[ST170X]

Hi. Is anyone else having problems getting their Focus repaired in reasonable times. My ST170 had a failure of an actuator box that drives a valve in the inlet manifold back in early Dec 03. Ford ordered parts for the inlet manifold which took 4 weeks to arrive & then 3 weeks to get the car in to repair. The car was in the workshop for 2 days & they had to replace the inlet manifold as a pin that the valve moves on was broken. They have now had to order the actuator box which has motors inside & drives a drive shaft that is connected to the inlet manifold. It is now 3 weeks the part has still not arrived 15th Feb. I have phoned Ford each week to book the car a week ahead just incase the part arrives. The ETA for the part is late Feb & the car has been booked in on the 8th of March. The car has been a Pig to drive for 3 months now with this fault.

Does Ford keep any parts for this model in Australia. I import parts regularly & can easily get parts within a week from Europe. Have they not heard of FedEx. It bothers me that if something breaks that is required to drive the car that it could be off the road for weeks. A door trim was ordered for the car & took 4 weeks to arrive. I am seriously thinking of selling & going back to a reliable Jap car. I really like the car but its loosing me money as its used for Business.

Regards Mark :fraz:

 

[fordel]

Doesnt sound like you are having a good time of it there Mark, i so far havent had any major problems so cant say much about the parts, though i am still trying to track down the centre cap remover tool for the rims.... ford ppl all say they have no idea what this is, not even spare parts has heard of it, waiting for someone to chase something up tomorrow till then can only wait.

Might have to give them the British part number for the tool and see what they have to say about that.

Hope the car gets fixed quickly for you

Cheers

Chris

 

[russellw]

This is fairly typical of short run and specialist models.
Parts for Mustangs, Cougars, Probes etc. are and always will be difficult to source.
I am reminded of a tyre failure on a Mustang that required warranty replacement - sadly BFG don't make that size anymore and there were no spares in Aus so one came off a press fleet car to replace it.

It's a situation that will only worsen with time - I'd hate to think how some of the 400 odd unique parts in an Aus Mustang will be found in 10 years time - or the Aus sourced bits in an ST170 for that matter.

Part of the price we pay for having a low volume model.

Cheers
Russ

 

[ST170X]

Chris the centre cap tool is a bit like a paint tin removal tool. My tool was in the glove box & has a T handle. It does not work too well & if not careful will damage the caps. The centre cap has a spring clip & is very tight & you need to just lift the cap slightly & use a long blade screwdriver & insert it under the cap & to the centre where the clip is. You will need to go all around the cap gradually as not to bend or damage the edges. Keep a screwdriver in the car you will need it for flats.

Regards Mark

 

[lincolnr]

Well I'm still waiting for my new Focus. The first one had an ECU malfunction of some kind, so they ordered a new ECU, with an ETA of 2 weeks. I'm not impressed with that either, as other European manufacturers, such as Peugeot don't take that long. We'll have to wait and see if actually arrives in 2 weeks, it's due next Thursday.

As for my new car, they sourced one from ACT, I SHOULD have it by the end of the week, barring any other failures picked up in pre-delivery.

 

[fordel]

Mark, aye i ahve heard to use the screwdriver, which i am sure i will end up doing, but seen as the tool was never there in my glovebox i want it, just a matter of principle
How is your aircon going in this heat ? i dont think mine was as cool as it should have been last 2 days, mind you car was out in the sun for the entire day before i drove it tho... spose that would have some effeft on it


lincoln, damn sounds like they are having trouble getting that car for you hope they hurry up with it


Cheers

Chris

 

[lincolnr]

I don't think the Mustang and ST170 are really that low volume. They are sold in high numbers overseas. Citroen sell less Xsara VTS' per year than the ST170 volumes, and you'd never see a problem there. It's a Ford Head Office issue, rather than any difficulty issues. There are regulations regarding the provision of spare parts for new vehicles in Australia. Hopefully I won't need to be reminding Ford of them with my new car.

When I get it, that is. My new Ford buying experience has been fair from smooth, thus far.

 

[fordel]

For Australia they are low volume tho, the dealer i got mine through just rang and said there isnt another one in the state at the moment... not a huge volume there... but agree that they need to have a decent parts service happening

Cheers

Chris

 

[lincolnr]

Yes, but my point is that other manufacturers that sell less cars do not have an issue with parts. Just because Ford have a large dealer network, does not make it "ok" to be putting up with such delays. As Mark has said before "haven't they heard of FedEx?".

Chris, I'm getting a 3M tint on the ST when I get it. Full metal tint, should work well. It SHOULD be on the car when I meet up with you. If I get it with enough time...

 

[russellw]

I don't think the Mustang and ST170 are really that low volume. They are sold in high numbers overseas. Citroen sell less Xsara VTS' per year than the ST170 volumes, and you'd never see a problem there. It's a Ford Head Office issue, rather than any difficulty issues. There are regulations regarding the provision of spare parts for new vehicles in Australia. Hopefully I won't need to be reminding Ford of them with my new car.

If you read closely you would note that I was referring to the Australian modifications rather than the vehicles themselves and I do believe you will find that low volume vehicles are specifically excluded from the parts requirements legislated unless it has been amended since I last read it.

Cheers
Russ

 

[lincolnr]

Ah, sorry Russ. Is ST170 classified as Low Volume, like Mustang? I haven't read anything in the media about ST being a low volume import, but that doesn't normally mean anything. Do you have to sign a waiver or something acknowledging it's a low volume import when you bought the Mustang?

 

[fordel]

Well as there were only about 100 units imported it would be a low volume, same as the EVO VI that we had here only 100 of them was al ow volume, same as the stang only here in very small numbers

Cheers

Chris

 

[russellw]

Do you have to sign a waiver or something acknowledging it's a low volume import when you bought the Mustang?

Sadly that would imply transparency so the answer is no. Last I heard the total numbers for ST170 was in the order of 100 and the Mustang 300.

Cheers
Russ

 

[lincolnr]

It's just that EVO and Mustang were both reported in the media as being a low volume import, and although we all know 120 odd ST170s were brought in, I've never seen anything along these lines reported in the media...

 

[ST170X]

Hi Chris. The aircon has been excellent. Takes a few kms before it gets cold, but as you said it has been very Hot. Even today I had to turn it down to No1 after a few minutes as it was very cold. I also have the recirculation on all the time which when you have the aircon on seems to push out more air, give it a try. I am quite amased with the power drain on the motor which makes it a bit hard getting the thing off from the lights in the Hot weather. I have had some slight surging also in the Hot when cruising at 60km without accelerating.

Ford have also just added a picture of the ST170 to the Focus ad on TV, but I have only seen it on CH10. So I expect that they are wanting to sell a few to the younger audience. Pity that they won't spend a few bucks & do a good TV ad maybe like the silver Focus on the track but with a bit more agressive driving.

Regards Mark

 

[fordel]

Ive only ever heard of 100 from the media zetec said something about another 120 being brought in tho.. dont know if its correct of not

 

[3435414]

ST170X I have experienced the same in hot weathers in my Zetec. the air con drains alot of power from the engine even if its on NO1. is there anyway to fix this.. just to lower the amount of power drain?

 

[fordel]

Strange that my aircon i always have to leave on 4 to get a good breeze out of it even with recirc on... think thats just another thing to add for the 3000km service... going to make them fix everything i am not happy with, thanks for the info Mark


Cheers

Chris

 

[Zetec]

My aircon is a beast, I'm amazed with it, as for it draining the engine power, I agree but most cars below 3 litres will lose power on full aircon, up to 2 it makes no difference but settings 3 and 4 make a more noticeable difference yeah...

We have the only 2 ST170's in NSW and possibly the whole east coast of Australia as of this morning... so Lincoln mate we ARE trying!!!!!! First the engine computer needed to be replaced from the first one and in the mean time we ordered one from Canberra to come to speed up his delivery and it took longer than expected for a reason unbeknonst to us, totally out of our control... it arrived today and after giving shit to everyone in the dealership to get it up and running, it's getting damn near close. There isn't a soul in the dealership who doesn't want to see it out on the road ASAP Lincoln, I have been doing my best and I promise you I'll buy you a case of beer or a bottle of your favourite drink to thank you for your patience and try and alleviate the wait somewhat. As I said by sms, I'll let u know as soon as we have a definite time. If the engine computer arrives for the other one it will literally be a fight between which one we can get ready first. Trust me lincoln, we're trying!!! As for waiting 2 weeks for the ECU, it's beyond me and I am sorry I can't say why, your guess is as good as mine as to why it is taking so long...

But for the centree removal cap tool on the ST170 or whatever it is, fordel, try the Aussie part number instead, that should get the wind up the bastards... 96SX 17138AA

125 ST170's were brought into the country, in a couple of batches I believe... all 2003 builds. They are literally almost sold out and ford is bringing in, or at least considering bringing in some 2004's but that's not certain I don't think. It's not officially a low volume import, it is a regular model in the range, just Ford only brought in a small number initially. For it to classify as low volume it needs to be substantially different normally to the rest of the range aka a Mustang on it's own, or a Turbo RS Focus for example, the ST170 didn't need to be crashed as it was the same as the rest of the range virtually. I'll let you all know if more are on their way when I hear more.

Any other questions just give me a yell, I'll do all I can to help!!!

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Timmeh]

Just a quick note to reply about the aircons, even my Poverty Pack (tm) Focus air con is cold almost immediately, always before I leave the garage, close the door, and out onto the road - say half a minute or so. Give it a minute to be ice cold, I frequently have jets of fog pouring from the vents on humid days. I love European car's A/C systems.

3435414 - yes, there is something you can do. Buy an Under Drive Pulley kit, which will make your accessories work less hard, freeing up power to the engine. The air con will take longer to cool, but you won't feel as much drain on the engine.

And back to the original topic, I haven't had a problem with spares so far but I am guessing it's because my model is far more common! Although some parts I replaced with ST parts... all in lucky draw I guess.

Cheers... Tim