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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Focus / May 2006New 05 Focus TDCi owner. Anything I should know?
Hey. My 100k+ mile Escort packed in two weeks ago, MOT was running out and I couldn't be arsed fixing it, so I took the plunge and bought a nearly new car. A July 05 Focus LX 1.8 TDCi, 2500 miles on the clock - I'm presuming it was some kind of demostrator as it looks to have once had a "Diesel" sticker over the fuel flap, it's done nearly no miles, and the car/radio manuals in the glove box were unopened. Anyways, reading through the service stamp book, it reckons a service every one year or 12,500 miles. Is that not a bit optimistic? I used to change the oil and filter in my Escort every 6k and before that in my beloved L reg Fiesta 1.8D - (189,000 mile on that bugger when I sold it) every 5k. What does everyone reckon? Any other things I should watch for on this car? Thanks. paul Some modern diesels have 2 years/ 20k miles. Older, indirect injection diesels were typ 6k (maybe even shorter). > Some modern diesels have 2 years/ 20k miles. > > Older, indirect injection diesels were typ 6k (maybe even shorter). Eh - direct injection is part of the principle of diesel operation, you simply can't have indirect injection in a diesel engine as the timing is provided by the injection. Regards Mike. >> Some modern diesels have 2 years/ 20k miles. >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >provided by the injection. >Regards Mike. Sorry but that's wrong. Older diesels were known as indirect injection, that is to say that the fuel was not injected directly into the combustion chamber but into a pre-chamber.  SignaturePaul Giverin British Jet Engine Website http://www.britjet.co.uk >>> Some modern diesels have 2 years/ 20k miles. >>> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > that is to say that the fuel was not injected directly into the combustion > chamber but into a pre-chamber. yes you are right :) but they still had one injector per cylinder, and the timing was done by the order and time of the injection of fuel into the cylinders. >>>> Some modern diesels have 2 years/ 20k miles. >>>> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >but they still had one injector per cylinder, and the timing was done by the >order and time of the injection of fuel into the cylinders. I wasn't disputing that part, only the bit about not being able to have indirect injection. The original point was about oil change intervals being longer on modern DI engines compared with older iDI engines but that is in part due to the iDI engine suffering from oil dilution with unburnt fuel washing past the rings. SignaturePaul Giverin British Jet Engine Website http://www.britjet.co.uk It was previously believed the nobody would accept direct injection diesel engines in cars for refinement reasons. Then along came the old VW golf. Turns out that we could tolerate the clatter after all... Newer direct injection diesels have more sophisticated control which can help blunt the violence of compression ignition. Also power is usefully more independent of engine revs... > It was previously believed the nobody would accept direct injection > diesel engines in cars for refinement reasons. Then along came the > old VW golf. Turns out that we could tolerate the clatter after all... When did VW start using DI in cars? I think Rover and Fiat got there first, in the late 80s. SignatureThe address in the Reply-To is genuine and should not be edited. See <http://www.realh.co.uk/contact.html> for more reliable contact addresses. > It was previously believed the nobody would accept direct injection > diesel engines in cars for refinement reasons. Then along came the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > can help blunt the violence of compression ignition. Also power is > usefully more independent of engine revs... Not quite. Audi put the 1.9 TDI donk into the 80 before the Golf sniffed it. Austin put the 2.0 direct injection donk into the Maestro and Montego before Audi as I recall too. At least in the United Kingdom... SignatureThe DervMan www.dervman.com > Sorry but that's wrong. Older diesels were known as indirect injection, > that is to say that the fuel was not injected directly into the > combustion chamber but into a pre-chamber. It depends. Albion were using mechanical direct injection pre WW2. Makes the engine far too coarse for car use though but great for economy. Think it is electronic injection that makes it practical today - you can pulse the feed rather than just squirting it in. Signature*I yell because I care Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. > > Sorry but that's wrong. Older diesels were known as indirect injection, > > that is to say that the fuel was not injected directly into the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Think it is electronic injection that makes it practical today - you can > pulse the feed rather than just squirting it in. Indeed, both the Fiat multijet's and latest large capcity VAG V6's with piezo crystal injectors fire upto 19 separate pulses of fuel into each cylinder PER power stroke. PSA and all the other Elecronically fuelled DI's use atleast some pre-injection too. Tim.. Mike Cawood, HND BIT (michael.cawood@nospaam.homecall.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying : >> Older, indirect injection diesels were typ 6k (maybe even shorter). > Eh - direct injection is part of the principle of diesel operation, you > simply can't have indirect injection in a diesel engine as the timing is > provided by the injection. <cough> Bollocks. True - the timing is provided by the injection. But direct injection and indirect injection are different ways of doing it - indirect isn't into the manifold, like on a petrol, with the valve doing the inlet timing, but into a pre-combustion chamber. > Hey. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > A July 05 Focus LX 1.8 TDCi, 2500 miles on the clock - I'm presuming it > was some kind of demostrator as it looks to have once had a "Diesel" Or somebody pulled it off? :) *Don't* forget it's diesel, on the assumption that your Escort was petrol... ;) > sticker over the fuel flap, it's done nearly no miles, and the > car/radio manuals in the glove box were unopened. > > Anyways, reading through the service stamp book, it reckons a service > every one year or 12,500 miles. Is that not a bit optimistic? Not especially. Some Peugeots have a 20,000 mile service interval. > I used > to change the oil and filter in my Escort every 6k and before that in > my beloved L reg Fiesta 1.8D - (189,000 mile on that bugger when I sold > it) every 5k. > > What does everyone reckon? You could have RapidFit change the oil and filter every 6,250 miles? > Any other things I should watch for on this car? Erm... might be a bit late now, eh? :-) SignatureThe DervMan www.dervman.com > *Don't* forget it's diesel, on the assumption that your Escort was petrol... Hehe. No chance of that. The Escort was the only Petrol car I've owned. It's oddly reassuring to get back to the sticky, smelly diesel stuff. >> Any other things I should watch for on this car? >Erm... might be a bit late now, eh? :-) Well, yes. In hindsight I realise this. I'll prolly only have the car for 3 years - unless I REALLY end up loving it - as I 'bought' it on PCP finance. It was a good deal though, and my other car really was falling to pieces around me with 2 weeks left on the tax and MOT. Eek. paul >> *Don't* forget it's diesel, on the assumption that your Escort was >> petrol... > Hehe. No chance of that. The Escort was the only Petrol car I've > owned. It's oddly reassuring to get back to the sticky, smelly diesel > stuff. I volunteer to fill up the fleet cars just to "accidently" spill it on my hands, so as to sniff them for the rest of the day... >>> Any other things I should watch for on this car? >>Erm... might be a bit late now, eh? :-) > Well, yes. In hindsight I realise this. I'll prolly only have the car > for 3 years - unless I REALLY end up loving it - as I 'bought' it on > PCP finance. It was a good deal though, and my other car really was > falling to pieces around me with 2 weeks left on the tax and MOT. Eek. If it's under warranty, don't worry about it, heh... SignatureThe DervMan www.dervman.com If your 12,500 miles is 200 x 62.5 mile journeys, then the oil should be fine. If it's 5,000 2.5 mile journeys, then I'd change the oil more frequently. > If your 12,500 miles is 200 x 62.5 mile journeys, then the oil > should be fine. If it's 5,000 2.5 mile journeys, then I'd change > the oil more frequently. Why? SignatureChris Game "If you ever find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause, and reflect." -- Mark Twain >> If your 12,500 miles is 200 x 62.5 mile journeys, then the oil >> should be fine. If it's 5,000 2.5 mile journeys, then I'd change >> the oil more frequently. > > Why? 1: The manufacturer says so. 2: Common wisdom is that with many short trips, the oil will be contaminated because it never gets hot enough for long enough to remove the condensation by-products. Chris SignatureRemove prejudice to reply. > > If your 12,500 miles is 200 x 62.5 mile journeys, then the oil > > should be fine. If it's 5,000 2.5 mile journeys, then I'd change [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > -- Lots of cold starts, slow speed running, lots of fuel / condensation contamination. I'd be changing the oil at around 6000 mile intervals regardless anyhow- Fords Formula E is only a high grade mineral oil- its not good enough to go any further. Tim.. Thanks for the input everyone. Assuming I were to change the oil myself, what would everyone recommend? Just in Asda earlier today, I was looking at oil.. Castrol Magnatec - 21 quid a bottle! Does that stuff really do what it says on the tin, or are Castrol big hairy liars? :D paul >Thanks for the input everyone. > >Assuming I were to change the oil myself, what would everyone >recommend? Just in Asda earlier today, I was looking at oil.. Castrol >Magnatec - 21 quid a bottle! Does that stuff really do what it says on >the tin, or are Castrol big hairy liars? :D Its all marketing hype. The Castrol Magnatec is exactly the same basic ACEA A1 spec as the Ford Formula E oil. Some Ford dealers will discount the Formula E oil down to £13 which makes the Castrol look really expensive. I believe that Texaco Haveline make the oil for Ford but I'm not 100% on that. SignaturePaul Giverin British Jet Engine Website http://www.britjet.co.uk >Just in Asda earlier today, I was looking at oil.. Castrol >Magnatec - 21 quid a bottle! Does that stuff really do what it says on >the tin Yes, but so do many other oils at lower prices. You need to check two things (i) manufacturer's recommended viscosity (ii) manufactuer's recommended min oil standard If you have both of those you are larfing. > Thanks for the input everyone. > > Assuming I were to change the oil myself, what would everyone > recommend? Just in Asda earlier today, I was looking at oil.. Castrol > Magnatec - 21 quid a bottle! Does that stuff really do what it says on > the tin, or are Castrol big hairy liars? :D I'd not bother. If I were to buy the bits from a Ford spares desk, the parts (filter & oil) come to about £32 all in. Ford Rapid Fit will do it all in for £24.99. No arsing round under the car. No disposing of the oil. Gets my vote! Pete. SignatureNOTE! Email address is spamtrapped. Any email will be deleted Remove the news and underscore from my address to reply by mail >>> If your 12,500 miles is 200 x 62.5 mile journeys, then the oil >>> should be fine. If it's 5,000 2.5 mile journeys, then I'd change [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > anyhow- Fords Formula E is only a high grade mineral oil- its not > good enough to go any further. Well as the diesel seems quite efficient (takes forever to warm up compared to a petrol) even 62.5 mile journeys could be classified as 'short'. If more frequent changes were necessary, wouldn't Ford recommend that in the service book? SignatureChris Game "Never memorize something that you can look up." -- Albert Einstein > >>> If your 12,500 miles is 200 x 62.5 mile journeys, then the oil > >>> should be fine. If it's 5,000 2.5 mile journeys, then I'd change [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > 'short'. If more frequent changes were necessary, wouldn't Ford > recommend that in the service book? I'm not going to bother to answer that!! tim.. >>>> If your 12,500 miles is 200 x 62.5 mile journeys, then the oil >>>> should be fine. If it's 5,000 2.5 mile journeys, then I'd change [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > 'short'. If more frequent changes were necessary, wouldn't Ford > recommend that in the service book? Uh-huh. SignatureThe DervMan www.dervman.com > Well as the diesel seems quite efficient (takes forever to warm up > compared to a petrol) even 62.5 mile journeys could be classified as > 'short'. If more frequent changes were necessary, wouldn't Ford > recommend that in the service book? On my car there's no mention of early oil changes - where needed through adverse conditions - in the service book, but is in the handbook. Signature*Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled* Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. > Hey. > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Thanks. > paul My 2005 focus 1.6 tdci has now got 73,000 miles on it. Its alright so far. 12,500 mile services.. nothing more. it's a company car. Nothing wrong ith it mechanicaly so far.. > > Hey. > > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > 12,500 mile services.. nothing more. it's a company car. Nothing wrong ith > it mechanicaly so far.. Yes, but for you to cover that mileage in the time, its spent most of its time a) at running temperature with just 1 cold (luke warm) start each day and the rest of the time under very little load on the motorway in top gear. Total ideal conditions. Most cars do not do this. Tim.. I've got a 2002 TDCI which has done 72k, 65k of which is down to me. Front discs replaced at 40k. Front Shockers were goosed after 50k It likes eating tyres - but wears the backs as well as the fronts Good performance, great handling, pretty practical to boot - best car I have owned. >> > Hey. >> > [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Tim.. > I've got a 2002 TDCI which has done 72k, 65k of which is down to me. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Good performance, great handling, pretty practical to boot - best car I have > owned. You obviously drive quite hard- discs should last upto 50k (tho 40k isnt bad) but tyres should last 20-25k even on a fairly enthusastically driven Focus. I had no problem in getting that mileage on mine. Rear tyre wear should not be an issue. Have the bushes and geometry checked. Tim.. |
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