YACT: Think I should go synthetic in the Focus?

[waggy]

Originally posted by: steppinthrax

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Eli, the Mercon V ATF that is used in your Focus is already a synthetic.

When you talk about a delay in shifting to first when moving, what do you mean?

If you mean that when you're driving at 5-10 mph and give the car more throttle it's not at all uncommon for an automatic to prefer staying in second and take a pretty hefty amount of throttle to get the transmission to kick down into first. Some will even start in second if you don't use much throttle.

My old Accord never liked to shift into first unless I really stood on the throttle and even then it would hesitate a half-second (for example, coming onto the throttle out of a 15mph corner). Did that from day one when my parents bought it with 20,000 miles in 1990 all through the 205,000 miles that the first transmission lasted.

Pay no attention to steppinthrax, I've seen some of his posts before and he's nothing more than a one-trick troll. He claims a lot of mechanic's credentials but the only "advice" he has ever offered to anyone is to never buy an American car.

ZV

I never stated that I've had mechanics credentials. I'm not ASE certified or a Master Tech. I'm an amateur mechanic that have worked on various cars proving my experience. Regarding my American car statements. You just said yourself that your Accord went 205K. That is why I pursued people to never buy American.

my F150 had 200k miles
my old ranger had 175 before it died (my fault though. was running it on the farm and ran over stuff i shouldnt have)



i have owned 7 accords in my life and more fords. i have had more trouble with the accords then any ford i have owned.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: DEMO24

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: steppinthrax
First what do you consider nickel and dimeing. Second although the gap is closing between quality. The quality v.s. cost of most foreign cars make it worth it to opt foreign. Lastly, your telling me that your dad's one ford represents all Fords sitting on the road!!!!!!

1) About $2,000 in repairs each year.

2) So you claim. No good supporting evidence though. When you have a full ROI case, I'll believe you.

3) And yet when you thought that my Accord went 205,000 miles without problems you were perfectly ready to let that one car represent all foreign cars on the road. If you can play the game of "one foreign car lasting a long time is proof that they all last a long time", then I can play the same game with domestics.

For the record, Dad's had 3 Explorers. With the exception of the second one (which, at 120,000 mies without problems, was, while stopped, rammed into a semi by a motorhome going 45 MPH and totaled, though dad and his passenger walked away without a scratch), they've all gone at least 180,000 miles before we got rid of them.

The '98 Eddie Bauer is now driven largely by my sister and Dad bought a Honda Pilot to replace it. He has had more problems with the Pilot than with all three Explorers combined. (The Pilot has needed a new transmission, has had the PCV system fail, and he's had the thing in the shop for dash rattles at least 5 times before finally giving up and wedging business cards into and gap in the plastic to shim things up and stop the rattling.) He hasn't been impressed.

ZV

Sounds like your dad got a bad pilot there. Usually they are pretty reliable, as are most hondas

Transmission was replaced free as part of a recall.

PCV failue was at 120,000 miles.

Dash rattle was "normal" according to several different dealers.

ZV

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: steppinthrax
For $2K of repairs on a car at any year means you got ripped. You went to a mechanic right. What exactly was wrong with the car. I don't even think a used tranny and motor for that car (combination) would cost that much....

At the time I was putting about 25,000 miles a year on the car, so double normal use. And $2K is nothing in repairs. It's a drop in the bucket. I'd kill to have my 951 (one of those "reliable" foreign cars) only cost me $2,000/year to maintain.

As for what went wrong:

- Both front calipers started sticking (verified) and the result was replacing the front brakes in total. (New calipers, not doing a rebuild on brakes)
- A/C system failed, replaced condensor, receiver, compressor, hoses, fittings, retrofitted to R-134a.
- Rear floor rusted through and required re-welding the seat belt mounting point.
- Glove box literally fell out.
- Persistent running fault at idle, never solved.
- Transmission rebuild at 205,000 miles (I don't bother with used parts, that's an unacceptable risk to me, I only bother with new or rebuilt).

Those are the big things that I remember. There were a bunch of other little odds and ends. It was just an old car, and old cars break. Even Japanese ones.

ZV

 

[Tremulant]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
It was just an old car, and old cars break. Even Japanese ones.

ZV

Lies! Japanese cars nevar break!!

Anyways, semi-on topic.. I had an '01 Focus ZX3 (new from the dealer). IIRC, I had about 60k miles on it before I wrecked it. The only problem that I ever had was that the brake pads were gone at about 16k miles.

It may have been my driving, or just crappy pads, but after having them replaced (at the dealer.. I know, ripoff), I didn't have to change them again.

 

[steppinthrax]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: steppinthrax
For $2K of repairs on a car at any year means you got ripped. You went to a mechanic right. What exactly was wrong with the car. I don't even think a used tranny and motor for that car (combination) would cost that much....

At the time I was putting about 25,000 miles a year on the car, so double normal use. And $2K is nothing in repairs. It's a drop in the bucket. I'd kill to have my 951 (one of those "reliable" foreign cars) only cost me $2,000/year to maintain.

As for what went wrong:

- Both front calipers started sticking (verified) and the result was replacing the front brakes in total. (New calipers, not doing a rebuild on brakes)
- A/C system failed, replaced condensor, receiver, compressor, hoses, fittings, retrofitted to R-134a.
- Rear floor rusted through and required re-welding the seat belt mounting point.
- Glove box literally fell out.
- Persistent running fault at idle, never solved.
- Transmission rebuild at 205,000 miles (I don't bother with used parts, that's an unacceptable risk to me, I only bother with new or rebuilt).

Those are the big things that I remember. There were a bunch of other little odds and ends. It was just an old car, and old cars break. Even Japanese ones.

ZV

At how many miles did the caliper thing happened. It is recomended and I tell others to flush brake fluid. Although it isn't commonly mentioned on owners manuals. It's good to do that at around 100K. When the brake system ages the seals break down and get jam up pistons. Was this ABS.

BTW what year was this.

When you mean the A/C system failed you mean the compressor burnt out or did this system become dirty. Being the fact that you had to retrofit to R-134a telling me this was like a Honda in the 80's 90's

Older japanese cars are famous for rusting out. I can't find a early 91 camry that has rusted out rear/front wheel wells.

I replaced the automatic transmision in my saturn at 116K. I got a transmission from a junkyard with a saturn that only had 42K on the clock. The saturn was side swiped. My saturn with that transmission has around 200K on it and the transmission smooths perfect. I verified the transmission myself and looked at the car it was coming out of. The transmission was only 400 dollars but hey I saved about 1K. As long as you know where your part is coming from and you have the know how to verify age you can get a part from anywhere. The only items I won't get from junk yards are like distributors/caps/exahust parts/wires/batteries. (Tune-up parts)

 

[Pacfanweb]

Back on topic:

Eli, I'm pretty sure Mercon V is Semi-Sythetic, or a blend. Not 100%.

YMMV if you switch to a full synthetic.....I will tell you, though, and this is from years of experience working at the largest dealership in the Southeast,
(a Ford dealership, mind you) that the Focus does not have many engine or tranny problems. Other stuff happens, but overall they are pretty solid little cars.

And to steppinthrax: If you don't think that Jap cars break down much, go to the local Honda or Toyota dealership and look at the entire place: Tell me...what's the biggest building there...sales or service?
Because if they never broke, the service department wouldn't be the biggest building on the lot, and it wouldn't be FULL of broken-down cars.
Toyota has had some horrendous engine problems over the last ten years. Hondas break plenty, too.
Yes, they are still SLIGHTLY less repairs per 100 vehicles, but that gap is very narrow now and is still closing.

Finally: You are admittedly uncertified on any level in auto repair. So my advice to you would be, don't come in here and start telling us professionals how cars work and how to do auto repairs.
Read and learn, young one. Better to keep one's mouth (or keyboard) shut and be thought a fool than to open up and remove all doubt.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Back on topic:

Eli, I'm pretty sure Mercon V is Semi-Sythetic, or a blend. Not 100%.

YMMV if you switch to a full synthetic.....I will tell you, though, and this is from years of experience working at the largest dealership in the Southeast,
(a Ford dealership, mind you) that the Focus does not have many engine or tranny problems. Other stuff happens, but overall they are pretty solid little cars.

And to steppinthrax: If you don't think that Jap cars break down much, go to the local Honda or Toyota dealership and look at the entire place: Tell me...what's the biggest building there...sales or service?
Because if they never broke, the service department wouldn't be the biggest building on the lot, and it wouldn't be FULL of broken-down cars.
Toyota has had some horrendous engine problems over the last ten years. Hondas break plenty, too.
Yes, they are still SLIGHTLY less repairs per 100 vehicles, but that gap is very narrow now and is still closing.

Finally: You are admittedly uncertified on any level in auto repair. So my advice to you would be, don't come in here and start telling us professionals how cars work and how to do auto repairs.
Read and learn, young one. Better to keep one's mouth (or keyboard) shut and be thought a fool than to open up and remove all doubt.

Here's to hoping... :beer:


What should I look out for? I really do not like automatic transmissions. Honestly, I'm always afraid that one could die at any moment whenever I'm driving one, and every new or different shift alerts my senses. I dun like it.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Eli
Here's to hoping... :beer:


What should I look out for? I really do not like automatic transmissions. Honestly, I'm always afraid that one could die at any moment whenever I'm driving one, and every new or different shift alerts my senses. I dun like it.

All these electronic valve bodied trannys these days do not act as predictably as the old styles.
You get all kinds of little glitches and funny stuff that happens, particularly at very low speeds.

All that, and they are still susceptible to the standard mechanical concerns, too.

But really, your particular tranny does not give much trouble. Change the fluid when you're supposed to, and don't beat it. It's that simple.
Other parts of the car have concerns, and I think I mentioned some of those in your original thread about your engine concern.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: Eli
Here's to hoping... :beer:


What should I look out for? I really do not like automatic transmissions. Honestly, I'm always afraid that one could die at any moment whenever I'm driving one, and every new or different shift alerts my senses. I dun like it.

All these electronic valve bodied trannys these days do not act as predictably as the old styles.
You get all kinds of little glitches and funny stuff that happens, particularly at very low speeds.

All that, and they are still susceptible to the standard mechanical concerns, too.

But really, your particular tranny does not give much trouble. Change the fluid when you're supposed to, and don't beat it. It's that simple.
Other parts of the car have concerns, and I think I mentioned some of those in your original thread about your engine concern.

As always, Pacfan is spot-on.

The only real "sure sign" I can think of is heavy shifting, that is, an excessive lurch or shudder when changing gears. Even that is relative though as a modern automatic can vary shift firmness in normal operation.

I share your fundamental un-ease with automatics, but overall they're pretty reliable. Most issues are caused by people who never change the fluid. Keep to the fluid change schedule and have it flushed when you change it and you should be fine.

ZV

 

[Eli]

I think that's going to be my biggest problem.

I'm fairly hard on my cars. I've been better at resisting the temptation to beat on it, but it still happens occasionally.

I've been experimenting with using the accelerator to shift if I am doing a WOT run.

Just as the transmission is about to shift, I let off the gas almost completely, which causes the engine's revs to drop as the transmission shifts.. I assume this should be much better for the clutch packs, instead of keeping the pedal mashed.. which will cause the next gear to clamp the engine down while its at full output.

Kinda tricky though, but I've pulled it off well a few times and it feels and sounds much less harsh on the transmission.