuses. My extent of car knowledge goes out the window.
I live On/towards Beaches on NC and driving to Arizona and may drive back. I want to do a full tune up, like I bought a fuel filter to replace as my gas mileage has dropped, and going to get a full size rim to have full replacement are two things i've thought to do. as well, I am going to get new sparks, and replace the oil gasket around the sparkplug as I was told it might be leaking.
Maybe I am being paranoid but I feel like my car runs rough and doesnt really knock except maybe when waiting at drive thrus other things. My father is like it has "200,000" time to get a new car, maybe im being childish at that reality but I feel like I have other options, I am willing to learn just need direction.
Would seaform in the gas tank help my car? with the amount of tools and internet what should I do to my car? Engine swap? Full tune up? Granted I paid $2000 for it in 2011? with 82,000 miles from coco cola private auction. I feel like I can get more out of this car as Im still getting roughly 28 to 30ish mpg some days and 25 others sometime less. There are time where I just dont feel like it can be running as well as it could and I feel like it can be corrected but I could be very wrong.
thoughts? and/or anything I could explain or elaborate on?
change the oil change the coolant check trans fluid change the spark plugs but use oem recommended plugs go on your trip
Eli Bailey
Honestly do what your dad says. If you really want to keep this car, get a Hayne's manual or some other DIY manual in order to look up how to do basic maintenance on this car.
Andrew Reed
mind you he is a construction worker by trade and mechanic as hobby and mainly works on 1970s cars.
it took my three months to convince him my car doesnt have an air filter or not a normal one anyways.
Jayden Allen
>doesnt have an air filter Now you're going to have to convice me, too.
Nathaniel Bennett
eh, sigh hold on let me see if I can find it.
its that crazy California model zts 2004, I swear Im not being crazy
Adrian Ramirez
it has an intake filter and a single air filter, I know because I owned a 00 ZTS.
If it runs rough and your MPGs are suffering, that points me mainly towards the IACV. what RPM does it idle at? should sit anywhere between 700-800 warm.
Elijah Howard
found it, see, I can read!
you have to explain those things like im five or point me to a diagram.
its higher then 800 i feel like but I havnt taking that speedo tac thingy to it. warm, maybe 1000?
Liam Davis
If it's not running right and has 200k it might be time to replace the air box. A cursory Google search says the filter is in the box and your replace the whole assembly
John Williams
the box is made of brittle plastic, so you can replace it if its cracked, but if its not then you may as well save the $20.
do you have the 2.3? If so, you don't have an air filter, for whatever godforsaken reason ford was smoking some heavy stuff that day... Mine was the 2.0 Zetec. Let your car warm up for 5 minutes of driving, pull up to a stoplight and see what it idles at. It should sit anywhere between 650 on the low side and 800 on the high side.
Jose Price
also, general pro tip, you may want to start with your make/model/year and any other relevant information when you start a thread, it makes it so much easier for us.
Justin King
2.3 liter 2004 ford focus Zts, Whats An IACV??
Also about to head to work and there is a mcdicks, Will do a youtube video and upload.
sorry thought I did.
Ok so we put on the list to replace this magical air box?
Can someone help with an ebay or something so I can get a visual of what this assembly is?
Bentley Brooks
I don't need a video, just the RPM. when it idles, is it erratic (pulsing idle), abnormally high, or abnormally low?
Owen Bailey
here's the intake filter on my focus, it was absolutely nutty :^)
An IACV is an idle air control valve and it's the most likely culprit for bad idle.
Aiden Morales
>200,000 miles Goddamn I love focuses so much.
Zachary Cooper
Kinda like a knock but not a knock? when idling, I only notices when getting food at drive thru but when driving and even then it isnt ever time. (beside the one night the were power surging[I would bepressing the gas but accel would slow but wouldnt stop} but that went always and I think that was a clog in the fuel filter.
my car is cold now so I'll check it now
ah okay put that on the list too I guess.
im also rough as shit on my car but I do matience it, I accel but I live in a city where everything thinks its NASCAR even the jack up massive rim cars.
Gavin Cooper
I know you said you didnt need a video but I still took one for others in case.
also sorry for the bars, I had my phone in landscape mode.
Josiah Johnson
WHAT RPM DOES IT FUCKING IDLE AT? DO YOU HAVE A FUCKING TACH?
Lucas Martin
I said it already dude,
> its higher then 800 i feel like but I havnt taking that speedo tac thingy to it. warm, maybe 1000?
Hudson Foster
the ticking noise is just fuel injectors, they're noisy on the Focus.
If you're having trouble accelerating, here are your possible causes >Idle air control valve >PCV hose/valve and then vibration while idling is most likely the motor mounts. they're notorious on the focus for giving out extremely early, as short as 10-15k. Do you have any leaking oil?
William Green
go drive to walmart and back, buy a packet of lube, and come back to your house and see what your thing is idling at. Don't actually buy lube, but it's a good excuse to get a $4 can of carb/intake cleaner, which we can also use to help our troubleshooting.
Daniel Barnes
no problem acceling anymore, just had it one night then it went away.
how hard is it to replace the motor mounts with the tools I vaguely listed?
sounds like all around getting a new Idle air control value is a good idea.
How fast does Veeky Forums update Im going to work but It only for an hour or two?
Caleb Jenkins
Veeky Forums is pretty slow, it'll probably stay for at least 5-6 hours without a bump.
there's a hose that runs into the back of your engine block called the PCV hose, it connects to the PCV valve, they're kind of a pain in the ass to reach. The hose is the more likely culprit, it is not heat shielded and has a 90 degree bend where it is notorious for collapsing. I would check there first, as the hose costs like $12.
Motor mounts are cheap, the labor is what shafts you. I would not try and do them without power tools, they have a torque rating of 60? ft/lbs, which is a lot for hand tools, and if you fuck it up you run the risk of your engine literally falling out of your engine bay. Start with the PCV hose.
Also, if you dont have a check engine light, its still worth your time to get an OBD2 reader, as there are certain codes that will display in the ECU without triggering the CEL.
Ryan James
My dad owns that fancy $2000 OBD or something or overpaid for one.
I look at the codes, this sunday I'll make an update as I bitched enough he is going to help me 8am Sunday morning.
We going to do A fuel filter, maybe a transmission fluid change(I tired to once he drained the oil and said it look fine and out it back in and made me return the new bought tranny oil fluid) Spark plugs tire rotation and balance OBD scan
Maybe replace the pCV and/or IACV
anything else I should do while I have him and the shop?
He says the gasket around the sparkplug leaks oil but he says that isnt a major issue or he would already fixed it but the reason he said he hasnt is headache.
Luis Perry
no no no have the lazy fucker fix it RIGHT NOW
the focus is designed so that when the valve cover gasket leaks, it drips onto the PLASTIC thermostat housing, causing that to crack. So not only do you get an oil leak, you have additionally a coolant leak. Do it now, before it's too late.
Daniel Green
call and comfirm we would.
Okay now that im done bitching at my lazy father. Love him to death but im willing to drive an hour to his job site and on On field computer 30 gals of gas cans and a foot long sub then I dont feel this is too much.
anyways thanks for the help so far, Uodate will come sunday.
heading to work. BTW does the seaform shit even work?
Ethan Rivera
seafoam is a meme, imo. I didn't notice any difference in performance. The best I got out of my zetec (autotragic 4 gear, the manny 5 gear had better mpgs) was 29 mpg highway. Fucker droned at 3.5k rpm at 75
