Tyler's SVT Focus Trolls Him

"Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him" (tylerssvtfocushateshim)
12/14/2013 at 06:54 • Filed to: None

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On the advice of Casper, who suggested that it may be the parking brake that's stuck, not the caliper itself, I drove to an empty parking lot and did the hard-reverse-slam-on-brakes-repeat, a forum-suggested fix, hoping that would unstick the parking brake. Fifteen minutes later and no dice. When I got home I didn't pull the e-brake up, just put it in reverse overnight. Apparently that did something, because when I got in the car to go on a food run last night, the caliper had become unstuck.

I drove an entire lap around campus and there was no indication of any prior problems: once stopped I was able to physically push the car in neutral, whereas when the caliper was locked it wouldn't budge no matter how hard I tried, I could coast a ludicrous distance just like I could before, and the temperature of the rotor is no different than the other side. This leads me to believe the culprit was, in fact, the notorious handbrake problem with the SVT Focus, where the parking brake stay freezes in place after a night of extremely cold weather, which we've had here in the last few days. So, it seems like everything is back to normal, and my car got me worried sick for no apparent reason at all. Now it's time to head home*.

*After a few hours of sleep and a few more laps around campus to make sure the problem's gone.

DISCUSSION (7)

Squid > Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him
12/14/2013 at 07:37

Well I got kinja fooled and read your previous post, and left a comment. . . But get a mightyvac, no more relying on another person to apply pressure to bleed the brakes is quite nice. Glad it was just the parking brake mechanism that got stuck and not a caliper gone bad.

I almost got an SVT Focus after my ZX3 got totaled, I just couldn't find one that was in decent enough condition that I would've wanted. I saw one that was an impound sale and the guy wanted $5k for, but I couldn't take it for a test drive, it needed motor mounts (what focus doesn't though?), seemed like the clutch was fried and there was residue from a bag being taped over the window that was dried on, oh and at least one 02 sensor was throwing a code. After I gave it a look over I told the guy I was no where near his asking price and that I didn't want to insult him with an offer, why are sellers gluttons for punishment when they over price a car? It also needed new tires. I would have bought it if he would have sold it for $2k as it was a tick over 100k miles and needed to have the TB/WP done as well so there was a decent amount of work that needed to be done to it before it would have been in any condition to be a DD let alone a track car. I still am kind of sad that the good ones I found sold right before I called about them, I found 3 that looked promising but all were sold when I called. . . I guess it wasn't meant to be.

And yes I did just pull a "cool story bro" it is now 4:30 am, and I have been studying for finals and can't sleep so this is a product of that. . . Sorry to bore you with my pointless story, well aside from the mightyvac, that is awesome!

brianbrannon > Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him
12/14/2013 at 09:31

If it was ice causing it wouldn't the heat from the stuck caliper melt it?

Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him > brianbrannon
12/14/2013 at 12:07

I suppose it would. I had only driven about a half-mile on the stuck caliper between our school's library and my apartment, maybe that didn't give it time to fully heat up the caliper and unstick the parking brake.

Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him > Squid
12/14/2013 at 12:19

Nah, it's cool, I always like hearing about other people's car buying experiences. That's the issue with used SVTF's is that it's hard to find one worth buying, and the ones that are worth it are overpriced and sell very quickly if they aren't, so the ones you see for sale are usually over BB value anyways. I bought mine two years ago and have since put about half the car's worth into it in parts, doing it all myself except for a clutch, and that was paying about $1000 more than I probably should have to buy the car to begin with. And I still have to replace like 6 parts on mine, timing belt and water pump among them. SVT Focuses are notoriously temperamental, it's probably a good thing you didn't buy one. Any lesser person would have gotten rid of theirs, but I love driving mine, it's the highlight of my day.

And I will check out mightyvac, thanks for the heads-up. I'm in college so I don't really have a lot of tools, so something like this that does a ton of stuff is really useful, thanks!

Squid > Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him
12/14/2013 at 12:35

I have a soft spot for focus hatches, I actually like the way they look. Aside from the clutch master being shit in my 07 I really didn't have any bad things to say, wait I'm forgetting how shitty the regular Foci seats were. . .

I worked as a tech for a good while and am pretty confident I can do any job that a picky bitch like the SVT would have needed doing but it really came down to the fact that no good ones were available to me. . . It kinda makes me sad, as I do miss the massive amount of room the Focus hatch has now that I am driving a Miata. But keep the faith and keep up your maintenance and you should have a decent car. It is the same with all used cars that get up in mileage, you get to pick up the slack from the owner before you that neglected maintenance items. . .

The mightyvac had multiple uses and pays for its self the first time you do a fluid flush on your brakes. It is also very good at sucking out fluid from tight spaces, using it as a vacuum pump to diag vacuum leaks, it is a very handy tool to have around. I do get the whole college thing, I don't have my jack or stands with me right now so I can't do a damn oil change nor rotate the tires myself, but I do have anything needed for possible roadside repair. My focus' trunk was constantly full tools whether I needed them or not, they just sat there because really that damn trunk has a shit ton of space. . .

Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him > Squid
12/14/2013 at 16:31

I like the way the Focus looks too, it doesn't seem dated or old even ten years later. Really though, I bought it for its handling capabilities, and the fun it gives me in the bends well outweighs the random maintenance requirements it has. Sorry you couldn't fine one, but at least you have a Miata. That's not a bad second choice at all :)

Slow4o > Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him
12/14/2013 at 20:06

I didn't see your original post, but my SVT had the caliper pin become immobile because of rust on one of my back brakes. Didn't even know it until all my brake pad material had worn down, and I started smelling burnt stuff and I could hear this awful squeaking. I couldn't get the caliper pin out myself, and it took putting it in a vice and banging on it with a hammer to get it loose. So I would suggest checking out the pins and making sure they have some kind of lubrication, because that could be a potential problem.