Hi there,

Had my Focus 1.8 115bhp TDCi (March 2002 5 years old, 101,000 miles) in for
a service during the week, and they say it shows signs of potential head
gasket failure, and excessive pressure in the cooling system. There's no
evidence of contaminated oil, although there was an oil leak in the engine
which required 0.7L of oil in December, although none since. It's also going
to need a new clutch soon. There was also suspension damage from a pothole.

The service guy reckoned £950 to fix the clutch, suspension damage and
alternator belt, and considerably in excess of that to replace the head
gasket. (Replace and skim.) He didn't bother to work out the full price,
rather advised me to have the engine steam cleaned and get rid of the car as
soon as possible. It's not in his interests to tell me that, so I figure
things must be really bad!

There's a few very knowlegable Focus bods in here - what do you think about
the reliability of this engine? Would I be wasting my money if I got it
repaired by Ford or an independant mechanic?

I've been looking at a Kia Cee'd, and there's a 07 Focus TDCi 1.8 Sport on
special offer, but I believe its the same engine as mine? (I do 20K a year,
and intend to replace future cars at 3 years/60,000 miles/end of warranty!)


Any advice appreciated!



Gary.

PS - I'm in Northern Ireland, if anyone knows any good mechanics!!!