Ford Focus 1.6 TDCI

Full step-by-step DIY service guide to the family favourite.

We’ve featured Ford Focuses in the DIY Service section before and we make no apologies for including another one as Ford’s family favourite continues to be one of the UK’S biggestselling cars. This time, we’re showcasing the current generation of the model, the MKIII version as introduced in 2011. This Titanium Navigator is a pre-2014 facelift example, built before the Blue Oval decided that emulating Aston Martin’s angled grille would be a fun idea.

This variant is the 1.6 TDCI – a very popular model, although given the current government’s negative thinking towards diesels, we’re not sure that will last. Being a Ford, home servicing is a very practical proposition. Aside from some contortion required to change the pollen filter, which is down in the passenger footwell, beneath the glovebox, and a fair bit of dismantling to get at the oil and fuel filter, it’s all pretty straightforward and parts aren’t expensive. If you’ve a half-decent toolkit and aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty, little on a standard Focus service should be a challenge. And you’ll save yourself a lot of the folding stuff by doing it yourself.