2007 Ford Focus wagon, 5-speed

[BabyDiesel]

Awesome job Spif!!! 40 is quite the milestone!

Do you have the ScanGauge set to Hybrid mode? That is what I had to do when I started doing EOC.

[MetroMPG]

Congrats on the 40 milestone.

I've seen the same thing with my various Scangauges: sometimes it just doesn't fire up when you first start the car. I've just made it a habit to always look, and if it's not active, to press the home button to wake it up.

[spacemanspif]

Yep I'm set to hybrid mode. It's just like metro said his are like, just doesn't come awake sometimes. I try to check it before pulling out but it seems that for every time I catch it and wake the gauge up there is another time when I don't. It's funny because in my Monte I use a scangauge too for the X-gauges so I didn't need to buy a million individual ones but I've never had it not turn on in that car lol. Maybe it's a Chevy/Ford thing...

[Daox]

Since I did the alt disable on the Metro, I have to turn the SG on manually every time I start the car. I think it watches for that jump in battery voltage to turn on. Before that, I had no issues at all.

[spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by Daox

I think it watches for that jump in battery voltage to turn on.

That is correct. Linerlogic e-mailed me back saying that the gauge turns on with the change in voltage and that the behavior could be a sign of a weak battery or alternator. I'm going to switch the gauge into my Monte Carlo and see if it does it. The one in that car always turns on.

[spacemanspif]

Focus-AK asked in another thread for pictures of the underside of these cars so today I snapped a few while working on an oil change. Pretty messy in the rear but the middle isn't terrible. Thinking up a belly pan for the rear half but it's going to take more time laying under the car coming up with ideas. Pictures make the car look a lot more rusty than it does in real life, maybe one day I'll wash, wire brush and paint stuff...
From the front:



From the rear:

From the rear subframe forward:


Don't mind my dented gas tank on the right of the last picture. Previous owner must have a good story for that one, and the section of my AC condenser that pushed up...

[Focus-Ak]

Mike, I just made an interesting discovery on my '05 ZX3. There is about a 1/4" gap between the top of the grille and the lip of the hood. Air flowing here passes over a plastic shield, bypassing the radiator and directly into the engine bay. A rubber strip here, with a gap for the hood latch mechanism, should help warm-up times. Maybe not concern for you until winter, but should help then. I haven't tried it yet, but will soon.

[spacemanspif]

Long time no update. I've just been driving the car 120 miles/day and haven't had much time to think/work on it. Last week as I turned onto a road I saw what looked like a factory air dam, I think it was off a GM car or crossover because I think it is supposed to sweep under the car. I mounted it up-side-down using factory bolts but had to drill and bolt/nut through the bumper on the ends since it doesn't reach the end of the bumper cover. I don't think it looks too bad and am thinking about extending it with gutter guard (or anything else flat) but I'll let you guys decide.

I also filled the gap under the headlights with some foam tape. This is the same foam tape I used to try and fill the gap Focus-AK mentioned in the above post, but the gap is so damn big that the foam did nothing.





Thanks for looking

[ME_Andy]

That looks pretty sweet. I'd lean towards trimming the ends nicely with a Dremel tool or something.

PS why are you driving 120 mi/day!? That's loco.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by ME_Andy

That looks pretty sweet. I'd lean towards trimming the ends nicely with a Dremel tool or something.

PS why are you driving 120 mi/day!? That's loco.

I drive 140 a day. 70 Each way.