What are the 1.6 tdci Focus like?

RedDeadMarshal

As the thread says what is the 2008 1.6 tdci ford focus like? General chat about the motor in it, handling, reliability anything like that? Off to check one out after Christmas.

cocoman

RedDeadMarshal wrote: »

As the thread says what is the 2008 1.6 tdci ford focus like? General chat about the motor in it, handling, reliability anything like that? Off to check one out after Christmas.

I have an 08 1.6. It's an estate. Find it very reliable although but not the quickest but I havn't much to compare it to. Handles fairly well too. Parts, servicing etc is cheaper than the likes of passat, audis, etc.
I have it 3 years and it had 296k km on the clock. I drive it fairly sensibly and get 55mpg all the time.

RedDeadMarshal

cocoman wrote: »

I have an 08 1.6. It's an estate. Find it very reliable although but not the quickest but I havn't much to compare it to. Handles fairly well too. Parts, servicing etc is cheaper than the likes of passat, audis, etc.
I have it 3 years and it had 296k km on the clock. I drive it fairly sensibly and get 55mpg all the time.

Thanks, I checked out a focus from a dealer a few days back and on startup of the car there was a belt noise? it was a slipping sound, the man at the desk said that it was just the fan. Honestly I thought that that was a big lie so I walked away. is this normal on a focus? I've only checked out one so I hope the one im off to view after Christmas doesn't have the same noise on cold start

NIMAN

I have a 2010 version, never had any bother at all with it, 60000 miles on it now.

If you search this site you will find many folk telling you its a dog of an engine and nothing but bother.

Mycroft H

There is a Citroen C5 outside with near 170,000 miles. Same engine, 115bhp. Starter motor died at 140k but other than that it's been great. Very economical and surprising top end power. Usually a lot of small diesels run out of puff beyond 70 but this is fine

Skylinehead

I've driven my ma's 07 a fair bit, decent car. Not too bad for speed, although I didn't get out onto the motorway with it. Nippy in the streets anyway. Think the only problem I remember is a blown turbo, and she does a lot of miles.

stoutykid

I had one and had awful problems with the turbo. Multiple and expensive problems...it was a 08 model. Just my experience. ..was a lovely car to drive though.

porsche boy

The engine is not a dog although it's not without its faults. Most important is regular maintenance with good quality oil. Beyond that just get a warranty for piece of mind.

dollybird2

I have a 2010 one with over 170k km on the clock and never an issue with it. There was 40k on the car when i purchased in 2011 so a lot of miles have been clocked up by me! Nippy, comfortable & a decent boot for my buggy, winner!

The_Honeybadger

I believe these are grand but a full history is an absolute must. That engine does not like missing a service. Lots of horror stories with that engine, but equally there are lots of them doing big miles with no major problems.

NIMAN

mickeyk wrote: »

I believe these are grand but a full history is an absolute must. That engine does not like missing a service. Lots of horror stories with that engine, but equally there are lots of them doing big miles with no major problems.

Like all other engines I'd say.

Never heard on an engine that runs better when it isn't serviced.

How many of the scare stories you hear of this engine are on badly maintained ones I wonder?

dr.fuzzenstein

RedDeadMarshal wrote: »

Thanks, I checked out a focus from a dealer a few days back and on startup of the car there was a belt noise? it was a slipping sound, the man at the desk said that it was just the fan. Honestly I thought that that was a big lie so I walked away. is this normal on a focus? I've only checked out one so I hope the one im off to view after Christmas doesn't have the same noise on cold start

Big squealing noise on startup? Fanbelt. No reason to walk away from a car.
Is it normal on a Focus? It's normal on any car. If the car you where looking at was OK otherwise, you should not rule it out.

The_Honeybadger

NIMAN wrote: »

Like all other engines I'd say.

Never heard on an engine that runs better when it isn't serviced.

How many of the scare stories you hear of this engine are on badly maintained ones I wonder?

That was my point. To answer your question many older petrol engines used to keep going forever when completely abused for lack of servicing. I have a colleague driving a 98 Corolla that hasn't been serviced in years, not even for the nct. She doesn't see the point as the car drives fine. You can't get away with that for long with the 1.6 psa engine that's in the focus.

Servicing and preventative maintenance will prolong the life of any engine and is cheaper in the long run, obviously not everybody understands this.

dr.fuzzenstein

mickeyk wrote: »

That was my point. To answer your question many older petrol engines used to keep going forever when completely abused for lack of servicing. I have a colleague driving a 98 Corolla that hasn't been serviced in years, not even for the nct. She doesn't see the point as the car drives fine. You can't get away with that for long with the 1.6 psa engine that's in the focus.

Servicing and preventative maintenance will prolong the life of any engine and is cheaper in the long run, not everybody understands this.

I find the older engines will run forever, even if abused. As long as you keep the oil topped up.
If it doesn't get changed, everything wears and then oil pisses down the valve stems, past the piston rings and out of every seal of the engine.
Used to be easy to spot, drops of oil on the driveway and if you opened the oil cap with the engine running, great puffs of smoke would come out and your car would do a great steam train impression.
How do I know? I owned enough neglected 70's/80's high-mileage smokers. Wouldn't go anywhere without a 5 liter oil canister in the back.
On the other hand, these cars are the most vulnerable, forget to top up the oil for a few weeks and bang goes the engine.
It is true that you could not treat the 1.6 that way, it will simply sh*t itself and throw all it's cogs and turbos out of the pram.

mullingar

There were a lot of turbo failures but we're mostly attributed to poor servicing or incorrect oil which starves the turbo of its oil. Not enough oil to lubricate and cool the bearing = dead turbo.

Service it every 10k miles (not the 12.5k miles as specified) and all is good. Also make sure that if carbon builds on any of the injectors that the seal is replaced.

Ford/PSA redesigned the engine from a 16v to a 8v (fitted from the Mk3) and this for some reason is a lot more immune to oil starvation to the turbo.

PukkaStukka

Wifes Cmax (2005) with same engine has 130,000 miles on it now and runs quite well. It gets an oil change twice a year using the genuine stuff. Only exceptional item of note needing attention was the cam chain which became noisy and is expensive to replace. Apparently these chains are gaining a reputation for doing this. I don't know if newer engines are similarly affected or just the earlier ones.

RedDeadMarshal

Never knew the focus had a French engine in them. Not to keen on the focus myself I should say it's my woman who'll be driving it mostly doing motorway miles. I need something between 7000-8000 euro and It has to be 1.6 and under. Also the tax has to be cheap on it. Told her about the 1.4 auris but she doesn't like the look of it. Was also looking at the 1.4 or 1.6 fiesta from 2009 how are those little cars? I mainly want something with a 6th gear for her because of the motorway driving she's doing.

dr.fuzzenstein

RedDeadMarshal wrote: »

Never knew the focus had a French engine in them. Not to keen on the focus myself I should say it's my woman who'll be driving it mostly doing motorway miles. I need something between 7000-8000 euro and It has to be 1.6 and under. Also the tax has to be cheap on it. Told her about the 1.4 auris but she doesn't like the look of it. Was also looking at the 1.4 or 1.6 fiesta from 2009 how are those little cars? I mainly want something with a 6th gear for her because of the motorway driving she's doing.

Well, I wouldn't pick the Auris over the Focus, always thought Toyotas to be a bit bland, boring, tincanny and not as solid on the road as a Focus. Now the boggo spec 1.4 Focus is also a bit feeble and doesn't have that solid fell to it, but a ZETEC spec Focus (at the very least) is a nice thing to drive.
If you want an absolute hoot, get the Fiesta with the 1.6 TDCI engine, it propels it along rather swiftly. Had one as a rental on the German Autobahn and never felt wanting a bigger car. Highly recommended.

JohnBoy26

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Well, I wouldn't pick the Auris over the Focus, always thought Toyotas to be a bit bland, boring, tincanny and not as solid on the road as a Focus. Now the boggo spec 1.4 Focus is also a bit feeble and doesn't have that solid fell to it, but a ZETEC spec Focus (at the very least) is a nice thing to drive.
If you want an absolute hoot, get the Fiesta with the 1.6 TDCI engine, it propels it along rather swiftly. Had one as a rental on the German Autobahn and never felt wanting a bigger car. Highly recommended.

The mk2 focus is very "tincanny" too, the doors especially. The engine in the Toyota is much more maintenance friendly and is a well proven reliable unit.

Toyotafanboi

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Well, I wouldn't pick the Auris over the Focus, always thought Toyotas to be a bit bland, boring, tincanny and not as solid on the road as a Focus. Now the boggo spec 1.4 Focus is also a bit feeble and doesn't have that solid fell to it, but a ZETEC spec Focus (at the very least) is a nice thing to drive.
If you want an absolute hoot, get the Fiesta with the 1.6 TDCI engine, it propels it along rather swiftly. Had one as a rental on the German Autobahn and never felt wanting a bigger car. Highly recommended.

I would be curious as to how the difference in trim level makes the focus drive better?

MuppetCheck

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I would be curious as to how the difference in trim level makes the focus drive better?

Zetec had different suspension, only a slight difference mind.

dr.fuzzenstein

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Zetec had different suspension, only a slight difference mind.

Exactly that, the poverty spec 1.4 Focus mk2 doesn't feel solid on the road, is very slow and the gearstick feels flimsy and horrible. It's not a slight difference, it is quite noticeable. So if you drive one of those and then hop into a 1.8 TDCI zetec, it is an entirely different car. There is absolutely nothing flimsy or tinny about my CMax. I've driven a corolla and auris and wouldn't have them over mine.