Yet Another Focus Thread

[AlienCraft]

I'm afraid it's the timing belt.
Yes, they installed a new one, but sir, that was over 128,000 hard driving miles ago!
Ford says you should have changed that one 50,000 miles ago! You'll be lucky if you didn't bend a valve or hurt something else.

We won't know until we open her up.... or .... do you want us to.....

 

[Squisher]

Your post is very cryptic. Let me put on my forensic thread reading hat and try to figure out what you're saying.

You have an early 2000's Focus with 220K on it and you want to know if you should put a junkyard motor in it?

Help me here, what's it worth?
How much for the junkyard engine? Warranty? Cost for install?

The worst part about a junkyard install is that although the motor usually comes with a warranty (30 days usually), your install costs are not, so if you install a bad engine, yes, you get a new one, but have to pay for the swap.

 

[tfinch2]

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Squisher
Your post is very cryptic. Let me put on my forensic thread reading hat and try to figure out what you're saying.

You have an early 2000's Focus with 220K on it and you want to know if you should put a junkyard motor in it?

Help me here, what's it worth?
How much for the junkyard engine? Warranty? Cost for install?

The worst part about a junkyard install is that although the motor usually comes with a warranty (30 days usually), your install costs are not, so if you install a bad engine, yes, you get a new one, but have to pay for the swap.

Yep, that's the rub.
I'm hoping I can get the belt replaced and call it good. I just need to get through the first quarter of next year and I'll be in a better position to upgrade vehicle.

The current motor is a junkyard swap.
The first motor spun a crank bearing and broke the crankshaft right under a journal.
That was a year and a half ago. I drive it hard, 5 days a week, oh yeah, we've gone through one transmission as well.
I was getting an average of 32 mpg when I paid attention to the top speed.

My motto for this car is "rebuilding it, one part at a time! "

 

[Arkaign]

What's your financial situation/family situation/driving needs? Try the belt first.

IF :

You can afford a moderate payment
Have credit that isn't abysmal
Need to drive an average/above average miles/yearly

Then you might want to look at upgrading to a newer vehicle. You can get into an '05+ Focus for not much $$, and the Duratec 2.0 is the best motor in the Focuses. More power and better fuel economy than the older Zetec and SPI motors, and it doesn't use a timing belt, it uses a chain rated for the life of the motor.

If the car is pretty much toast (needs rebuild/valve job/new motor/etc), and you don't want to jump into a new payment immediately, you could also scoop up a Geo Prism from the mid to late '90s. Those are actually Toyota Corollas with a Geo/Chevy badge, and they are very reliable and get good fuel economy. Very decent ergonomics as well, solid little cars. Probably score one for $1,200 to $4,000, depending on years/mileage. Advantage here is that you could probably drive it for a year or more, and as long as you take good care of it or fix it up a little, you'll be able to sell it for what you paid for it.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
What's your financial situation/family situation/driving needs? Try the belt first.

IF :

You can afford a moderate payment
Have credit that isn't abysmal
Need to drive an average/above average miles/yearly

Then you might want to look at upgrading to a newer vehicle. You can get into an '05+ Focus for not much $$, and the Duratec 2.0 is the best motor in the Focuses. More power and better fuel economy than the older Zetec and SPI motors, and it doesn't use a timing belt, it uses a chain rated for the life of the motor.

If the car is pretty much toast (needs rebuild/valve job/new motor/etc), and you don't want to jump into a new payment immediately, you could also scoop up a Geo Prism from the mid to late '90s. Those are actually Toyota Corollas with a Geo/Chevy badge, and they are very reliable and get good fuel economy. Very decent ergonomics as well, solid little cars. Probably score one for $1,200 to $4,000, depending on years/mileage. Advantage here is that you could probably drive it for a year or more, and as long as you take good care of it or fix it up a little, you'll be able to sell it for what you paid for it.

First bolded = Huh? <Scooby doo >
Second bolded = I dunno, I put hella miles on them. I'm leaning towards the '05 Duratec you're talking.
I'll guess the best MPG's gonna be with a manual, but I'm old and the convenience of an auto is not to be discounted. I'll have to see when we go looking....

 

[BUTCH1]

How is the front end and driveline??it all depends on the condition of the overall car, does the AC still work? are the brakes/tires serviceable? kind of a waste to spend$$ for the motor swap to only drive it a short time. Oh yea, when a car gets to that high mileage it's time to give it a break, pounding on a car with 220K on it is not too smart..

 

[Pacfanweb]

You have a 500 dollar car, at most, with that many miles on it if it was running.

Question is, would it be worth it to YOU to spend more than it's worth to keep it running?

e.g., how is the rest of the car? Brakes...trans...tires....A/C...interior....etc?

 

[Emission]

Haha, deadlock vote results.

I voted in the direction of a new car. 220k miles is overdoing it to keep something going past that mark.

 

[spaceman]

sell it for what you can and buy something better.
even finance a small amount of you need to.
the only thing i would sink into a vehicle with 220k is a few bullets and maybe smack it off a couple trees.

 

[f1r3s1d3]

Get it running, sell it and get a newer Focus

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
You have a 500 dollar car, at most, with that many miles on it if it was running.

Question is, would it be worth it to YOU to spend more than it's worth to keep it running?

e.g., how is the rest of the car? Brakes...trans...tires....A/C...interior....etc?

Yep, I've gotten my money's worth out of it. And then some.

The rest of the car is in very good shape, no rips in the interior, the carpet is worn, but no biggy, the A/c blows ICE COLD and the brakes and Front End are in good shape, although The Rack and Pinon assembly need to be replaced. Leaky seals.
Tires are all good, I rotate 2 out every 60K miles or so, so right now, 2 are practically new, 2 are on their way out.



I think I'm going to go look for a Prism / Corolla / '05+ Focus, trade this one in and start over.

< I should be a Real World Tester for Auto makers. I put more miles on in a month than most people do in a year.