The world has interrupted my fun somewhat but still I persist!
First goal was to make a legal road car out of it so I prioritized a few items. Tires and wipers were the only things keeping it from passing inspection so I jumped on those.
But stuff happens ya know!
Tire store destroyed 2 lug nuts trying to remove the old wheel. I watched as they worked and saw that every lug was giving them trouble and even popping the wheel loose from the hub requires great force. After the wheel monkeys and I started trying to stare the wheel off, a fellow walked up and asked if he could try. He proceeded to grab a mounted truck tire and hammered each wheel a couple of times and they fell off...except the one with the boogered lug nuts.
Took her home with 3 new tires and a plan. Tried hammering on an impact...fail, notched it with a chisel to rotate it out...fail! I had to stop and walk away several times as I am one of those that will let a lug nut problem lead me to a screaming attack with a splitting maul if I let it.
Drill it? Drill it! I am of the opinion that every drill bit that comes in a blow molded box is just a collection of drill shaped objects designed to make you think you have drill bits!
Finally got a couple of decent bits and it only took 2 hours! Did the tire trick to bust it from the hub.
Yes, they are all coming back off to wire brush and clean stuff while I replace the front brake stuff, but it should pass inspection tomorrow.
Bruce
I had to replace the coil and wires to get it running right and I crossed the wires to cylinder 2 and 3 at the coil! Burned through a tank of gas with it crossed and it ran fine! How does that work? My theory is that the plug also fires on the exhaust stroke. I have heard of this but thought it was a weaker spark and for emissions purposes.
Still cleaning stuff too! I swear, dog hair is just crawling out of deep hiding places.
Bruce
In reply to egnorant :
Many engines run a wasted spark system that fires on the exhaust stroke. Cleaner emissions I believe is the goal. The spark is the same strength. Each coil fires on two holes every time so swapping 2 and 3 or 1 and 4 won't make any difference.
A couple things to look at. The wiring for the rear hatch is notorious for rubbing through the insulation and shorting out, this causes a huge amount of electrical gremlins. Check the CV axles carefully, any form of spirited driving can lead to exploded axles, doubly so if Rallycrossing/autocrossing with lots of grip. The plastic shift tower likes to break, the fix is a metal shift tower from an SVT, just move your shift knob/lever/bushing assembly over to the new one. The DPFE sensor goes bad often from the EGR gasses, you can either replace the sensor each time as it fails, or there's a mod to cap it off and not piss off the computer. The brake and clutch system are a big pain in the ass, in order to properly bleed it you need a pressure bleeder, and you have to bleed the brakes FIRST, then the clutch SECOND. This must be done any time the hydraulic system is opened, even if your only touching one of the systems. Failure do do so will result in the clutch not fully disenaging, or a squishy brake pedal. If you have other questions feel free to ask, I've come damn close to a full teardown on my Focus, and will probably have it fully stripped apart once my garage is finished.
Still learning fun stuff! I tackled 2 items yesterday. The throttle body had been on fire and the plate had gaps melted all around the edges causing air leaks. Rule one in junkyard parts shopping is to make sure the parts are the same. I pulled mine from an 02 automatic and they are totally different beasts! First was a different throttle cable hook up that would not work on mine. Maybe swap the bracket? Nope, They are different, totally different mounting points. How about swap the throttle plates? Naw! Old part just slides in a slot but the new plate has a gap on one side of the shaft with ribs on the plate...and the holes are in different spots! DANG! Well I will just swap shafts and all...NOPE! New shaft is bigger with different bearings, different methods of holding shaft bearings in the throttle body and they use different seals too.
Finally ground the ribs on the new throttle plate to allow it to slide in the old shaft, carefully drilled new holes and seems to work perfectly.
Clock spring was the same story. My only problem is a small plastic bump has broken off and it does not self cancel the turn indicators...just a small thing that bothers me!
All was well until I tried to plug in the electricals. Plug for the hookup to the rest of the car has square corners while my car has a rounded plug. Might have made it work if I had the plug from the donor car, but NOO! I'm not that smart or destructive. Found out the plug for the air bag and cruise control/horn is different. I might have snagged the donor steering wheel and airbag for another pile of money but I'm just too cheap, it is now dark and raining and the donor is 28 miles away. I thought to change just the part with the broken tab, but it is the part with the different CC/horn plugs. I just put the old one back and made that face while thinking evil thoughts.
One note: When tightening the 5.5 mm bolts that hold the airbag to the steering wheel, insure that the 5.5 mm socket is still attached to the ratchet and not hanging from the nut. Turning the wheel will let you reach a point where it just goes clunk while you wonder what part you forgot/installed wrong/broke...in the dark...in the rain.
More later!
Bruce
