JulianHJ

I'm considering buying an ST170, paying around £10k for one from an independent dealer (quite possibly a used car supermarket). Were there many changes throughout it's life, and are there any particular things to look out for? I'm particularly keen on one with the Comfort Pack - Xenons/Climate/Heated front screen -were many specced with this option?

Has anyone owned one? I'm aware it's not blisteringly quick, but that like all Focii it handles well.

All tips/advice appreciated.

dave_st170

I have a 53 plate ST170.
Got it from new.

16,100 Brand New
13,200 from looking on the net (Brand New)

I love my ST.

Paid extra for Climate Pack, Spoiler, Xenons.
Best colour is IMPERIAL BLUE!!!!


Well worth it m8!!!
(Mud flaps are to STOP stone chips!!!)

st3v3

hi there,
I have an 02 plate st170,there a decent car if you get the right one of coarse,there were a few teething probs,

cam cover bolt oil seals - sometimes seem to distort/pop out/seep fluid - get them replaced. Should look nice & flat, and distortion should be obvious

Throttle cable - can be misrouted through an obviously wrong route between earthing cables etc. DIY soultion possible, covered elsewhere. As part of the same job, check for chafing on the adjacent 3-wire loom connecting to the end of the fuel rail (shiny chrome plated component).

Hoses - general check - some either aren't installed properly, or come adrift in use. Make sure they're all properly installed into their mounting clips. Might take a bit of checking, there's a lot of hoses, and they aren't always easy to get at!

Hub cap corrosion - small white patches appearing under the clear plastic coating - get new hubcaps, it'll only get worse!

Water hose/PAS pump output hose contact/wear problem (top front right of engine bay) - one hose (possibly two) can possibly make contact with the high pressure output hose from the power steering pump, leading to both mechanical wear of the softer water hose, and also localised melting of the water hose due to the high temperature of the PAS hose. Some cars have a clip to hold the small 'middle' hose (the one with the problem) to the larger 'upper' hose, make sure the hoses are clipped together, and also position the clip 'in front' of the hoses and in a suitable position to prevent hose to hose contact. Other (later) cars have a different set of hose clips without the one mentioned earlier, so the 'middle' hose needs to be attached to the upper one using tywraps or something similar in order to prevent the hose to hose contact. If the hoses are badly damaged, get them replaced by a dealer.

Oil leak from VCT solenoid - only visible if the plastic plug lead cover is removed, if oil is sitting in the area around the solenoid (cylinder with wires out the top, middle right on top of the engine), then there's a leak and it needs fixing by a dealer.

Loose exhaust heatshields - lots of these on the ST on the cat/flexpipe assembly, so it's more prone to heatshield rattles than other versions of the Focus. Typically causes a rattling/buzzing sound, especially at certain engine speeds. Not always audible inside the car, but very obvious it you increaase the engine speed while sitting stationary with a door open. Possibly DIY fixable (tighten the bolts!), but access problems make it more of a dealer job.

A lot of ST's were under powered also

As for the car not being blisteringly fast i know someone who managed to launch his st170 and get a sub 7sec 0-60,I KID YOU NOT,many people jump in one and drive it *normaly*and think that its too slow,to be honest you need to learn to drive it,
you need to rev it up past 5000 rpm right up to the 6500rpm mark as the vvt comes in to its own at 4500-5000rpm,its not a bad car at the end of the day..

by the way you can get them with FULLleather Recaros but they are a rare car to find.

The only options you couldnt get,i believe were Sat-nan and reverse parking sensors(although these were available in later cars i think)

if you test drive one,make sure you TEST DRIVE IT

here is the spec of mine




ST170 Magnum Grey,

Features: Comes with all standard and optional extras as listed in Ford's ST170 brochure

EPS Stability and Traction Control
Metallic paint (Magnum Grey)
3 Door
Ford Comfort and Custom Packs
Xenon Headlights including washers
9006 RDS EON stereo radio/CD with 6CD multichanger in dashboard, Ford Bass Tube in the boot, 6 Ford speakers, variable stereo modes, speed/sound increase/decease, etc.
ABS brakes
Air Conditioning (CFC Free) including digital climate control (ie. manually set it to your own preferred temperature)
Heated front and rear windows
Heated Recaro FULL Leather Seats
17" Ford Alloy Wheels
Electric and heated mirrors
Electric windows
Heated Windscreen
Electro-luminescent dials
Electric seats
Foglights (front and rear)
Folding Restraints
All standard Airbags (5 or 6)
Power Assisted Steering
Remote Central Locking including boot release
Standard Ford alarm and immobiliser (interior scan and perimeter alarm)
Sports suspension as standard
Exterior sports body styling
Front and Rear disc brakes
two new tyers and new locking wheel nut
18,000 mls
02 plate
rear spoiler

Cheers
steve

adrenalinrush

Also starting it up and switching it off without it running properly for a bit can make manifolds explode, atleast when they first came out thats what happened in our showroom.

I agree a real nice car especially in magnum grey with zenons and 3dr.

dave_st170

I nearly got Magnum Grey but feel in love with a Imp Blue one and had to have one


-Click on blue writting at bottom to see forum

Keith B

I've got the US version and its a great car but the standard mapping makes the car really jerky. I'm getting mine chipped and from what I hear the difference is like night and day.