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2011 Focus SEL (PCV Valve, rough idle, negative camber on rear tires)
Bought a 2011 Focus SEL in December 2012 as a repo at a bank. Seems like a decent car but also underpowered and not so great gas mileage for such a small car. No matter how much I try to keep it at 55, it seems to get only 26 MPG. My old '99 Cavalier Z-24with a twin cam 2.4 engine got better mileage and more power. anyway, I have several concerns with this car since I am new to Ford products. #1: It idles very rough and loud. Sometimes to the point that anything plastic in the interior rattles. Once it's warmed up all the way, it idles at about 500 rpm. Is that normal? When going down the highway at 60 MPH (which is about 2000 RPM) and you let off the gas pedal, it drops to about 1300 RPM and then all of a sudden jumps back up to about 1700-1800 RPM and then down again. By the way, car had only 20, 206 miles on it when I got it in December 2012. Took it to a Ford dealer that week. Said they can't find anything wrong with it and the idling and gas mileage is normal. Really? There are much bigger vehicles with bigger engines that get better mileage. Someone told me that it could be the PCV valve or the hose leading to it, but I can't find the PCV valve. Can find the valve on all of my other vehicles but not this one.anyone know where it is? As far as I know the engine is a 2.0 (and it is not an ecoboost).Not sure about what engine is in it but the 8th digit in the VIN is an "N" if that matters any. #2: Noticed in 1st week at higher speeds a "wobbling" sound from the rear that increased as the speed increased. Ford dealer told me the tires were worn and "cupped" from not being rotated. So I put 4 new tires on at 20,230 miles and had them align it.That sound went away and it rides better. However, the 2nd week I noticed really bad negative camber on the right rear new tire (when viewed from the rear the top of the tire is leaning inward toward the car). Went back to dealer. Told me that the car is aligned to Ford specs and that this won't hurt tire tread wear.really? Anyone else know anything about this negative camber and its effects on tires? I did notice several 2013 Focuses on the lot with the same issue. Alot of the research I have done says this leads to cupping of the tires and shortened tire tread life. I tracked down the original owner (the bank accidentally gave me all of his original loan paperwork with his name and address on it). He told me that he rotated the tires every 5000 miles at that same dealer. So if this negative camber is a result of poor engineering, then I'm afraid I will have to be buying new tires every 20,000 miles. Or trade it in for a Chevy Cruze.#3: Changed the oil today. Used Mobil 1 5W20 full synthetic. Does this vehicle have some type of oil life monitor that needs resetting? Car doesn't have any type of touch screen if that is needed to reset the oil life indicator/monitor. Car has leather heated seats, moonroof, heated mirrors, synch, Bluetooth. Basically everything except for electric seats and the touch screen. anyone have any suggestions about the rough idling or PCV valve location or the tire issue?
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