[Tbirdy]

I bought a new 2013 Focus hatchback with 2.0L non-turbo engine in April 2013. I let the dealer do the first oil change at 3500 miles. Now at 7500 miles I want to do another myself. (Have moved 100 miles from that dealer.) Looking under the car, I cannot determine where to jack it from using a floor jack. Is there a single lift point that serves that purpose...? Hopefully, there is a suitable lift point at both the front and rear ends of the car.

I also see a fiberboard cover that hides the entire bottom of the engine and transmission. Cannot see an oil pan drain plug, so assume it is hidden behind that cover. Does the whole cover have to be removed to get to the drain plug and oil filter...?

I am really unhappy with the location of the battery in this car -- stuffed up against the firewall. I can remove the front half of the battery cover, but see no way to get the battery out from under the rear half, nor any way to remove that.

Any help here is sincerely appreciated...!

I am quite impressed with the engine in this car, having 12:1 compression, and getting me 44 mpg highway mileage at 50 mph. I'm wondering if any other auto manufacturer is offering a gasoline engine with compression ratio that high. Anybody know...?

Thanks,
Gerry

 

[sailor]

Here's a whole thread on Oil Changes from the MkIII "stickies":http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=275451

Welcome to FF!

 

[Tbirdy]

Thanks, sailor. But MkIII sez "I used a floor jack at the front driver jack point (see manual)"... I don't know what he means by "front driver jack point", and my 2013 owners manual is virtually useless (maybe the 2012's was better). Could it be the lift point for the tire jack...? That would mean sticking in a jackstand then repeating at the other side of the car.

 

[Highball116]

I don't have an MkIII, but personally I drive mine up on ramps to change the oil. With a feeble unibody like these, I only use a jack when I need to take a wheel off, and in that case I use a block of wood behind the "jacking point" on the pinch weld -- not on the pinch itself. If you look at the scissor jack that comes with the car, it is not actually lifting the pinch. It has a raised reinforced lip that is pressing up on the horizontal steel behind and above the pinch, and it's that spot that bears the weight of the car. So I just put a small wood block there and pump it up with a floor jack. No crunching metal, no bent pinch weld. On the front I have only lifted one side at a time and wouldn't recommend trying to find a central point.

Ramps are easiest.

Toby

 

[sailor]

You'll see a lot of comments if you search 'jacking points" in the MkIII section.

I like using the cross member at the rear engine mount for a front point, with stands at the side jacking points. Can be hard to get to, one MkIII owner mentioned driving onto boards to get more room for access from the front for the jack.

Earlier manuals showed that as a jacking point along with the side tire jack points, and the rear cross member as a jack stand point. Check yours for reference, one of the threads in MkIII section pictured a similar diagram. Rear cross members are weak if too much force is on a small point, careful use of a wood block can make that a rear jacking point that's NOT official by spreading the load. AFAIK the MkIII is identical in that regard, the rear cross member isn't an official jacking point.

P.S. - here's a current thread in the MkIII section on the same subject:http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=475265

 

[#1fordfan]

you want a vehicle that the battery is fun to get to? Buy a 2006 dodge stratus...have to take the driver's side front tire off to get to it!![smackbum]

 

[garythewolf]

l use ramps,,,nice and safe and easy

 

[Tbirdy]

Thanks for all the response...!

In my old house I had 4 ramps and never used them, because I could not drive up on them -- they just kept sliding on the cement floor of the garage. Maybe that doesn't happen with FWD...? Didn't have the Focus then. Anyhow, when we moved last year, I left the ramps behind. Just brought the floor jacks and jackstands.

I'll be careful and figure out something. I certainly did notice the cross-member metal was a lot thinner than on my '95 and '97 Tbirds. However, I also noticed, when I tried to bounce the front end of the Focus to see the brake fluid level, that the vehicle was sprung like a truck. Could not bounce it at all...! Did that all the time with the Birds... and all the Mustangs I owned over the years.

Gerry.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

Just use the supplied jack and a jack stand. If you try to jack up a car with a hydraulic jack where the factory jack is supposed to go, you will bend up the body and make it impossible to use the supplied jack there. I don't know if the '13 has aluminum control arms, but if it does, don't jack up on those. On my 05, if I use the hydraulic jack, I jack up on the back of the crossmember.