Buying an ST170

[spedwards]

Hi guys,

New member here having joined to look into the ST170. I just had my SP20 written of last Friday, so I'm in the market for a replacement and the ST170 will be a nice subtle step forward without breaking the limited budget AAMI have given me.

Just wondering what (if any) common problems there are that I should be looking out for. Anything that might be getting a little worn after 7 years or little problems from the factory. I'm looking at one in the next few days and want to be sure I know what to look for.

Cheers
Jon

[melbzetec]

Welcome to the forums.

ST170 is a great car, much underated.

No huge issues that I'm aware of........but check the condition of the gearbox. They are not a problem, but being a Getrag unit, they are very expensive to replace

[spedwards]

Thanks for the welcome.

I looked into the ST170 new but couldn't justify the extra over the SP20 at the time. Plus, I found it incredibly difficult to find a dealer who had one available for a test drive so I'm looking forward to finally getting behind the wheel!

[XR5-Boy]

Gday spedwards.

Also good to check the state of the more common things to occur to FWDs in general (cv joints and boots). Engines a stupidly strong, but like melbzetec said, check out that transmission because they ain't cheap! Apart from that, there's plenty of parts out there for the focus if need be (more in the UK/Europe).

[spedwards]

Well, I have to say that I'm in love! So much so that I picked the car up this morning after only seeing it on Thursday night. It has so far exceed my expectations in all areas, except the wipers which don't seem to want to go back into resting position easily.

The car appears to be in very good condition and the previous owner clearly loved the car based on the presentation on Thursday when we took it for a drive.

It's a wonderful car to drive, very happy with my purchase so far and can't wait to get in and start tinkering.

[smee323]

Where did you get it from.
if the rego is ST-0170, then it was mine..

[spedwards]

I got it in Sydney, so it wouldn't seem to be yours.

[HKT11K ST]

Isnt it a great car? I was all into japanese imports until I saw the st170! Now I'm a focus guy!

[spedwards]

Yeah, loving it so far. It's a much better drive than the SP20, a real little sports car. At the time it was new I couldn't understand the inflated price over the competition but having driven one now I totally get it.

Having said that, the build quality makes working on the car difficult. So far everything I've tried to do has proven to be a PITA, eg. running power, RCA and speaker cables. I got there in the end but it's taken a lot longer than expected!

[fordel]

Gearbox will be $10,500 to replace should it go wrong, thats just the box

Check the flywheel / clutch as well, mine died on my old ST170 3 months out of warranty

Also check the choke / inlet manifold areas, mine died as well a few months out of warranty.

Having said that they are a great car, and I even know where my original one is for sale in a car yard in Adelaide, very tempted to go buy it back.

[spedwards]

Wow! And I thought the prices I'd seen for clutch replacements were off this planet. My mate is picking up a gearbox to mate to a 600 odd HP engine for his Mustang tomorrow and it's costing him 1/3 of that price...

Clutch appears to be OK, it feels a little odd but I've put that down to coming from a normal flywheel/clutch to a DMF/clutch.

The only problem, or complaint, I've got so far is the throttle seems to get stuck closed on the cold mornings we've had recently in Sydney. Nothing a bit of extra oomph doesn't fix though.

[Samy82]

Be careful with aftermarket exhaust components too. I've had a few in the workshop that have had struggles on acceleration and they throws on an engine light eventually too. Turned out to be cat convertors on all occasions logging weird codes on the PCM. They don't like aftermarket ones so if ever it happens, fork out the extra dosh for genuine parts to save you the headache. Apart from that, treat it well and it shall treat you well. Brakes are also fast wearing too.

[zetec]

Originally Posted by Samy82

Brakes are also fast wearing too.

And incredibly strong stopping

[st170 Whippet]

I have an ST170 with 67000km on it and I am the seconds owner. I love it to bits, but has recently started throwing engine lights. I have had it checked out by the ford dealers who said it was a P1518 code....whick translates to "Intake Manifild Runner COntrol stuck open". Running the computer over it generally clears it, but it will quite often come on and stay on for a fews days, then go all by itself. A few websites have noted this as a known (not common) occurance, and requires for solenoid to eventually be replaced. Just a bit annoying.

[st170 Whippet]

I have an ST170 with 67000km on it and I am the seconds owner. I love it to bits, but has recently started throwing engine lights. I have had it checked out by the ford dealers who said it was a P1518 code....which translates to "Intake Manifold Runner Control stuck open". Running the computer over it generally clears it, but it will quite often come on and stay on for a fews days, then go all by itself. A few websites have noted this as a known (not common) occurrence, and requires the solenoid to eventually be replaced. Just a bit annoying.

[Fast Eddie]

Quote: ".................with 67000km on it".

Wow, that's a low-kilometre example! I'm guessing it's an '03 Build?

[st170 Whippet]

Yes it is an 03. And from what I have seen for sale on the net, it must be one of the lowest K'd ST170s in Australia.

[spedwards]

Originally Posted by st170 Whippet

but has recently started throwing engine lights. I have had it checked out by the ford dealers who said it was a P1518 code....which translates to "Intake Manifold Runner Control stuck open".

I get that come on every couple of days to a week and clear it, haven't had time to take a look under the hood but based on the irregularity and no loss of power it doesn't seem to be a "real" problem.

I also ended up with P0141 [Heated O2 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction (Bank 1, Sensor 2)] which was fixed by replacing the O2 sensor.

I bought a ScanGaugeII to clear the codes to save me a $45 visit to the mechanic each time it came up. Paid for itself within the first few weeks!

[BFXR6]

There a sweet car but I owned one and it was really expensive in parts and they were hard to get. I also had trouble selling it not even for dealers wanted it.

[smee323]

Originally Posted by st170 Whippet

Yes it is an 03. And from what I have seen for sale on the net, it must be one of the lowest K'd ST170s in Australia.

I sold mine with just on 60,000k to a dealer and bought an XR5.
got 12500 as a trade.

When I went past the dealer it was up for sale for 16500. Only saw it on the lot for a week before it was gone.

I like the xr5. Sort of a cross between my old evo and an ST

[lindieq]

Hi, We have just sold our Focus ST170 and have a few bits for sale on Ebay, We have a 'Superchips Bluefin, Diagnostic Remap' Underdrive Pulley and Belt, performance Throttle Body, also Ford Focus LR (Mk1) Adjustable coil over suspension, you can check them out on-

http://shop.ebay.com.au/lindieq/m.html

[xf_vanner]

Originally Posted by spedwards

Well, I have to say that I'm in love! So much so that I picked the car up this morning after only seeing it on Thursday night. It has so far exceed my expectations in all areas, except the wipers which don't seem to want to go back into resting position easily.

The car appears to be in very good condition and the previous owner clearly loved the car based on the presentation on Thursday when we took it for a drive.

It's a wonderful car to drive, very happy with my purchase so far and can't wait to get in and start tinkering.

Hi, how have you found the ST170 since you picked it up? I'm looking at getting one for my partner and found your thread looking for research before I look at the car and possibly buying it.

Any issues with it since you've had it?

Cheers

[GT450]

This thread is 4 years old , he probably has a lot of advice to give you by now.
GT450

[spedwards]

Yeah, I've had a few things go wrong with it but still love driving the car. It's now in its 12th year and not in the best condition due to other people's careless driving but mechanically it's still good after a bit of recent work.

Within the first 6 months of getting the car I had to replace a wheel bearing, power window motor, post-cat O2 sensor, and clutch (and flywheel). After that I also had the pre-cat O2 sensor go but that was a while after. This was 7 years old with 100K kms.

Since the above it's been pretty good, up until last year when it needed timing belt when they (of course) found a lot of other things which needed work. In the second half of the year it had rear brake pads, new power steering pump, new engine & torque mounts, rocker cover gasket & grommets, and new temp sensor. Now it's almost 12 years with 140K kms.

The biggest problem I have found is local availability of parts. There were only 200 - 250 of them brought in to the country and a lot of the parts are unique to the vehicle. Locally Ford Australia don't stock parts unless they are left over in a warehouse somewhere.

The car was a lot bigger in the UK and US so stores in those countries are your friend when you need parts - however don't assume they are going to be the cheapest option. With my latest parts order I found that it was cheaper to get a new P/S pump from Ford Australia than a reconditioned one from CFM, similarly the temperature sensor was half the price from Ford Australia.

If buying now then I'd expect that a lot of these similar things would need doing as the car is of a certain age, they should either show they have been done or you should budget for them needing doing in the near future. Watch out for the clutch as it's a pretty expensive job (I paid $800 labour at mates rates) and the part locally are extremely expensive (in excess of $3K, I got my kit from CFM for a fraction of that). And as mentioned earlier in the thread, the Getrag 6sp is another expensive component to replace.

[Fast Eddie]

Are you still running the OE Dampers and Springs?

[spedwards]

At this stage, yes. But I suspect it's only a matter of time before that gets added to the list of replaced parts.