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I’ve done both laser and manual both on road going cars and full race vehicles and laser I find to be a far simpler method. manual brings back memories of Dunlop gauges, magnetic spirit levels and pointed metal weights on string and drawing marks on the floor to then cross measure. If you cock up a laser alignment you’re in the wrong job in my opinion, its easy and simple, along with being very time and cost effective. It was only because of this view that I’ve recommended a laser alignment as it’s pretty hard to get wrong and with the added print out it means you know what settings the car has been set up to. my problem with the slotted bolts and bending items to correct is that lanka is pretty full of pot holes, won’t take much of a hit in one to knock it all back out again, then your back to square one as I’m guessing the method will be the same as the boy racers do for correcting camber after lowering their cars. They rely on the bolts physical tightness to keep everything in place once it’s in the correct position rather than 2 offset washers held against 2 welded tabs and a lock washer to complete the setup which is what you find as an OE setup. One could however always make this setup yourself providing you get the bolts and offset washers from another car. Off the top of my head I know all rwd BMWs have reasonably small ones as do EVO's and most Subaru’s. BUT this still doesn’t find the root cause of the problem...... if the vehicle is pulling to one side then something is more than likely bent or excessively worn. Yes larger wheels will affect camber but not just to one side. (Unless he is rolling round with 18s on one side and 16s on the other of course) The vehicle is only pulling to one side, this means that: The camber is much more positive on the pulling side than the other Or The toe in/out is not even between the wheels. (i.e. left wheel toe out when the right is dead straight) Or The castor angle is not the same as the opposite side Or The steering axis inclination is out (this will only cause pulling to one side at slow speeds though) All of the above is usually caused by an incorrect adjustment or bent and/or worn out parts . May be worth him measuring the distance from the bottom of the wheel arch to the centre of the wheel on both sides and checking the ride height is even on both sides and this isn’t all due to a sagging front spring.

Wheel balancing is not needed for a wheel alignment. Never has been never will be. Attaching a small weight of under 50grams will not affect alignment. It will have an impact on the drive yes but not to actually carry out an alignment. (unless a wheel is buckled but then you shouldn’t be booking in for an alignment if thats the case) However having an alignment done with already worn out tyres isn’t worth the time as that WILL give an incorrect result once tyres are changed. Have your car done using a computerised laser setup. But have the person carrying out the job to PRINT the setup once he has finished. That will ensure he does a decent job....aka doesn’t just get it in the green but gets it bang on. Also means they bother to take the time to select the correct car in the software as all cars have their different tolerances and they may have just been setting everything up to zero in the past and thats not what should be done. If you find that your camber needs adjusting but the car was built with no adjustment DONT have someone "repair" it via bending and or slotting holes.... if its out and its not adjustable that means it hasn’t been knocked out....something is BENT. Replace the bent part, don’t try and unbend it. If you can’t find anything bent then the sub frame or the car its self is bent from an accident. If thats the case sell it on, its not worth keeping a dodgy car.

what is this permit thing exactly by the way guys?

Glad to hear you got it running again. If you want a bit more poke out of it fit the inlet system and cams from a Mondeo st220

It's a great vehcile to drive. Essentially it's a free lander 2 chassis with tricked out suspension and different body styling, so you know the running gear is good!

Not bad for $1300 ay Needed brakes all round, rear diff Balljoint and some paint but easy when you work in a dealer! Still deciding, 4.6 will be great on noise and power but td5 has a great amount of torque, especially if its fitted with just one silencer, big intercooler, green cotten air filter and chipped. Done a few defender upgrades with that setup and they used to rip it down the road! Turbo chatter was pretty good on em too -used to confuse the rice racer boys ha ha

not got a thread as the car in in OZ, while im here i ride a bike as its far easier and much faster than the ole beast! heres a pic for you though......and before anyone says it looks like it needs a polish...its matt black! was thinking of doing a tdi or TD5 conversion so the missus could drive it as shes on her P pllates still but decided im going to go down the 4.6 route instead is your disco in OZ or in lanka then?

yep deff the master cylinder (or pump as you guys seem to call it here) have it replaced and the full system bled up with fresh fluid.

Not sure I'm understanding your problem? If I have understood correctly when you first drive you car for first time that day etc tha brakes are great. Nice firm pedal feel and they work as they should. But after a while of driving and using the brakes, the pedal goes soft and the brakes have very little stopping power? If this is your problem, have your brake fluid changed. It absorbs water naturally from the atmosphere and causes the fluid to boil when hot thus not operating the slave cylinders in your callers correctly as the gas just expands. If this isn't what you mean please explain the problem a but more

Chuck a flush through it then and do a full oil and filter change with whatever oil nzer tells you to use. Change the filter too. If the problem is still there, have your oil pressure checked. if thats ok I'd say you need new tappets/lifters.

If you mean a squealing sound then this is usually due to your pads being glazed up. Remove them and rough the surface with some sand paper

As long as he didn't start the car itl be a simple drain tank and flush with fresh diesel job. I've got a 3.5 RRC so please to see someone in a disco!

Sorry Don but the focus was designed as a normal car first then modified for use in rallying. (They actually built a few 4x4 focus's and puma's then compared the 2) The road going car shares very little in design with its rallying brother other than the basic body shape. The stiffer ride and lack of body flex is due to rear beam suspension and many models have a hidden front upper strut brace. Crosswind - the duratec engine should never be noisy.....if your is there is a problem. To be honest running only 95 is pushing it in my opinion....use 98 if you can get it, ecu will run the faster ignition map and your fuel consumption will decrease and the get up and go will increase. I would service the car more often than the dealer tells you, yous only Motorcraft oil filters, and castrol 5w30 oil. Change your fuel and air filter regularly. If you get stuck with a problem drop me a pm....I work part time for these guys in Australia www.rsshop.com.au All I ever do is work on cosworths and the RS focus And the rest of the time I work in a land rover and ford main dealer ps another known problem with the focus is the washer jet seals leak water into the spark plug cover. If you get rough running and a misfire check there first!

Mmmm love a good clean xjs. Had 2 racing in a rally I just worked on in OZ. sounded the nuts!

It's fine to wash an engine as long as its done correctly and the engine has been prepped to get wet. If you like your engine bay squeaky clean, a few simple steps done once a year will waterproof it for washing. Unplug all electrical connectors and put a smear of Vaseline on the terminals, then reconnect the plug. Do the same with your HT leads. DONE. When washing the engine bay keep a good distance of about 1 meter away with the hose dont spray on the air filter and never stay on the same spot for longer than half a second, just sweep back and forth across the bay till its covered then stop. Wash the engine when it's warm and do it in the sunshine. If it fails to start afterwards leave it with the bonnet up for 10-15mins and itl dry itself out.

Depends if it has hydraulic tappets or not. I don't know enough about the ck2 myself to know. If it doesn't have hydraulic tappets then yes an adjustment can be made and should stop the noise but I would check the oil level and the condition of the oil. If it runs hydraulic tappets the oil pressure could be low or the wrong grade

Replace both sprockets and the chain like ripper said.....not worth the hassle or danger of having a chain snap on you. Think I paid around £70 mail order on the set for my AX1 from the UK.

Take the roof lining down, lie back in your seat and push it out with your feet

It's very simple, as a rule of thumb: Harder spring and shock combination gives a firmer more responsive drive. - At the cost of ride comfort. Softer spring and shock combination gives a softer smoother ride but at the cost of less firm handling characteristics. Just changing shocks on their own will have little effect on ride comfort.......the spring also requires changing to match. Ultimate best, of both worlds in my opinion is air springs but these are very costly. Or adjustable "coil over" suspension where the dampening rate and ride height can be simply adjusted using a C spanner and an adjuster knob on the top or bottom of the shock absorber. - serious overkill for a non competition vehicle but if you have the money it's your best bet. Kalana - you can fit stiffer springs this will stop your ground clearance being so low when fully loaded. It will make the ride harder though and the car will sit higher when not fully loaded. A cheaper and simple method all thought not "politically correct" in the car world yet still done by many with extreme lowered cars is to fit caravan supporters to the rear springs. This stops the spring coils from compressing past a certain point. Take about 10 mins to fit. They look like this: http://www.towsure.com/product/Towing_Spring_Assisters_prod

roughing up of brake pads is a common motor trade practice and is called "deglazing" it is done more on brake shoes when the drums are removed during a service to inspect the condition of the cylinders. it can and is also done on brake pads. it is to remove a build up of glaze that is caused by the pads becoming hot. as the pad heats up some of the "glue" that holds the pad material together rises to the surface of the pads and produces the noise as it drags on the brake discs. your missfire problem is more than likely to be cause by water in a connecctor or on the HT leads as others have said. However if you had your spark plugs changed then it is possible one was dropped by mistake and thus is not gapped correctly....remove them and compare them.

it will have siezed as you probably used the incorrect grade. so the oil was either too thick at operating temp or it was too thin. stick to well known brand names such a castrol and shell etc over cheap crap. the quality of the additives is far better in the big brands and it can be easily seen on an engine when it is stripped if it has been run on decent oil or not.

you need to rule out lack of compression wiht a compression tester. if thats fine then like nzer said check your timing. if thats ok id check your injectors are firing correctly, and same with your plugs. to be honest though it could be a mulititude of things that if your not a mechanic i suggest you wait untill your returns as you could be there for a long time trying to work out whats wrong. question though....why was the engine rebuilt? and what was replaced?

could be switch. Ive had that on a car before where the wire's insulation melted inside the switch and it would short out sommetimes

my cars filthy inside like a girls! only time i bother to clean it is when going out on track so a coke can doesnt hit me in the head if i lose it and hit the sand run offs!

you will have no problems with brake imbalance providing the shoes are adjusted correctly on both sides when the drum is put back on for the sake of it, as your putting new shoes on both sides you may aswell have both drums skimmed as it will take the lip off the non scored drum. if you were having discs done then BOTH discs must always be done. not such a big deal with drums if they are on the rear of your car and provide very little braking force but it is good workshop practice to have them both done.