Project 'Me BooSTa'

[Jake]

Mileage: 10,900

Realized I never updated this after last weekend's "buy an M3" adventure. Somewhere in the thrash of the Labor Day weekend, I managed to install the new foglight assembly, replacing the one that got shattered months ago from an errant rock (I think at VIR, perhaps not). The assembly + bulb was something like $50 from Ford, so not bad at all there. The installation, however, was a GIANT pain.



I jacked up the front driver's side of the car and removed the under-panel thingy. 8 bolts, easy. Also removed a few bolts from the fender liner.

Problem. The assembly is not held in with bolts that secure from the back of the bumper. Nope, they're held on from the front. So, you have to remove the black plastic trim piece around the foglight and make it look like this:



The tabs were insanely secure. I wrapped a flathead in microfiber to keep the paint from being marred, and carefully pried away. Got two clips freed (with much cursing) and then pulled very hard. With one final "fuckkk!" it all came free. And, unlike the other four ST owners on the internet who have replaced the same foglight, I didn't break any of the clips holding this sumbitch to the bumper. One poor guy with a red one said he broke ALL of the clips and had to epoxy them back together.

New cars are dumb.

[Jake]

Mileage: 12,500

So on Sunday, I did this:



Fourth annual college challenge was a success for sure. Lots of MMers and despite my co-driver not showing (I heard rumors of too many drinks, a birthday party the night before, and hangovers of an epic proportion) I still ended up having two others drive the car for some fun runs.

I shaved four seconds off my time from first to fourth runs. Kept the car in "Track Mode" -- aka, ESC off, traction control disabled. Torque vectoring and ABS remain enabled. Didn't require "launching" off the line, as the power will just spin the wheels. But, once she was in 2nd gear, she was a little autocross monster. Very predictable, a touch oversteer-y thanks to the larger Steeda rear sway bar. The wheelbase is long enough to make it easy to rein in when things start to look like tankslapper status.

The rear motor mount continues to be too soft and allows the engine to move around and make awful banging noises under heavy acceleration and/or wheel hop. After dealing with Ford Corporate and expressing my complete disbelief that they could issue a TSB/recall for thousands of ST's, knowing that enthusiasts bought them and would come running to get the new mount... and they were on back order.

So, it's been 2 or 3 months now and I am FINALLY taking the car in on Wednesday to have the TSB performed. New motor mount, clutch line, and some related bits. Also going to have them look at why my clutch pedal squeaks, loudly, when I push it in. That's something I expect of a shitty old BMW, not a 12k Focus

[Jake]

Mileage: 12,668

Dropped the car off at Ted Britt in Fairfax yesterday morning for the TSB work. According to TSB 13-06-10, "Some 2013 Focus ST vehicles may exhibit a bang noise and/or bump felt from front of vehicle during a quick 1-2 and/or 2-3 shift under moderate to aggressive acceleration."

Perhaps a bit under-exaggerated, there. Anyone who's ridden with me is aware that the whole front end would axle-hop like mad and sound like the engine was coming through the firewall to land on your lap. They replaced...

• Rear motor mount
• "Roll restrictor"
• Transmission mount
• Clutch line

I dropped the car off at 11:30 and got a call at 4:30 saying it was done. I also had them address the squeaky clutch pedal - apparently a common thing on the new Focii. Just took a bit of lubrication for the pedal arm, apparently.

I'm pleased with the results of this work but not sure if they bled the clutch right (or at all) -- when letting it out, about 2/3s up the pedal travel, you can feel a little "pop" which may be air in the line. I'm not taking it back to bitch, I'd rather just bleed the damn thing with SuperBlue anyway.

TL;DR: Warranty work performed, no more axle hop/motor bangalang, probable air in clutch line.

Ted Britt Ford rating: 7.5/10, would allow to perform warranty work again.

[Jake]

Went out to lunch. Discovered my one-touch-up power windows no longer one-touch-up. Also, clutch is definitely not bled properly.

Voicemail left with my service advisor. Not pleased.

[Sully]

Hmm wouldn't think disconnecting the battery would have that effect but that would suck if the windows have to do one of those re-learning things every time the battery is disconnected.

Maybe it was a safety recall because someone stuck their head in there or something. Now that would really suck.

In for when service advisor replies that the windows were never one touch up to his knowledge. You'd be amazed at how many people I surprise when I tell them their Nissan can roll the windows down with the key fob. Salesmen and quite a few service writers don't know shit about the cars they sell/write for. Or simply forget to tell the customers

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[SlimKlim]

I'm sure it just needs some re-learn procedure after having the battery disconnected. Pretty sure modern power up windows have resistance sensors to avoid chopping little Jimmy's head off. The E36 has that feature, that's why the coupe windows will stop halfway through the auto-up, if the regular is a bit fucked up it will trip that resistance sensor.

I had the battery disconnected for 3 days on the VW while i went through that intake manifold saga, and when I got it hooked back up every light on the dashboard was on, i mean EVERY light. Airbag, Stability, Traction, CEL, limp mode. Practically every error message it could throw. Drove it 10 feet and it remembered it was a car and they all went away. New cars are weird.

[NTIman]

I'm sure it just needs some re-learn procedure after having the battery disconnected. Pretty sure modern power up windows have resistance sensors to avoid chopping little Jimmy's head off. The E36 has that feature, that's why the coupe windows will stop halfway through the auto-up, if the regular is a bit fucked up it will trip that resistance sensor.

This.

I couldn't tell you how many times I forget to reinitialize windows when I replace a battery or something at work. It's kind of stupid, but it definitely happens.

[Jake]

I'm sure it just needs some re-learn procedure after having the battery disconnected. Pretty sure modern power up windows have resistance sensors to avoid chopping little Jimmy's head off. The E36 has that feature, that's why the coupe windows will stop halfway through the auto-up, if the regular is a bit fucked up it will trip that resistance sensor.

This.

I couldn't tell you how many times I forget to reinitialize windows when I replace a battery or something at work. It's kind of stupid, but it definitely happens.

And see, I'm sure that's all it is. The trip computer was all reset, too, when I picked it up.

I'm capable of Googling the re-initialize procedure, doing that, and bleeding my own clutch line, but I'm kinda paying SunTrust $Fuckton/Month so I don't, you know, have to.

[ViPER1313]

Hold the window switches while the window is going down and continue to hold for 3 sec or so once they are fully down. Do the same thing while putting them back up.

Bam. One touch up and down work again.

Read your owners manual, it's why they gave you one.

[Jake]

Hold the window switches while the window is going down and continue to hold for 3 sec or so once they are fully down. Do the same thing while putting them back up.

Bam. One touch up and down work again.

Read your owners manual, it's why they gave you one.

Noted for future if/when I disconnect my battery at home

But the technician's failure to fully complete the work is not something I want to deal with. Anyway, they called and said the windows are reset and clutch re-bled. I'll go pick her up over lunch.

[getfast]

TSB 13-06-10, "Some 2013 Focus ST vehicles may exhibit a bang noise and/or bump felt from front of vehicle during a quick 1-2 and/or 2-3 shift under moderate to aggressive acceleration."

Perhaps a bit under-exaggerated, there. Anyone who's ridden with me is aware that the whole front end would axle-hop like mad and sound like the engine was coming through the firewall to land on your lap.

Any idea if the 14's come with this already done? My shiny new FoST is 8/13 production and does have all kinds of axle hop/banging noises. But that could be cold pavement or brand new tires (car only has like 650 miles on it now) or my lack of experience with launching a FWD car that has 270+ torques...

[Jake]

Any idea if the 14's come with this already done? My shiny new FoST is 8/13 production and does have all kinds of axle hop/banging noises. But that could be cold pavement or brand new tires (car only has like 650 miles on it now) or my lack of experience with launching a FWD car that has 270+ torques...

I think they should but with an 8/13 build date, I wouldn't say for certain. There is a Facebook group here that may be worth posing the question to. I wouldn't call myself an "enthusiast" who knows the nitty-gritty on these cars, but some people there sure are.

[SlimKlim]

Any idea if the 14's come with this already done? My shiny new FoST is 8/13 production and does have all kinds of axle hop/banging noises. But that could be cold pavement or brand new tires (car only has like 650 miles on it now) or my lack of experience with launching a FWD car that has 270+ torques...

I think the axle hop/banging when you try to launch it might just be a factor of FWD. My GTI on all seasons sort of feels like you break something if you edit launch control just because it lifts all the weight off of the one wheel trying to put down power.

If you get in that ST, do a smooth start and roll into full boost in 1st, do a redline shift into 2nd and flinch because it sounds like the engine is coming for you through the firewall, then the recall hasn't been done. Scared the shit outta me the first time I wound Jake's car out. hock:

[getfast]

Thanks, I'll try that. Mine hasn't been redlined or hard shifted yet due to continued break-in/mechanical sympathy, but I did launch it a couple times the other night once it had 500.1 miles on the clock... with not pleasant results.

(The '12 GTI I sold earlier this year never did any of that, btw.)

[Jake]

Mileage: 13,350

So the car comes with Goodyear Eagle F1 "extreme high performance" summer tires. I took delivery back in January so I had the chance to experience how they work in light snow. The answer is, they don't. Getting from my driveway to the end of the street was near impossible and met with many lights related to traction control and things.

Decided to find some wheels/tires for the cold this year. Between the chance of snow, and the fact that cold overnights/daytime temps are bad for summer rubber, I hoped I could find some Focus Titanium 17" wheels with all-seasons to rock out all winter. More grip in bad stuff, better rubber compound.

Well, the number of Focus non-ST enthusiasts who sell their stock wheels is approximately zero. And the car shares a lug pattern with (wait for it)... the '13+ Fusion, the Jaguar X-Type/S-Type, and some Volvos. And, as I discovered one afternoon, with the 89-07 Taurus/Sable. So I set about finding a Taurus enthusiast (*snort*) who'd want to sell their stockers. Found precisely one person in this entire area who was A) selling wheels B) with tires C) with nearly new tread.

Ladies and germs, I present the 2013 Focus ST, Old Man Winter Edition.



The front brakes are larger than the rears. I got supremely lucky with both the wheel style and the offset, and these clear the calipers by a few millimeters. Have driven the car for ~40 miles now and no problems.



Also went over to Mom & Dad's last night (free dinner!) and swapped Dad's Miata wheels. Got him a set of '06 Sport wheels with Continental DWS M&S tires for wintertime, since Mazda saw it fit to sell the NC with 140 treadwear summer tires. Guess that's how they make it handle so well. It's a bit more loose on these



Bring on the powder, now I wanna play. Oh, and I need to see if I can make the TPMS system ignore the lack of reported tire pressures.

[CaptainHenreh]

Oh, and I need to see if I can make the TPMS system ignore the lack of reported tire pressures.

[Jake]

There's two lights that blink and a freakin' symphony of beeps. Duct tape can't fix all of it.

[SlimKlim]

Just drive around with all four stock wheels in the trunk all winter. Extra weight for the snow and the TPMS shuts up. win/win

[V1GiLaNtE]

Oh, and I need to see if I can make the TPMS system ignore the lack of reported tire pressures.

Pull the fuse for the system..? :dunno:

[Jake]

Pull the fuse for the system..? :dunno:

It's too integrated into the car, can't do that. :roll: