Ford focus

Minidel

Hi just wondering if any 1 has any information on da ford focus 07/08 diesel , I was tinking about changing my car for one of these but not sure are they troublesome , n want to no what they are doing mpg ????

fasttalkerchat

I have the petrol model and love it. I get 33 mpg from mostly town driving but can get around 40 if I try.
Make sure you check for rust!

Matthewjohn

Are you looking at the 1.8 or 1.6 Tdci

Minidel

1.6 diesel I'd say

Minidel

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I have the petrol model and love it. I get 33 mpg from mostly town driving but can get around 40 if I try.
Make sure you check for rust!

33mpg wouldn't b that good I'm getting 37 mpg at the moment n was looking to try and improve it ...

peter barrins

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Minidel

peter barrins wrote: »

The 1.6tdi is developing a reputation for blowing its turbo at around 80-100K miles. If I bought one with low miles, I'd service it every 10,000 miles - the manufacturer intervals are too long. Otherwise, they're a sound car, handle well and are generally reliable.

Wat mpg are u getting ??

peter barrins

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dilallio

I have a 2008 1.8 focus TDCi.
Getting 38mpg around town, 40mpg if I take it easy on the acceleration.
Get 43mpg on long journeys (driving at speed limit), up to 48mpg on long journeys if I stick to 80-90kph.

fasttalkerchat

Minidel wrote: »

33mpg wouldn't b that good I'm getting 37 mpg at the moment n was looking to try and improve it ...

When I first got it and was taking it easy I was getting 40 mpg. Lately I'm rallying it and still getting 33 so not too bad.

Bpmull

I have a 2007 focus 1.6tdci and I get 52 mpg but then I mainly do long trips. The 1.6tdci has it issues but then every car has problems. If you mind the 1.6 service it every 15k km max with 5w30 fully synthetic oil. As for turbo blowing alot of that is People putting in 10w40 which is too thick and ultimately starves the turbo of oil. Of they can have turbo failure even If maintained to a high but then so can every other turbo diesel car.

JohnBoy26

Bpmull wrote: »

I have a 2007 focus 1.6tdci and I get 52 mpg but then I mainly do long trips. The 1.6tdci has it issues but then every car has problems. If you mind the 1.6 service it every 15k km max with 5w30 fully synthetic oil. As for turbo blowing alot of that is People putting in 10w40 which is too thick and ultimately starves the turbo of oil. Of they can have turbo failure even If maintained to a high but then so can every other turbo diesel car.

No these are far more prone to turbo failure other than most other diesels in my experience. Even properly serviced example with the correct oil used suffer the same fate eventually.

If I were the op and wanted a Focus it would be the 1.8 tdci id be going for. It is a more reliable and livelier engine than the 1.6. I know people will say this engine is ancient and unrefined however this is simply untrue. It's not much more unrefined than the 1.6.

peter barrins

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Henry Ford III

peter barrins wrote: »

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I don't agree at all, despite you saying the above twice.

Proper and regular oil changes make the 1.6TDCI as reliable as any other modern diesel.

The higher output versions (up to 115bhp) are also far more refined and with a way more progressive power delivery than the 1.8TDCI. I'm on my 5th from new 1.6TDCI from new so I know what I'm talking about.

p.s. Do you know what other vehicles use this engine?

peter barrins

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George Dalton

peter barrins wrote: »

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This sums up the situation perfectly. The service intervals on most modern diesels are far too long. If you service them every 15,000kms with the correct oil you would be very unlucky to encounter any turbo issues. We look after a lot of cars with the 1.6 engine fitted and there is a very strong correlation between the cars that are not serviced on time and the cars that suffer turbo failure.

It is true that the 1.8 engine is tougher and will stand up to neglect a lot better but they also have their own common failures, most notably their appetite for dual mass flywheels as mentioned.

It is worth remembering that a dual mass flywheel failure will cost pretty much the same to repair as a turbo failure. Admittedly it is less likely to leave you stranded at the side of the road but nevertheless it isn't a bill you want to be paying, plus there is the fact that you can't really take steps to avoid DMF failure like you can with the 1.6 engine to avoid turbo failure.

peter barrins

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Henry Ford III

peter barrins wrote: »

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A loud, unrefined, old school diesel with poor driveabilty?

It was so outdated even VW dropped it.

JohnBoy26

Henry Ford III wrote: »

A loud, unrefined, old school diesel with poor driveabilty?

It was so outdated even VW dropped it.

It maybe outdated and loud but it's a very reliable unit and certainly far more robust than those 1.6tdci/Hdi units.

peter barrins

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peter barrins

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peter barrins

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shamwari

I posted this on over in the DIY maintenance thread. It's based on over 5 years of ownership of one of the 1.6 TDCi's.

Bpmull

peter barrins wrote: »

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My 1.6tdci focus is only a 90bhp and my dad has an octavia 1.9tdi 105bhp. And he prefers my focus to drive. Granted the 1.9tdi vag engine is more reliable. As for a 1.9 tdi leaving a 1.6tdci in the dust that's a load of crap my 1.6 tdci has absolutely no problem keeping up with my dads octavia the 1.6 tdci are not that slow. Obviously a 1.9 130 is faster but you can't compare that to a 1.6tdci. As for turbo failure I will service my 1.6tdci every 10k km and if the turbo fails it fails I won't loose sleep over it. You'd swear the way people go on about it around here you'd think the cars blow up its a turbo not the end of the world. I like my focus to drive and I couldn't care less what people's views are on its reliability.

peter barrins

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peter barrins

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Henry Ford III

peter barrins wrote: »

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Are you a troll?

peter barrins

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Bpmull

peter barrins wrote: »

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As I said in my post a 130bhp would obviously be faster. As for servicing it every 10k km that about 3 times a year a filter and 4 litres of 5w30 oil is about 40 euro so that's 120 euro a year and about 2 hours of my time i wouldnt call that an excessive amount of servicing. Obviously I would be doing air and fuel filter but not every service. As for the turbo what are you suggesting I should sit up and worry about the turbo every night I have better things to do maybe you don't. I hope it doesn't go but if it does its 1k euro max to put right. So no it doesn't bother me as there is no guarantee it will go and I mind my car which helps. There's plenty of focuses going around with original turbos at 200k km not everyone fails. If you don't service the car or use 10w40 oil and drive the sh!t out of it when it's cold then the turbo will fail.

peter barrins

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shamwari

peter barrins wrote: »

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The oil pipe isn't too narrow. The microfilter in the banjo bolt clogs and that spreads downwards through the pipe. I split open the old pipe after replacing it and it was fine. But at least I have peace of mind in knowing that the plumbing and turbo are fine

Bpmull

peter barrins wrote: »

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I only have my one 2 months there's just under 70k miles on it. As for long term reliability time will tell. But I like my one and think its nice to drive not the worst looking car ever specially when it's properly colour coded. It does 55mpg and is not too slow. It really ticks all the right boxes for me and suits my needs. Ill keep it maintained to the best of my ability and unless something big actually goes wrong with MY car then I have no reason to call it unreliable. There is so many Unminded rough unserviced examples going around its very hard to actually gauge true reliability

peter barrins

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JohnBoy26

peter barrins wrote: »

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In what cars are these affected vvti-i engines?

Technoprisoner

peter barrins wrote: »

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developing a reputation???

that engine is a disaster!!!

shamwari

peter barrins wrote: »

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And your point is?

peter barrins

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shamwari

peter barrins wrote: »

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It affects any application of this engine, not just Ford. Incidentally, what you quoted above is missing the relevent test specified from the Ford TSB....

JohnBoy26

peter barrins wrote: »

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What models?

peter barrins

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Henry Ford III

peter barrins wrote: »

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Nope.

Despite my nom be plume I've been here for a while hopefully making a few reasonable and ideally unbiased posts.

Strikes me at least you are trying to agitate.

shamwari

peter barrins wrote: »

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My car is serviced slightly ahead of manufactures schedule and only costs the price of the materials used. Many of the problems with this car are down to missed services or using the wrong oils. If Joe Soap doesn't know about servicing his car frequently or properly then that's his fault. Ignorance is no defence.

As for me, I'm staying ahead of the curve and leaving the VAG boys behind...

JohnBoy26

shamwari wrote: »

My car is serviced slightly ahead of manufactures schedule and only costs the price of the materials used. Many of the problems with this car are down to missed services or using the wrong oils. If Joe Soap doesn't know about servicing his car frequently or properly then that's his fault. Ignorance is no defence.

As for me, I'm staying ahead of the curve and leaving the VAG boys behind...

As has been said, even if ''Joe Soap'' services his 1.6 tdci/hdi unit regularly ahead of schedule, he is still likely to run into problems. Problems with these engines are more so down to poor design rather than poor maintenance IMO.

peter barrins

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shamwari

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

As has been said, even if ''Joe Soap'' services his 1.6 tdci/hdi unit regularly ahead of schedule, he is still likely to run into problems. Problems with these engines are more so down to poor design rather than poor maintenance IMO.

110K miles on ours John and its running like a watch. Time will tell if you're right though. Yes there are potential design issues there that I've covered in my post in the DIY thread (sump recess and turbo oil feed's coming from the top of the block). These in conjunction with improper servicing will conspire to cause problems. Anecdotally I've heard of a CMax 1.6tdci taxi with > 200K miles on that clock and supposedly all original. Great if true.

Also that engine was heavily reworked in 2010. New cylinder head now 8v instead of 16v. A number of internal components changed. EOLYS-free DPF system. Lessons learned perhaps!

peter barrins

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peter barrins

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JohnBoy26

peter barrins wrote: »

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That link is a load of rubbish and is irrelevant to European Toyota's. It only concerns 2.2 and 3.0V6 engines which are far different than what we have here. Tbh the only time I've seen a petrol car with oil sludge issues have been examples which have been severely mistreated and never serviced. I highly doubt your Aunts car was ever serviced if it had sludge issues.

peter barrins

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shamwari

peter barrins wrote: »

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On the face of it, you are 100% correct. However, the trend over the last few years has been to make ever more complicated engines that are smaller, cleaner, quieter, more fuel efficient and more powerful. Look at the first VGT VAG engine from the late 90's: 1.9TDI throwing out 110bhp. It drove great and the figures on paper looked equally as good. Within 5 years, a TDCi engine could match or exceed that power with greater economy and still be ~400cc smaller. The engineers were pushing the envelope as hard as they could.

At the same time, the marketing guru's realised that they could pitch the product better if it could be sold on the basis that it needed less frequent servicing. Now to me, all of this doesn't add up if you're running smaller engines in a far higher state of tune and producing more power, and at the same time expecting it to go further on the same oil and with less maintenance. The manufacturers have gotten this wrong and in fact, I'd argue they should have fronted up and said that price for greater efficiency from smaller more powerful engines is more frequent servicing.

peter barrins

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