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New SVT...completley screwed (edit: not completely screwed anymore)

35K views 176 replies 47 participants last post by  p0sitivevibez 
#1 · (Edited)
Just bought a 2003 Comp Orange SVT. 95k, buddy checked it out with me Drove fine. Drove it all the way home from New Jersey. Yesterday it started surging at idle, then smelled burning smell. Had it towed to local shop...they said it's screwed. They're worried about em putting any more money into the car. So I have a few options....sell as whole as is...part it out...new engine. I really like the car, so thinking about new engine. Can anyone recommend a reliable vendor or how to get through this? I don't have all the money in the world but I have good credit and my dad and I are pretty good mechanically wise. Are there new SVT engines for sale? Low mileage used ones?

Something in the engine is burning up. It's running hot. Sensors are bad. Exhaust is broken (figured I could get one from Trubendz). Airbag light is on. Accelerator is sticking. Test drive and drive home was fine. FML
 
#3 ·
I have a near horror story... I just put a new ( junkyard) motor in my car. Along with a lot of other parts (new struts/shocks, new lca's, tirods, alt, starter, both O2s, and so on and so on) Still to this day, I do NOT regret how much time and money I put into this car so far.

Looking for a motor is a PITA! I ended up having a motor shipped from a junkyard. I bought a motor for $1300 shipped, just for comparison. Had 80K on it. Good luck.

Sorry to hear you're going thru this tho...
 
#4 ·
Yeah I WANT this car... it just doesn't seem to want me lol. How did you go about finding your engine? I was thinking of checking rebuilt engine sites and such. And thanks...it rains it pours around here, for me anyways.
 
#7 ·
I dropped it off last night, they talked to my old man on the phone this morning. Doesn't look good, but I'll see what the deal is when I go to the shop tonight. I'm finding rebuilt SVT blocks for $1800 with 100k warranty though, so hopefully all is not lost.
 
#12 ·
I might PM him. He's in North Carolina I think which ain't too far from Maryland. Closer than New Jersey I know that!!

I dunno if they're any laws since it was a private dealer and between two states (me, buyer Maryland and seller in New Jersey)

Am thinking maybe a bad water pump is why the car is running hot.
 
#13 ·
There are 2 great places in NC which could do a rebuild. Tom's around here in Belmont iirc and there's Top speed performance (where I'm getting my car tuned) around the outer banks somewhere. Both are on this site and fairly active so if you PM them, they should get back pretty soon after. Sorry this happened, kinda happened to me too but without the overheating, just burning oil, but good luck with your car and any future plans with it!
 
#17 ·
Thanks, I did find some blocks on there as well!!

Hope it's not the head gasket!

I'm (wishful) thinking it's the water pump, thermostat and o2 sensors causing all the problems. Radiator flush (which I think I can DIY), new water pump (DIY) and new thermostat (DIY?) and of course the o2 sensors can be done DIY. Wishful thinking, i gotta talk to the shop tonight. $1800 for warrantied block looks prety good though and I still have all these SVT parts from my conversion to sell for extra $$$
 
#18 ·
Does anyone even know what's wrong with the engine? Hell, for all you know the cat could be clogged and shut down the engine..................
 
#19 ·
It's the shop we always go to in my hometown. Good people, but I doubt they've seen many SVT Foci in that tiny country town. I'm going with my dad at 3:45, doesn't look good from what old man says.
 
#20 ·
I hate reading this stuff. My son wants an SVT really bad. There are 3-4 within 45 miles of me. They're a mix of dealers and private owners. I guess anyone will screw you if they can. One dealer has a decent price, but he's had it for a while. Must be a reason.
 
#27 ·
keep your head up im in h-town not that far away this is the 3rd focus build ive done and i get stumped but i wanna see the car and hear it before you go out and spend money for a engine>>>>dont give up brother you got this


josh
 
#28 ·
Hey if you're thinking of getting the motor rebuilt. We know a guy in Waynesboro. He's really good and he has done focus motors before. His name is Phil Benedict. The business is called Phil's Auto Service & Machine Shop. Waynesboro is about 30 minutes from Hagerstown so it still wouldn't be to bad of a drive for you from Frederick. Let me know if you want his number.
 
#29 ·
Thanks Josh, if you'd wanna take a look I'd throw down some $$ for gas and your time. It's at my folks house in Poolesville now.

The shop did a Maryland inspection and looked a little bit at the other problems:

-Engine is running hot and burning something (smell)
-Accelerator is slightly sticking
-Surging to 5k rpms in neutral, but driving fine in gear (besides accelerator sticking)
-flex is broken
-bottom of header is bent (I've read this is common)
-o2 sensors broken
-rear stabilizer/sway bar link broken on right side
-catalytic converter is iffy
-CEL light and e-brake light not turning on in dash
-1 ball joint has some play

I'd really like to drive this car, but the mechanic said "run!". He said since it's overheated and making that smell, there's no telling what else has burned up in it. I was thinking either sell the car as whole (and be truthful about all the problems), part it out (parents don't want that happening in their front yard), TRY and fix some of the problems (new exhaust, water pump, thermostat, radiator flush, new swaybar linkage, fix ball joint), engine rebuild, or junkyard or rebuilt engine. I know engines are about at least $1000, and gonna be another $1000 bucks to install. I don't know how much the car is worth as is with the problems. I'd like to recoup some of my loss or be able to drive the dang thing! The mechanic has never seen an SVT Focus before.

Thanks for everyone's help, hope I don't sound too whiny. Just at a loss as to what to do.
 
#30 ·
What does this "burning" smell, smell like. Out could smell funny cause of o2 being broke and running rich our lean. Could smell from plugged cat. The car may have over heated, but if it want for long and you shut it down you could be okay. Have a focus guy check out out. Shops don't always know what they are talking about.
 
#32 ·
Is it leaking coolant? Could be smelling that. Do a compression check. A house could have melted when it got hot. Like I said have someone from on here look at it. I don't trust shops to work on my car. Ford dealers are even sometimes iffy on proper try know what they are doing. They told me my Svt had a duratec.....
 
#174 ·
Just bought a 2003 Comp Orange SVT. 95k, buddy checked it out with me Drove fine. Drove it all the way home from New Jersey. Yesterday it started surging at idle, then smelled burning smell. Had it towed to local shop...they said it's screwed. They're worried about em putting any more money into the car. So I have a few options....sell as whole as is...part it out...new engine. I really like the car, so thinking about new engine. Can anyone recommend a reliable vendor or how to get through this? I don't have all the money in the world but I have good credit and my dad and I are pretty good mechanically wise. Are there new SVT engines for sale? Low mileage used ones?

Something in the engine is burning up. It's running hot. Sensors are bad. Exhaust is broken (figured I could get one from Trubendz). Airbag light is on. Accelerator is sticking. Test drive and drive home was fine. FML
OK car is driving, but not great.

Compression test was good. But there is a burning clutch/rubber smell still that scares me. Fan resistor replaced and fans are working. Throttle sticking but not as bad as before. Sometimes it revs up in neutral. Almost died when I turned the AC on sitting at a stop light. I went to replace the PCV valve last night and the v-shaped hose was so brittle it broke off, so I need one of those. Was gonna take to my buddys shop this morning but can't with the PCV valve like that. Flex pipe is broken but I bought another off of here. There is a pretty remarkable loss of power. I think that might be the flex pipe broken, the bad front o2 sensor and maybe a vacuum leak. Clutch/brake fluid resvoir cap was broken, have another coming in.
Drove it to work today. Drives awesome. Sweet jeebus this thing is a rocket compared to my ZX3. Will have to replace front struts, front wheel bearings, front swaybar links, unbend/replace rear subframe. Now have a small crack in windshield, either gonna have it done or get the kit. Gotta get it inspected, tomorrows the deadline.

Sorry to FF community for my poor communication skills on this.
Thanks all for the well wishes. Yeah he knew what was up lol. I have the knuckles out and are getting bearings pressed at the shop. New hubs and bearings, new shocks, new struts, front and rear swaybar links and control arms. Then an alignment. I won't worry about the rear subframe for now because I am completley broke. And yeah, i flushed the brake system and all other fluids..radiator was nasty! I'm gonna seafoam it soon as well. The car is timed properly now after I got it from my buddys shop. If you need work in Maryland, I'd highly suggest European Automotive Services iN Silver Spring/Kensington. I trust them and they won't do unneccessary crap or rip you off, and do AWESOME work. And dang ZXThrizzle, it's STILL leaking? Wtf?!? I wouldn't trust myself with timing on account of the SHTF if you're too off...kaboom.

I still have CEL for rear o2 sensor....got some spark plug non-foulers...for off road use of course..... And Airbag light is giving me problems (ground problem according to the codes..13), other than that she runs like a methed-out cheetah. Loving it and once suspension is all fixed up (DIY except for bearings and alignment) we'll be good to go. I Appreciate all the help and concern from FocusFanatics peeps and especially big one to Focus_Family and her fam for helping get this car back into shape.
Thanks!!

New problem.... did bearings/hubs/struts/shocks/control arms, swaybar links......

Got a problem I think coming from drive shaft on drivers side. The one my buddy hammered to get the the hub out of. Gonna pop off the wheel and have a look. Grinding starting from 1st and a "shutter" feel in the pedals in low speed/low gear. CV/drive shaft assembly isn't expensive thank God.

I knew I should've bought a hub puller!!

Aside from that the car is great!!! New suspension is soooo nice...no clunking or noises.
Thanks Chefster, yeah I replaced all that. Thermo, PCV, coil pack, etc. Burning gone. But now the clutch is slipping or we put the front suspension assemblys together wrong. Grinds coming out of 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I need to have someone look at it.

And yeah lol. It's like a friggin game of whack a mole!!! But I WILL fix this car and drive it forever. If I give up on the SVT, the terrorists win.
WELLLL..

grinding noise turned out to be really bad. Focus_Family and fam helped fill up my transmission fluid (it was very low). Grinding noise got better, almost gone. Driving down highway today to work, I put it in neutral at 70mph just to test it out. Wouldn't go into gear. Pulled off, couldn't start it in gear at all. They came down from Htown and drove my car home without the clutch (rev matching), and then bled it in my driveway. No go. Slave cylinder/clutch is toast. FML.

But Focus_Family and another buddy of mine from Virginia said they can help me install a new one. I can't afford to take it to a shop. Looking at the LUK kit, Exedy OEM, Brute Force and some others. I'm gonna take their advice and steer clear of the cheap off brand ones of ebay. Something I know is good by name cuz don't want any more problems. I've gotta class ring and some other stuff to sell to get some clutch money woot!

By the time this is over, the whole dayum car will be new.
UPDATE!!!! Car is running and driving, relativley fine!!!

Clutch, thermo, suspension, battery cable, etc. were all installed. I have been daily driving the car to and from work. It's I'd say 70% in good shape. Finally broke the clutch in. Still got a few problems

-roughness/loud/shaking - Focus_family looked at it and side it was passenger side mount. Ordered one of those
-VCT not working (worked before the clutch swap!)- my dad deleted 3 codes without writing them down, but that was over a month ago and they haven't come back. So think the solenoid is either disconnected? or needs to be dipped in brake cleaner or replaced. Focus_Family heard the intake manifold open up, but not VCT
-Idles high at startup - will idle between 1100-2200 in first few minutes of cold startup, then stays at 900-ish for the most part. Sometimes if I put it in neutral and roll to a stop the idle flucuates, but never too high
-Driver door is misaligned, hatch is misaligned, gas cap seems to open.close funny - think this has to do with the subframe being bent which shop told me, but I didn't follow up. Haven't got an alignment yet but it drives straight, but those items are misaligned. This issue worries me. Found rear subframes for like $120 locally. But dunno if that will fix the door and hatch misalignment. If I have to get frame straighetning so be it, for as much BS and $$ I put into this car to bring it back from the dead, i'm keeping it forever.
-sometimes there is a gassy/oily smell at startup, but always goes away. My MPG doesn't seem as high as I'd like but I guess at 70mph on the highway it's not gonna be prius like anyways
-lunchbox in exhaust is leaking water. Doesn't seem to be huge deal.

Thanks to everyone for all thier help!! I couldn't have done it without ya'll!!
Screw this POS. It's gonna be a parts car for my new SVT. I fix one problem and 3 more pop up. The frame is misaligned to the body. These car has been to hell and back again.


I'm probably missing more but,
Nearest I can find,
- you never had a 4 wheel alignment done (bear in mind that only toe is adjustable in the front, and toe/camber as one in the rear)
- you never chased down the exhaust leak, which seems to have been an issue since day 1


A new rear subframe will not fix any body misalignment. The 2 are unrelated.
It's pretty damn simple to align panels/hatch. Simply loosen bolts, move as needed and retighten.
W/O pictures I'm really doubting the subframe is bent to hell and that the body panels are out of alignment that far. It takes a very violent impact to bend the subframe and panels can move over time.

I'm not sure if I've ever seen another member so hot/cold about a damn car. It' works fine for months, 1 thing goes wrong and the whole damn car is a POS. Not to mention that you and you mechanic buddy looked at it when you bought it and everything seemed good. Day later it falls to shit?

Dunno. I'd seen you mention that you and your dad are mechanically inclined but I'm really not seeing that evidence. Turning a wrench is not mechanically inclined. That is simply the ability to follow directions, tab A into slot B.


Post exactly (and clearly) what has been done to the car since you've bought it and what it's doing currently. I'll try to do my best to help from here.
 
#34 ·
Hey man, don't give up! I know what it's like to have one thing after another go bad in an SVT. Just do as much troubleshooting as you can to figure out what's wrong with it.

I've read that it's been difficult to find someone with knowledge of the car to help you work on it, but there has to be someone around there that can help you. I've had terrible luck bringing my SVT to Ford dealerships, but maybe you'd have better luck bringing it by.

Good luck and keep us updated!
 
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