[Focusgirl2015]

Hello all. I'm new to the site so I'm hoping I can get some help. The question is to fix or not to Fix? To sell or to keep? I have a 2000 Ford focus zts. I'm having over heating issues. All my oil is leaving out. I was still stuck in the middle of a local freeway. I replaced the hose, because I was told they had holes. But the coolant still won't stay and the car keeps smoking. It's embarrassing when I go places. And I can't seem to find a good Machanic. And it vibrates. No heat and no air Smh. I'm tired. But I can't afford a new car now. Please help. I looked up a resistor on eBay and some mounts. And a new coolant tube in case the bottle has a whole. Again please hellppppp. They always to to rip off women take our money and fix nothing.

 

[Focusgirl2015]

Sorry for the typo. Spell check is ridiculous on this phone.
?

 

[slow_solo_focus]

ya need to calm down and redescribe the issues best you can.

it vibrates. what vibrates? your keys in the ignition? steering wheel? what?

over heating issues, describe when it happens. under what conditions. i need some more adjetives than what youre giving...

leaks oil, from where? filter, pan, oil plug, head... where follow the drips up and wear safety goggles. if you dont any, buy a pair. 10 bucks or so at home depot.

smoke is an after effect of oil or coolant evaporating... again tell us where and under what conditions it happens....

so if you can try and format so its readable and let us know... untill then all i can do is tell you to buy a new car... or get a bus ticket....

also its not just you mechanics try to rip off. its every one they know they can snake.

also if all that is happening, go to your local checkers or advance or autozone and get the CEL codes. there has to be about a half a dozen

 

[Marde]

Hi. Please reply again with better descriptions of the symptoms. Some of your comments make it difficult to understand what is going on. Also, when you have multiple car issues & symptoms it becomes more difficult for others online to help because we can not see your car. Providing best/better descriptions are essential.

Overheating: Rule-1 is be careful. Running a car with a defective cooling system can hurt and/or destroy the engine. The coolant overflow tank does crack and sometimes requires replacement. The cap for the overflow tank also fails sometimes. If your car is not holding the coolant level in normal ranges and your car is over-heating, please do not drive it until you are able to get it repaired.

The vibrations are highly likely OLD engine mounts (3 mounts) that need replacement.

Please make sure your engine oil level is normal.

Maybe a local car repair garage or car parts store can offer you a free visual inspection that could help you (and others here) to find what your next steps should be.

 

[amc49]

Coolant going away and overheating as well as smoking and oil going too say that it may well already be too late. You need someone that knows what they are doing and THERE with you, your descriptive skills are going to drive you nuts trying to fix all that over the web.........

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

First off.... mileage of the vehicle. Transmission type- MT or AT.

You bought some parts from ebay. That might be ok, but if you can't work on the car yourself, then there's no reason to purchase parts. Many shops will not allow someone to purchase parts, and then install those parts for the person.

Vibration: from what it sounds you've already figured out that is motor mounts, and you're probably right. Those tend to go bad every 100k miles or so. It's worse with these vehicles because the factory mount is hydraulic (a ball filled with fluid), and aftermarket suppliers have issues making this so that it will last. The typical scenario is that someone replaces the front engine mount (the hyd one), and then has the same issue a month later.

Losing oil: that could be as simple as a valve cover gasket. Problems with the valve cover gasket could cause more problems with the vibration because on Zetec engines, oil will get inside the spark plug tubes and cause spark loss issues.

Overheating: When? There's a difference between overheating while standing still and overheating while driving at speeds over 45 mph. It's probably the low speed resistor, but often times the fan wiring harness will be damaged as well preventing the resistor from making the full repair. We have had many issues with people simply having a loose coolant reservoir cap, or a faulty coolant reservoir cap. A faulty cap that doesn't seal will cause the coolant to pump out the overflow. Zetecs have a typical problem of cracking the thermostat housing because it's plastic. This creates a visible leak (look for white residue from dried coolant) near the back of the engine. NOTE: I'm referring to the engine front and rear not the front and rear of the car. The front of the engine is on the passenger side where all the accessories like the alternator are.

Finally, we all want to help. Message forums are funny though. We appreciate punctuation and grammar more so than phone texts where it's understood that things are sloppy. For example, people who come on here and type in all caps get accused of shouting. It's sort of silly, but that's the way it is.

If you're still interested in responses from the thread, I'm sure we can dig up pictures to help explain what is going on. Most of us are in the same boat where we have to drive beater cars that need attention because we can't afford the note on a new car. Hopefully we can teach you how to avoid bad mechanics and possibly do some of the work on your vehicle for yourself.