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spyrou77

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#1
Hello, all...

New member here from Torrance, California. I own a 2005 Focus ZX3 SE, which was purchased brand-new. It's Egg Yolk Yellow, with black cloth interior. I use it as my primary work car now. It's got a few issues with it now, that must be addressed, and I'm hoping to find some help here for some of them, if possible.

The most urgent and alarming issue, is that when the air vent is on in the car, I get a strong exhaust odor coming into the cabin, regardless of if the car is in motion, or at a stop (with the engine on). I am hoping and praying that this won't be a devastatingly expensive thing to fix, but I'm not holding my breath on that.

The other issue, is that some idiot hit my car while it was parked at my work, and broke my driver's side mirror off the door. The mirror is now dangling on the side of the door. I had initially popped it back into place, and got it to at least stay put and be functional, but my dad tried to mess with it with both duct tape and epoxy glue, which didn't hold, and the mirror now won't stay put, and is a gooey mess on the inside, due to the epoxy glue... so, I'm wondering if the mirror is still salvageable, or if I'm better off just buying a replacement OEM mirror, and installing it?

Anyway, glad to be here, and hope to hear from some of you!
 

Tom

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#2
Have you checked to see if you have an exhaust leak?

For the side mirrors I would suggest replacing them, you can purchase SVT style mirrors from Rock Auto fairly cheap. Part# FO1320314 (Left) & FO1321314 (Right)
 
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spyrou77

spyrou77

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Thread Starter #4
^

Thanks, guys. For now, the mirror has been fixed. Now I can look for the exhaust leak. I will be sure to check the manifold, pipes and muffler!
 

Tom

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'05 Saleen Focus, '17 Focus RS
#5
Keep us posted.
 
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spyrou77

spyrou77

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Thread Starter #7
Okay, so I had the car in to my local Meineke for an oil change, and had them look into the exhaust leak, so I could get an estimate. The technician said that the issues causing the leak were the following:

- Intake Manifold Gasket

- Exhaust Manifold Set

- Valve Cover Gasket Set

- Valve Cover Gasket

All in all, the total combined estimate to address the issue, at least at Meineke, is $739.02.
 
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#8
That seems really high considering all those gaskets will cost you less than $100, you can easily do those at home. If you don't trust yourself call around and ask a shop to replace those specific items.

The intake manifold is only a few bolts and right up front so you can do that yourself.

Okay, so I had the car in to my local Meineke for an oil change, and had them look into the exhaust leak, so I could get an estimate. The technician said that the issues causing the leak were the following:

- Intake Manifold Gasket

- Exhaust Manifold Set

- Valve Cover Gasket Set

- Valve Cover Gasket

All in all, the total combined estimate to address the issue, at least at Meineke, is $739.02.
 
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spyrou77

spyrou77

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Thread Starter #9
^

Yeah, I do plan to do some estimate shopping at other shops before I made a decision.
 
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spyrou77

spyrou77

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Thread Starter #11
And a late Welcome to the Forum!
Thanks. :)

Okay... had an interesting day today...

I decided to remove and lean out the dome/map light assembly from my interior, to blow it out with an air compressor, since I've noticed that over the years, various small flying bugs have found their way into the assembly, and I don't like looking at dead bugs whenever I turn my map lights on, which is often, as I use them a lot for my job as a delivery driver. Anyway... I clean the assembly out with air, and I decided to replace the two map light/reading lamp bulbs (left and right). Simple enough, right?

According to my owner's manual, the bulb is 12V6W. I go to O'Reilly Auto Parts, to snag up some new bulbs. They don't have them. I go to Pep Boys. They don't have them. I go to Auto Zone. They don't have them. I go to Walmart. They don't have them. I go to TWO FORD DEALERS. They don't have them!

WTF!!! Seriously?

If I had known the can of worms I'd open, just by wanting to clean something in my car, I'd never have touched the thing! Thing is, I've been noticing the map lights growing dimmer over the years, and I just wanted to increase the brightness a bit with some fresh bulbs!
 
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spyrou77

spyrou77

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Thread Starter #13
^

Yeah, I'm thinking that's what I'll do, once I get the more important matter with the exhaust leak taken care of.
 
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spyrou77

spyrou77

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Thread Starter #14
FocusMike, any LED solutions for the two smaller reading/map lights on either side of the dome light?
 

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