Ok, I'll be honest. I used to be a strictly import kind of girl, and sort of still am, but I recently purchased a 2004 SVT. I liked the idea of a quick hatch and I really fell in love with it when I first went to see it/ drove it.

That being said, I've been on the borderline of regretting this purchase ever since I drove it home. The motor and transmission are solid as a rock, but it's just the little things that continuously need repairing that are starting to eat at my patience.

When I bought the car the following was wrong with it:

1. Check engine light (p1518 code)
3. Small coolant leak
4. Power steering pump was obnoxiously loud
5. Alignment is off

Since then, the coolant leak grew into a coolant flood which left me stranded on the side of the road. Turns out it was the block heater bolt come lose from the block. We had to remove the intake manifold just to get to it.


So since we fixed the coolant leak and the power steering noise, we attempted to fix a new oil leak to no avail. We spent the whole day with my car on the lift JUST trying to remove and replace the RTV on the lower oil pan gasket. I suppose what I'm irritated with is the fact that we had to remove part of the exhaust just to get to the oil pan...but to get the exhaust off we had to remove the 02 censor...which was not an easy task. We finally got it off though and replaced the RTV only to find that the top gasket was leaking oil as well. In short, it took us all day to do something that should have taken us an hour, tops.

Upon further inspection of the car, I also noticed the heat shields are completely useless...I mean they're all crunchy and cracked...We actually removed the section of heat shield above the mid-pipe simply because it was rattling and not doing much from what we could tell.

I love driving my SVT but because of the loss of low end power due to my actuator, I'm sure it's not nearly as fun as it's capable of being. I suppose my point is I just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's just one thing after another that keeps going wrong and I don't foresee this car being a reliable DD.

I don't want to give up on her yet but I'm getting close to that point. Any encouragement/ advice is appreciated!

<3 Cory

thats about the normal little problems that these cars have. the svt is my first car and i had to go over all that plus other things but since i have no point of comparison to other car, i cant say the repairs are too constant, hard, or expensive.

there is this how to repair that actuator (try this before buying a new one since its like 150 iirc)
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=222180

alignment is about normal.. im used to it, just constantly check that your tires are not getting eaten to the wires, dont forget to rotate

Cant say i can help you on repairing the car, lord knows ive had my fair share of issues.


BUT, i can say that there are very few cars that can put a smile on my face like my car does. And ive driven ALOT of cars.

I love my SVT and with 80k had no problems with it, maybe just the ocational rattle from the heat shield and O2 sensors, but from there had no issues and a drive it hard, is made to be driven. I'm also a Ford tech and we hardly see them except for alternators and timing belts, so if the car was neglected by the previous owner you are just the lucky recipient of that neglect, my advice to you is fix it everything at once get it out of the way and enjoy it.

sorry for the bad luck, howmany miles are on it?

That^, and it will get better, when my girl got her 03 zx3 2.3l it had so many problems the guys at the shop couldn't find or fix, same with my wagon I had to rebuild the motor and fix some electrical problems, But after you find it, fix it, and maintain it, thing's start getting better and funner.

And working on the engine or other parts doesn't seem to take a lot of time, after doing it a couple of times it gets way easier every time.

I vote 1, for fix it and keep it, SVT's are rare in some parts of this country.

It has 84k on it.

How do you change that upper gasket on this car? I also saw some oil coming out from under the crank pulley.

So you bought a car with problems you already knew about, did nothing about them and then get mad when those things progress into bigger problems?

I fail to see how you are blaming any of this on anything other than yourself. Yeah it sucks when things go wrong on a car, but if you buy a car that you know has problems and don't fix them why would you expect anything less than more problems?

Sorry to sound like an ass...I'm just saying...

Posted via FF Mobile Enjoy the svt while you can, although it has it quarks it is one of the most rewarding cars to drive in its class. There will be a light, you just got to get thru a few things. You never know how the last person treated the car so things might show up. How many miles are on it also? Did the previous owner keep up on the tsb replacements? Check into the svt section to identify the tsbs and if you can see if they were done.

Btw welcome to the forum...its nice to have another girl around that knows a few things about cars. [;)]

So you bought a car with problems you already knew about, did nothing about them and then get mad when those things progress into bigger problems?

I fail to see how you are blaming any of this on anything other than yourself. Yeah it sucks when things go wrong on a car, but if you buy a car that you know has problems and don't fix them why would you expect anything less than more problems?

Sorry to sound like an ass...I'm just saying...

You don't sound like an ass, you're stating a valid point and I understand where you're coming from. The only thing I can blame Ford for is the horrible design of the car. It would have made my life a lot easier if I could have removed the oil pan without removing my mid-pipe. Removing the mid-pipe was a terror. Even with removing the dog bone mount and swinging the engine forward, we couldn't free the studs at the head of the pipe. We had to take a crow bar and essentially pry and shake the engine pretty violently to free the studs. The problem was the 02 sensor was in the way and so close to the block that we couldn't get an 02 sensor removing tool over it.

Likewise, having to take the intake manifold out to get to the block heater wasn't great either. It just seems to me like they planned out the top side of the engine bay and when they got to the bottom they just kind of threw everything in there however it would fit.

I agree with kjsoccerdude. I would never buy a car KNOWING it has issues, unless I'm spending a few hundred bucks on a beater. If you knew that stuff was wrong, and didn't immediately fix it, then whatever happens as a result of that, is on you.

SVT's and Foci in general are pretty cheap and easy to fix and keep maintined as long as you do that..keep it maintained.

I've got an '01 ZX3 with 122k miles and the most major thing I've fixed was a wheel bearing. I'm doing the timing belt, serpentine belt and all the pulleys here soon as well. Not because they give me any problems other than the serpentine belt squealing a bit when its wet, but because if I don't, then when the timing belt does snap, I'm going to have a gang of repairs on top of it.

Fix what's wrong with your car, maintain it, and enjoy the piss out of it. SVT's are great rides. When properly maintained.



Posted via FF Mobile

You don't sound like an ass, you're stating a valid point and I understand where you're coming from. The only thing I can blame Ford for is the horrible design of the car. It would have made my life a lot easier if I could have removed the oil pan without removing my mid-pipe. Removing the mid-pipe was a terror. Even with removing the dog bone mount and swinging the engine forward, we couldn't free the studs at the head of the pipe. We had to take a crow bar and essentially pry and shake the engine pretty violently to free the studs. The problem was the 02 sensor was in the way and so close to the block that we couldn't get an 02 sensor removing tool over it.

Likewise, having to take the intake manifold out to get to the block heater wasn't great either. It just seems to me like they planned out the top side of the engine bay and when they got to the bottom they just kind of threw everything in there however it would fit.



Posted via FF Mobile And yes there are some packaging issues with those models of ford foci...youll appreciate the location of the oil filter when you go to do an oil change LOL, such a pita but you get used to it.

You don't sound like an ass, you're stating a valid point and I understand where you're coming from. The only thing I can blame Ford for is the horrible design of the car. It would have made my life a lot easier if I could have removed the oil pan without removing my mid-pipe. Removing the mid-pipe was a terror. Even with removing the dog bone mount and swinging the engine forward, we couldn't free the studs at the head of the pipe. We had to take a crow bar and essentially pry and shake the engine pretty violently to free the studs. The problem was the 02 sensor was in the way and so close to the block that we couldn't get an 02 sensor removing tool over it.

Likewise, having to take the intake manifold out to get to the block heater wasn't great either. It just seems to me like they planned out the top side of the engine bay and when they got to the bottom they just kind of threw everything in there however it would fit.


I believe that car companies make some things as hard as possible to discourage people from working on them, I see it as a challenge, and I will take fords challenges any day of the year.

At least she possesses the gift of knowledge and determination.

She's already tackled the noisy power steering pump, the coolant leak, and the bottom oil pan RTV. Now the top one needs to be done, and the alignment. After that, it should be smooth sailing and just general maintenance. Like the timing belt lol.

once you get all the little bugs out you will really enjoy this car (if you haven't been already)

ps. the oil filter is fun :)

Honestly the oil filter isn't bad for me... I found it rather easy.

Not as bad as my Spec-V.... that little f-er is right next to the passenger side wheel :O

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Btw welcome to the forum...its nice to have another girl around that knows a few things about cars. [;)]

Thanks for the welcome!

In all honesty there's just no way I can give up on this car. I spent a good amount of money on it and I was really excited when I got it...I'm just hoping to sort all of the remaining issues quickly and efficiently.

Good to hear it. When I got my Wagon almost 4 months ago, half way through fixen it there was a loom in my head to sell it and try and find a zx3, but after putting all this work into it, no way, unless I got a very good offer.