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I bought my '06 ZX5 this summer, so I've never been in cold weather with the thing till recently. But lately it's been much cooler in the mornings especially. Here are two things I've noticed.....
Engine warm-up time......It takes about a mile of driving @ 30mph for the engine to reach operating temperature on the gauge. This is about the same as every other car I've owned at this outside temperature of about 28F. During the summer, the gauge reached operating temperature really fast....about a block or so. But I know the engine had not warmed up that fast. I wonder if this gauge operation is normal for a Focus?
New rattles.....the worst is from the steering column. Mine is the telescoping kind. When you tighten the adjustment lever there is an audible rattle sound from the steering wheel when in gear (automatic). The idle speed is around 700rpms at that time. When you put your hand on the driver air bag, you can stop the rattle. Maybe some foam around the upper edge of the bag would eliminate the problem? I'm going to work on that.....
Any other cold weather problems to anticipate? Do the doors freeze up. or the hatch?
Engine warm-up time......It takes about a mile of driving @ 30mph for the engine to reach operating temperature on the gauge. This is about the same as every other car I've owned at this outside temperature of about 28F. During the summer, the gauge reached operating temperature really fast....about a block or so. But I know the engine had not warmed up that fast. I wonder if this gauge operation is normal for a Focus?
New rattles.....the worst is from the steering column. Mine is the telescoping kind. When you tighten the adjustment lever there is an audible rattle sound from the steering wheel when in gear (automatic). The idle speed is around 700rpms at that time. When you put your hand on the driver air bag, you can stop the rattle. Maybe some foam around the upper edge of the bag would eliminate the problem? I'm going to work on that.....
Any other cold weather problems to anticipate? Do the doors freeze up. or the hatch?