I have the opportunity to buy a 2004 Competition Orange SVTF for under $2k. Problem is the timing belt slipped and the head needs to be replaced. Owner says he had a shop take a look and they told him nothing was damaged except the head. It's got 79k miles on it with a new clutch and 4 new tires. My thought is that it's a crazy good deal, and if it were any other color besides CO I wouldn't even consider it. I'm just worried about replacing the head and having nothing but problems down the road. What do you guys think? Anyone had a similar experience?
2004 CO SVT Focus with a Blown Head
- Thread starter 99PunisherSVT
- Start date
Skeptical that there isn't piston damage if the timing belt let go. It's not impossible, but highly unlikely. Something damaged the valves in the head and the list of potential suspects is pretty short. I'd demand photos of the interior of every cylinder with a scope or something or better yet, pictures with the head off of the car before I'd go any further.
Last edited:
^^^ what he said
how does the head get hurt if things werent smashed by pistons
how does the head get hurt if things werent smashed by pistons
Steve@Tasca
Active Member
In most cases when this happens it doesn't damage the pistons, most often the teeth get ripped off the belt which shuts the engine off immediately so it's usually just the valves that get bent and the pistons may get just a light nick in the top to show it and in most cases the head doesn't get damaged either although it is possible to damage the valve seats depending on engine speed when the belt fails or the number of times someone tries to restart the car.
It's not like dropping a valve or having a valve stick open in a running engine that then snaps the valve head off and bounces it around or pounds it through the piston. If the rest of the car is in good shape it's probably well worth saving.
-Steve
It's not like dropping a valve or having a valve stick open in a running engine that then snaps the valve head off and bounces it around or pounds it through the piston. If the rest of the car is in good shape it's probably well worth saving.
-Steve
Last edited:
I agree with Steve. CO is my 2nd favorite color on the SVTF (I'm partial to Sonic Blue). I'm having my engine completely rebuilt with new crank, rods, etc. and I dropped 4k for mine with 90k on it. I think it's well worth the 2k.
Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm going to be very cautious about this one. I don't want to get stuck with a car that ends up needing the whole engine redone. I might go check it out.
In my time with DSM's which are also interference engines the belts usually let go under acceleration in gear. This led to the valve getting bent and usually the cylinder coming back to say hello a couple more times before everything shut down and the car was in neutral. Those precious tenths of a second when the car is still in gear keep the bottom end of the motor turning even if the cams are sitting still. For your sake I hope everything in the bottom end is good, but I'd be cautious. The car may run fine even with a new head and a "ding" in the piston, but that ding will have an edge, and that edge will creat a hot spot, and that hot spot will lead to detonation under hard driving. So even if it's not a BIG issue today, it could develop into one.
Just make sure you do your research, if the bottom end is dinged, re-negotiate and you may end up with a great performer with a built bottom end for a great price.
Just make sure you do your research, if the bottom end is dinged, re-negotiate and you may end up with a great performer with a built bottom end for a great price.
Steve@Tasca
Active Member
I've seen and heard of more SVT/Zetecs stripping teeth off the belt at an idle than under heavy acceleration, checking out the piston tops to see if there are any marks on them is obviously a good idea.
-Steve
-Steve
js
Given the time this thread was started, you must not have gone for it (or you did, and have been in the garage ever since).
Sometimes whether you should buy a project like this really comes down to if you like to work on cars or drive cars.
I have friends who do both, but in general most do much more of one over the other.
Sometimes whether you should buy a project like this really comes down to if you like to work on cars or drive cars.
I have friends who do both, but in general most do much more of one over the other.
Nah I let it go. I decided to put the time and money into my 66 Mustang instead.
Users who are viewing this thread
